Water, Water, Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink
Did you know … ?
- Waterborne disease cause death in 1.4 million children every year—that's one child every 20 seconds.
- 50 percent of hospitals are full of patients suffering from water-related ailments.
- Contaminated water claims more deaths than any war has claimed through guns.
- There are more people in the world with access to a cell phone than access to a toilet.
- A five-minute shower in America uses more water than the average slum dweller in a developing country uses in a whole day.
Staggering? Yes.
Scary? Absolutely.
Hopeless? Not on our watch.
Co-founded by Matt Damon and Gary White, Water.org is a nonprofit organization that works to bring clean water to communities in Africa, South Asia, and Central America. They use a multi-pronged approach to ensure every penny donated goes to where it's needed most. They involve local community organizations, appropriate technology, and the use of the water credit system, a microeconomics loan program all with the sole goal of bringing clean water to communities in need.
How, you ask, can I help?
- Donate. A $25 donation is enough to give water for life to one person.
- Information is knowledge. Sign up for email updates and stay informed about the issue.
- Get Talking. Facebook, Tweet, YouTube, and talk about the issue.
- Shop! Buy yourself and your buddies a water.org water bottle. 100 percent of proceeds go back to the cause.
- Be in the Know. Join the my.Water.org community to choose a community, follow their progress, and help make a difference.
With thousands of charities and millions of dollars being donated each year, why should you care about water? Water is the basis for human life. Clean water is a fundamental right that every living, breathing being is innately entitled to.
In the developed world, we take for granted the clean water that flows from our taps.
Imagine a life without it.
Pretty impossible, huh?
Use that thought as the impetus to use your power to ensure others receive the basic human right of pure, clean water.
Water.org is challenging the traditional approach to assisting people in developing countries. Our goals are to draw attention to the world’s number one health problem, unsafe and inadequate water supplies, and to raise funds to help fight this immense problem – one community at a time.