Our impact
Access to clean drinking water is vital for all human beings, but too many people in our world still lack access to it. UNICEF recently estimated that 844 million people lack access to a source of clean drinking water, and 2 billion use a source of drinking water that is contaminated with faeces.
Without an accessible, local water source, women and girls walk as far as is necessary to collect water for the family – often multiple times a day to collect enough water in 25 litre jerry cans. Water is often contaminated, causing sickness and sometimes tragically, death, to those that drink it.
Our work across the Simien Mountains in Ethiopia provides the often very remote villages access to fresh water sources locally. The impact of this is not lost on locals, who tell us regularly of the changes bought to their lives:
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Reliable, clean water means less illness across the entire family.
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Children are able to attend school more regularly as they are healthier.
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Young girls are not removed from school anymore to assist their mothers in collecting water. Importantly, greater education for women is recognised as creating many flow on benefits.
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Skin disease and other ailments are reduced.