In many parts of Africa, a lack of clean water and poor sanitation and hygiene have been at the root of widespread ill health. In Zambia and Tanzania, World Vision has been working with local communities to help. We're seeing some big improvements.
Dirty water, a lack of sanitation and poor hygiene are major contributors to diseases such as diarrhoea and typhoid and intestinal worm infections. It's known that these illnesses kill 6,000 children every day.
Simple solutions like drilling boreholes, protecting springs and providing community health education can do much to prevent these diseases spreading. In two African communities, World Vision is observing an overall health improvement as families gain access to safe water for the very first time.
Mwinilunga Water and Sanitation Project, Zambia
Contaminated streams are the only water sources for this community who have no choice but to drink, wash their clothes and bathe in dirty water.
1 in 2 children suffer from life-threatening malaria or diarrhoea
only 2 protected wells provide over 33,000 people with their daily water
women and girls walk long distances to fetch water from rivers and open wells
40% of child deaths in this community are due to preventable diseases
The aim of this project is to deliver sanitation and clean water to over 33,600 people in Mwinilunga by:
drilling 10 boreholes and equipping them with pumps
building long-term protection against contamination for 5 wells
building latrines for households and schools
training locals to care for borehole pumps
training 20 teachers to teach children about hygiene
conducting 100 hygiene education sessions
Ngaya Shallow Well Project, Tanzania
Women and children have no alternative but to collect water with a rope and bucket from one very deep unprotected well.
The aim of this project is to deliver sanitation and clean water to over 8,600 people in the Busangi area by:
In 2006, the United Nations Human Development Report stated that clean water and sanitation are "the most powerful preventive medicines available to governments in reducing infectious diseases". This is further evidence of the need to continue working at a local level to ensure every community worldwide has the clean water that is their right.