3.7 miles.
Every day, women and girls walk an average distance of 3.7 miles just to get water. For some, that distance is much longer. It takes hours out of their day, and the water often isn’t even safe to use.
Other times, families must buy water because there’s no source close by. When they’re already living in poverty, purchasing water can seem like an impossible but necessary expense. This directly impacts women, who must care for their families.
Everyone knows water is necessary for life. But access to clean, safe water can give women and girls the opportunity for a better life and a brighter future in ways you may never have imagined. Keep reading to find out how.
Clean Water Restores
Millions of people worldwide don’t have access to clean water
The Latin American country of El Salvador is one of many nations worldwide facing a critical water crisis. Pollution has left 90 percent of the country’s surface water unsafe to drink, resulting in a water epidemic.
More than 1.6 million El Salvadorans don’t have access to clean water at home, including Bella and her family.
Bella has running water in her house, but it’s so polluted that it isn’t safe to drink. Her husband works on a farm for a living, but his wages are barely enough to cover the cost of essentials.
Even though money was tight, Bella had to set aside money every week to buy water. She knew they couldn’t afford it, but her three daughters desperately needed the water to stay healthy.
“Bella had to save money during the week to buy water at an expensive price, but she made the effort because she has always been concerned about her daughters’ health,” our partner said.
Because of world changers like you, Bella received the gift of clean water!
Even though Bella paid a high price for drinkable water, it still sometimes arrived contaminated and unsafe to use. She worried about how the water would affect her family’s health, but they had no choice but to use it.
Bella feared for her family’s safety — until world changers like you stepped in to provide a water purification system at a church in their community!
This gift has been life-changing for Bella, her husband, and her three daughters.
“Now we are using purified water from this project, and it is … very good,” she said. “We notice and feel the quality.”
Bella and her community now have the clean water they need to stay healthy and pursue a better future. But countless women and girls around the world still don’t have access to clean water — and it’s robbing them of their futures.
A Long Walk to Water
A lack of clean water keeps women stuck in the cycle of poverty
According to the UN, over two billion people worldwide live in countries that lack a sufficient water supply. For communities experiencing water scarcity, the job of collecting water falls on women and children.
That means instead of working, attending school, or caring for their families, they must walk for hours each day to haul water.
It’s backbreaking and exhausting work. To make matters worse, the path to water is often dangerous because they have to travel through isolated or inhospitable areas.
In other cases, families like Bella’s are also forced to buy water. Most times, they’re already living in poverty and can barely afford to make ends meet as it is. Having to purchase water prevents women and girls from breaking the cycle of poverty and striving for a better future.
Collecting and drinking dirty water can also have a profound impact on women’s health. Easily preventable diseases can be especially dangerous for children and expecting mothers.
The Impact of Clean Water
Clean water provides women and girls with new opportunities
Access to clean water not only transforms lives but also empowers girls and women with good health, hope, and new opportunities.
When women and children don’t have to walk miles to collect water, they have time for other important activities. Girls can attend school and earn an education, which is life-changing.
In fact, a girl’s income as an adult is estimated to grow 20 percent for each year she stays in school! With an education, she can pursue her dreams for the future.
Having access to clean water also enables women to better care for their families because they don’t have to spend hours collecting water each day. It allows them to earn an income through financial opportunities like running a small business or tending a garden.
In short, clean water gives women and girls increased access to the resources they need to live happier, healthier, and more satisfying lives.
How You Can Help
You can provide the gift of clean water today!
For men, women, and children who don’t have clean water, every day is a fight for survival. A lack of safe drinking water means people are more susceptible to preventable but deadly diseases. It means families often stay stuck in poverty because they can’t access the water they need to make an income.
Today, you can change that by giving the gift of clean water.
For just $15, you can provide one person with clean water for an entire year. Your gift will be a lifeline and a tangible reminder of God’s love. Plus, your gift will give someone the opportunity to hear about the Living Water found in Jesus!
Click the button below to give now and transform a life today.