ACCESS TO HEALTHY WATER IS NOT EASY IN ETHIOPIA

Access to healthy water sounds rewarding, simple, or something thousands of people, like me, may take advantage of. In reality, access to healthy water is difficult and a fight for survival rather than a free trip to the sink in some developing countries.

The organization, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) states that 29,000 children under the age of five die from preventable diseases/causes (2016). Most children die from complications at birth, environmental hazards, infections, etc. In developing countries like Ethiopia located in Western Africa, children are most likely to die before the age of five -30% more than other countries, due to the lack of medical and natural resources (UNICEF, 2016). Furthermore, 42.5 million people in Ethiopia lack the access to healthy water (Water.org, n.d.). Because the human body needs water for survival, PERIOD, the lack of healthy water for children in Ethiopia is a silent killer. Cholera, feces, and absence of filtration systems find their ways into the water leading to serious illness and death (UNICEF, 2016).

                                                              

According to the article, 'The Water & Sanitation Crisis in Ethiopia" (water.org, n.d.) reports that women and children walk three or more hours a day to get water that is not even properly filtered or safe to drink. But, there's more...

Not only do women and children walk for hours to get water that is not even safe to drink, the scarcity of water in Ethiopia has become a real struggle for survival.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/40gZqVBUHUk

In the United States there are droughts in the West and mid-West. There are towns that may have dirty water for a period of time. And there are those days where we want to take a shower and the water is freezing cold or shut off. But, in the United States, because it is so powerful and resourceful, access to water is easier to obtain or seek than in Ethiopia. The struggle in Ethiopia is daily and it is effecting thousands, especially young children. 

Fortunately, countries like the United States, are seeking to improve access for healthy water for the people of Ethiopia and their lives.

                                       

Water improvements in Ethiopia

  

HOW DOES THIS IMPACT ME?

As a human being, I am saddened by the rate in which children are dying or have died from preventable diseases and causes and the lack of healthy water that is so imperative for survival. The realization that with water or without healthy water in Ethiopia and other developing countries being a fight for survival is devastating.

Finding organizations like the UNICEF, Red Cross, and other hospitable teams that donate and contribute essential needs and resources like bottled waters, food, medical attention, housing, etc. gives me hope for the future of children globally. 

With reaching hands the world keeps turning and if I can do my part creating awareness of water consumption and its importance and handing out bottled water wherever it is need in and around my community is a good start.

   

Works cited

Author Unnknown. (n.d.). The Water & Sanitation Crisis in Ethiopia. (2016, September). Retrieved from Water.Org: http://www.water.org

UNICEF. (2016). Reduce Child Morality. Retrieved from United nations International Children's Emergency Fund: http://www.unicef.org