Impacting Local Communities through Clean Water
“Basic human rights cannot thrive in places where human beings do not have access to enough food, or clean water, or the medicine they need to survive.”
– U.S. National Security Strategy
As we make our way well into the second decade of the 21st century, with our booming technology and our incredible knowledge of medicine, you would assume clean water for all was just a given fact. The reality is clean water is still very much a commodity that many families around the world cannot afford but are in desperate need of. Lack of access to clean water kills children at a rate equivalent to a jumbo jet crashing every four hours. 1 in 9 (780 million) people lack access to an improve water source. These figures are astonishing, and the need for innovative water solutions cannot be any more imperative.
Applicants to the Children’s Prize in 2013 understood the need for solutions that would bring clean water to communities and combat diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid that contribute to the deaths of 1,800 deaths a day in children under five are linked to water, sanitation and hygiene worldwide. Some of the most creative and inspiring solutions to increase and create access to clean water included wells, water filters, point-of-use systems, and the development of new technologies. Today we would like to present a few of our 2013 applicants who are making considerable progress within the forefront of solutions for clean water.
Tanks/ Boreholes/ Wells:
RISE International
Rise International’s primary focus is to build schools and provide education for children living across Angola. However, many of these children live without access to clean water- which is why RISE International is drilling wells at those same schools, and within the same communities. RISE has built 13 wells since 2009 and given 98,000 children the opportunity to attend school.
Shoeman Water Projects
Shoeman water projects works in Kenya to provide clean water and improved sanitation sources. Shoeman projects drills wells in needy communities while simultaneously collecting shoes that can be sold in Kenya to provide funding for Shoeman projects.
Eleos Project
The Eleos Project works in Kenya where they work to treat unsanitary drinking water at the household and community level. Eleos repairs broken hand pumps and existing wells, as well as drilling and constructing new wells in four target areas around Kenya.
Sanitation:
Green Sanitation Foundation
Construction of Biogas, and sewage solutions (pipe replacement).
Green Sanitation Foundations creates biological toilets that turn human waste into safe and non-toxic water. Past projects have included the instillation of both household and community toilets. Not only does this technology curb open defecation practices – but it is also contributing to the conservation of precious amounts of water.
Sanitation Creations
Sanitations Creations has designed an innovative toilet for use where access to a traditional toilet is unavailable. Not only is the toilet is waterless and odorless but it kills bacteria and pathogens using plastic bags that treat the waste, requiring no electricity, water source, pump or pipe. The toilet has the capacity to largely impact those living in areas without sanitation services .
Point-of-Use System:
Morgan Smart Development Foundation (MSDF)
Morgan Smart Development Foundation works out of Nigeria working to empower women and children living in rural areas. In the past the organization has brought potable water, toilets, and wells to communities that would otherwise have little to no access to improved sanitation and water facilities.
World Vision, Inc.
World Vision is one of the largest provides of clean water worldwide. They have installed 8,717 new wells since 2011, while simultaneously building 224,051 sanitation facilities. The impact is huge, allowing 2.35 million people to gain access to clean water globally.