The U.N. designates March 22 as the day of the year when we spotlight the global safe water, hygiene and sanitation issue and the collective efforts underway to get solutions to those struggling and in need.
Today much of the world faces a global safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene crisis. In contrast to the easy access to taps and toilets across the United States, one out of every eight people worldwide lacks safe drinking water and two out of every five people lack adequate sanitation.
To highlight these disparities PSI has joined a diverse coalition of safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, health and environmental organizations that have come together for World Water Day 2012. The coalition aims to raise awareness and call for stronger commitments and more robust action to ensure universal access to safe drinking water, hygiene and sanitation. For the week of World Water Day they have organized “Donate Your Voice” a social media campaign where Twitter and Facebook register to post messages to raise awareness about the global water, sanitation and hygiene crisis. The coalition is also hosting several events in the Washington, DC area, including a learning session, an advocacy day and a “Drink to the World” evening reception.
For more event details and to learn more about World Water Day and the coalition visit: waterday.org
Veronica Roberts, a mother of A 2-year-old in West Point, Liberia, knows firsthand the difficulties of a lack of access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation and hygiene education. Today she relies on household water treatment to provide safe drinking water for her family.
VERONICA’S STORY
Just a stone’s throw away from downtown Monrovia, in Liberia, sprawled against the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean, lies the slum community of West Point – home to more than 75,000 people.
Known as a cholera hotspot, West Point’s crowded pathways are strewn with garbage and debris, while residents here continue to lack access to even the most basic of infrastructure. Water points and private latrines are scarce, and in order to use one of the four public toilet houses available, a small fee must be paid. Instead, many choose to defecate openly, squatting in alleyways or amongst the piles of garbage lining the local beach – an area also used for fishing, and as a playground for neighborhood children.
Children, like two-year-old Princess Toe.
Less than a hundred meters away from the beach, deep in the heart of the community, stands the small house that Princess’ mother, Veronica Roberts, shares with her extended family. A single mother, 28-year-old Veronica knows all too well the dangers of her environment.
“The sickness, the diarrhea in the community,” she explains, “it’s too much. Because here people toilet everywhere, throw [garbage] everywhere. There’s flies, dirt – and this is where the children play. All the time, they get sick.”
“Before Princess was born,” she continues on, softly, “I had another child. A daughter. One night, when I was sleeping, she had diarrhea. But I didn’t know. The whole night, she was toileting, before I woke up… Then, before we could reach the nearby clinic, she died.”
When asked the child’s name, Victoria hesitates, then laughs – a sad, small laugh. “Ever since she died,” she says, “I do not like to say her name.”
Although Veronica’s story is extremely difficult for her to recount, she says it’s not uncommon in her community. Many of her friends and neighbors have also lost family members to diarrhea, and in fact, according to a 2010 report released by the Liberia WASH Consortium, diarrhea alone accounts for almost 20% of Liberia’s high child mortality rates.
Since her daughter’s death, however, Veronica has found a way to help protect her family – and herself – from water-related illness.
Through the work of PSI, in partnership with UNICEF and Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Veronica and her neighbors learned about a new product called WaterGuard. Along with receiving free samples of the product, they were also given training about how to use it, and learned about additional ways to help prevent diarrhea, including frequent hand washing and safe toilet practices. Some individuals, like Veronica, were even chosen to become ambassadors in their community – helping to share the information with others, and encourage long term behavior change.
Introduced to Liberia in September of 2009, WaterGuard is now available free through government health teams (for emergency situations), as well as sold in shops around the country. And at roughly US $0.60 per bottle, Veronica agrees that “it’s a good price – we can afford to buy it.”
“Now, everyone wants WaterGuard,” she says proudly. “So much it’s sometimes hard to find it in the shops! Everyone wants it to stop diarrhea [from happening]. WaterGuard saves us.”
Although this may sound like high praise, Veronica truly believes in the difference WaterGuard has made in her own life, and in that of her daughter’s.
“Since we started using WaterGuard,” she says, “Princess doesn’t get sick. Even myself, I don’t hardly have to go to the hospital.” This is an important benefit for individuals like Veronica, who already struggles financially to support her daughter, as Princess’ father also passed away just one month after she was born.
“For long,” Veronica says, “nobody knew how to keep the community clean, how to prepare water before we drink it. Nobody was treating it. Especially little children, who just run to the wells or buckets around and drink anything – they did not know any better,” she says, shaking her head before adding determinedly: “It cannot go back to how it was before.”
She smiles at Princess, who is now playing with some other children just outside the door.
“I’m so happy to see her like this. If the people had not come to work with us, if we didn’t know about WaterGuard, then I am sure Princess would not be as healthy as she is. Now, I make sure that any water she drinks is clean.”
Click the photos below for a slideshow about Princess and Veronica.
