“Water is life….especially where every drop of water counts”

Today marks World Water Day, a day that people come together to advocate and fight for the fact that over 748 million people continue to live without safe water. It is unimaginable.

As someone who has traveled to the developing world and witnessed firsthand what lack of safe water is like, it has truly touched my soul. Women and girls are impacted even worse. They are generally the ones in charge of spending hours a day fetching and carrying water on their back or taking care of family members who are sick (or worse yet even die) due to lack of safe drinking water.

Now lets talk toilets. Not having access to sanitation is horrible as well. It spreads disease. It is embarrassing and it is not safe. Girls have been kept out of school due to lack of latrines or have been raped while trying to use them. When people are forced to open defecate it is humiliating and contaminating spreading disease.

Woman leaving the newly constructed toilet compound thanks to WaterAid.

Even here in the US we are witnessing great water shortages. California has experienced severe drought and has had to replace restrictions on its people. What will happen in 2030 when it is estimated by the UN that we could have a 40% water shortage worldwide?

What is not an infinite resource. Like many things, we need to protect and preserve it, not waste it but also give it to those in need.

We have a lot of challenges lying ahead. It will be the policies enacted today that will determine our future.

To join today’s actives and learn more, jump on twitter and follow the hashtag #WorldWaterDay. There are links to all sorts of articles on the concerns we are facing with water and sanitation.

I have also written quite a lot about water and sanitation on my blog. To read these posts, click here.