Explore the Role of Water "Typhoid Killed Our Child" How Water Makes Children Sick Bad Water By the Millions Where in the World? Water in Our Lives Water in Use Did You Know? Learn More and Get Involved

Long trips to distant water sources keep them out of school. Good-paying jobs aren’t available for their parents. Those families who can leave the area in search of greener pastures do, draining talent and vitality from the community.

• Good health and nutrition
• Education
• Vibrant communities
• A hopeful future

"Typhoid Killed Our Child"

Justine Kasongo still mourns her daughter, Muleka, who died a few years ago at age 9. Justine brought the feverish child to the hospital in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, but in three days Muleka never responded to treatment.

Justine Kasongo's family once had to drink dirty water, with tragic consequences. [(c) September 2006/Lisa Berglund/World Vision]

“In the last hours, I just talked to her. I told her she was going to get better, that this would pass,” says Justine. “It was 1:35 in the morning when she died. I just started to cry. Typhoid killed our child.” Local World Vision staff suspect the cause of Muleka’s illness was the unprotected well outside the family’s house. Many families in Congo draw their water from holes and wells that fill up with waste matter. A contaminated source becomes a “warehouse of microbes,” says World Vision water and sanitation expert Jean Pierre Kalondo. “All the main diseases come from water: cholera, malaria, verminosis, typhoid, and diarrhea,” he explains. “Since everybody needs water, if the water is contaminated, the whole population can be contaminated.”

Children are especially vulnerable because of their contact with the dirty environment, says Peke Ngoy, a doctor in Kolwezi. “Children say ‘Bonjour’ and clasp hands—they pass on dirt. They put their fingers in their mouths. Typhoid fever and blood diseases come from dirty hands.”

Muleka’s death was a preventable tragedy that Jean Pierre is working to avert for other children in Kolwezi, where World Vision has already drilled a borehole well. “This is just the beginning,” he says, describing plans for drilling more wells and installing tanks and piping. With these measures, water will again become a source of life in Kolwezi—rather than an agent of death.

—by Kari Costanza How Water Makes Children Sick Diseases linked to contaminated water kill a child every 15 seconds. What are these illnesses? What’s the connection to water? And how can they be prevented?

Water-borne diseases Cause |Drinking water contaminated by human, animal, or chemical waste Examples | Diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, polio, hepatitis A Prevention | Accessing clean water and improving sanitary conditions Water-related diseases Cause|A bite from an insect (mosquitoe or fly) that feed or breed in water Examples | Malaria, dengue fever, river blindness Prevention |Limiting insect bites, e.g. through use of mosquito nets Water-based diseases Cause |Ingesting organisms that spend part of their life cycle in water Examples | Guinea worm, bilharzia Prevention |Staying out of infected rivers, straining or boiling water Water-scarce diseases Cause | Having poor hygiene or washing with contaminated water Examples | Scabies, trachoma, lice

Prevention | Regular washing with clean water Source: Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Bad Water By the Millions

	1 million 1.6 million 6 million 12 million 400 million Source: UNESCO	Children killed by malaria each year Child deaths due to diarrhea each year People blind today due to trachoma People affected by typhoid fever each year School-age children infected with parasitic worms

Where in the World?

Countries where less than half of the population have sustainable access to clean water:

	Niger Democratic Republic of Congo Mozambique Chad Cambodia Papua New Guinea Ethiopia 46 percent 46 percent 43 percent 42 percent 41 percent 39 percent 22 percent Source: Human Development Report, 2006

Water in Our Lives

At home, the average American uses 80-100 gallons of water a day. Where some of it goes:

Flushing the toilet Brushing teeth with the water running Running the dishwasher Taking a five-minute shower 5 gallons per flush 2 gallons 12 gallons 25 gallons Counterpoint: The average African family uses a total of five gallons of water a day. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, World Resources Institute

Water in Use

	Major Uses for Fresh Water in North America
	Major Uses for Fresh Water in Africa

	Did You Know?
	Leaky faucets that drip one drop per second can waste up to 2,700 gallons of water a year. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Diseases such as diarrhea and parasitic infections cost 443 million school days a year, equivalent to an entire school year for all 7-year-olds in Ethiopia. Source: UNESCO When a community gains access to clean water, its child mortality rate drops by half. Source: United Nations Millennium Campaign World Vision’s water projects around the world have given 10 million people access to clean water and improved sanitation.

[pdf]

The feature above was published in World Vision Magazine—Summer 2007 [pdf]. Other features from this issue include: Just Add Water — In much of West Africa, there is a simple solution to poverty. Splashes— Snapshots of water’s impact

Accessing the magazine archives or an electronic version of this issue requires Adobe Acrobat reader. If you need a free copy of the reader software, click on this button:

1-888-511-6548 : P.O. Box 9716
Federal Way, WA 98063-9716

	Read Issues By Year
	2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000