The Promise of Water

Thursday, August 19, 2010

For more information, contact:

John Torres, Senior Public Relations Manager 301.680.6357

(office) 301.680.6370 (fax) John.Torres@adra.org

SILVER SPRING, Md. —“We want to send our children to school, but
we can’t because they are out searching for water each day,” says
Mrs. Kagane, a resident living in Nigeria’s Kano State. “Not one child in
our village is able to write their name. Our children are unschooled.”

In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, more than one-third of the

young female population drops out of school to spend the day fetching
water for their families. While walking great distances puts girls at a
continual risk for their physical safety, drinking dirty, unsanitary water
also places the health of the entire village at risk. Diarrhea, intestinal
worms, trachoma, typhoid fever, schistosomiasis, and cholera are all
plaguing many of the children, women, and men in these villages.

“Our source of drinking water at the best of times is greenish in color,”

says Mrs. Tunji in the southeastern Osun State. “I think this explains
why there are always people in our village suffering from severe
diarrhea. I think those of us who are still alive should thank God for
every extra day that we live on this earth!”

In developing countries like Nigeria, it is estimated that 70 percent of

industrial wastes are dumped untreated into waters where they pollute
the usable water supply, according to UN-Water, a United Nations
entity coordinating work related to freshwater and sanitations issues.
In addition, 443 million school days are lost each year from water-
related illness, which are caused mostly from drinking water from
unreliable sources, such as rivers, ponds, lakes, and streams.

To help ADRA provide water around the world, please click here, or call
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ADRA is a global non-governmental organization providing sustainable

community development and disaster relief without regard to political
or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.