Friday, October 15, 2010

Sing For The Health Of Our World: We All Need Water

Let's take a time out from singing for our sanity and instead, sing for the health and safety of our world.

Ocotber 15 is Blog Action Day and the topic of interest is water. Here are some facts that highlight the importance of clean and accessible drinking water for everyone around the world.

Health and Sanitation

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren't strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses.

90% of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under five years old. Many of these diseases are preventable. The UN predicts that one tenth of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply and sanitation.

Women and Children.

In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking for water. Women and children usually bear the burden of water collection, walking miles to the nearest source, which is unprotected and likely to make them sick.

Time spent walking and resulting diseases keep them from school, work and taking care of their families.

Along their long walk, they're subjected to a greater risk of harassment and sexual assault. Hauling cans of water for long distances takes a toll on the spine and many women experience back pain early in life.

I remember hearing that in the Sudan, women risk getting raped in order to get water.

With safe water nearby, women are free to pursue new opportunities and improve their families’ lives. Kids can earn their education and build the future of their communities.

Go to www.charitywater.org and learn how you can help. You can watch this video for more information.



Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

Of course, I have to add a song as well. This is a great message to remember. We ARE the world.



We Are The World: U.S.A For Africa Audio CD
We Are the World - The Story Behind the Song (20th Anniversary Special Edition) DVD

3 comments:

  1. Hi Angela - Wow it is amazing what we take for granted here in the US. Can you imagine having to go through that kind of sacrifice just to make sure your family has water. What an amazing story!

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  2. I can't even imagine ahving such a hard time getting water. We also need to be careful about bottled water and recycling.

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  3. Angela, I agree with Glyna. We do take clean water for granted. I never realized that just going to get water put so many women in danger.
    Now, that is more of an incentive to help with the clean water supply...and keep women safe.

    Jaden

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