Se7en’s Blog Action Day… Water, Water, Water…

I really believe that Blogs can and do change the world!!! And today is World Blog Action Day and I am calling you to take a look at Water.org…

I think of how our day is driven by water, how refreshing, how relaxing it is. My day starts  with a quick shower. We all wake to a drink of clear fresh water running from our kitchen tap. We can do a load of laundry if we choose to do so, we can wash our dishes with clean water… our life is so easy. Today we thought about the lives of others, for whom fresh clean water is not a reality. And we realize how privileged we are….

This morning we had a group of moms over and countless little children, we all had a cup of tea or coffee. Our kids made tea with a basin of water in the back yard and they went on to paint the walls with wet paint brushes, while we chatted. How many little people went to the bathroom and flushed and washed their hands. Yes water is readily available to us, even though we lived in drought wracked Africa, water is really easy for us. In fact, too easy!!!

Did you know that:

1. In the developing world, 24 000 children under five years of age, die every day from preventable causes like diarrhea contracted from unclean water.
2. Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources.
3. More people in the world have access to a cell phone than access to a toilet.
4. The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
5. Half of the world’s hospitalization’s are due to water related disease.
6. More than 80% of sewage in developing countries is discharged untreated, polluting rivers, lakes and coastal areas.
7. One in eight people, that’s one out of my kids, lacks access to safe water supplies.

and the se7en + 1th fact:

8. Today’s water crisis is not an issue of scarcity, but of access.

I got these facts from Water.org and you can read more amazing water facts here, and talk about them with your kids. They have some fabulous lesson plans to download as well… we worked our way through the elementary lesson… quick and easy if you do it together and it raised LOTS of discussion!!!

Did you know that for just $25.00, Water.org can provide clean, sustainable drinking water for one person for life… that is simply amazing.

My kids will be doing twenty-five chores this weekend, over and above our usual daily routine. I am looking forward to a spruced up car, a garden as neat as a pin, and a general Spring clean. At a dollar a chore, they will be able to make a difference to one person’s life… one small step can make a difference.