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The Need for Fresh Water Restoring through safe water...one village at a time.
The first level of need is the prevention of dehydration. Mainly women and children walk at least 3 to 5 kilometers each way to get water. Unfortunately, the water that they are walking for are contaminated open ponds. The water sources could be swampy shores, ponds, or rivers. Oftentimes, this is the same water where the villagers bathe, wash their dishes, go to the bathroom or share with animals. |
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"People think they are walking for water, when they are really walking for diseases." - an African pastor
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The water sources these people are trekking to are contaminated open ponds, swampy shores, livestock points, small streams or collapsed wells. Oftentimes, this is the same water where the villagers bathe, wash their dishes, go to the bathroom or share with animals.
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| Water 4 Kids Program |
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Taxi Drivers 4 Clean Water
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Environmental and other negative effects
Besides enduring the negative environmental effects of walking long distances in the hot sun for water, other effects pose an equally dangerous effect. Dangerous, poisonous snakes live in the tall brush along with men hiding in the bushes waiting for young children to come, so they can attack or rape them, which can contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Most young children do not know how to swim, yet they are responsible to collect water for their families. Oftentimes, we here that many young children fall drown in these unprotected open ponds. All of these dangers compound the problem of retrieving water. Once a woman or child arrives at the water source, they can spend hours in the “queue” just waiting for their turn to collect water. “Jeri” cans are lined up in order of the turn, and then a small cup is used to fill the can with the water. Often when the women return to their village, their husbands abuse them because it took they have been gone all day fetching water. |
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Water 4 kids will work in the areas in greatest needs
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Water 4 Kids works to drill wells for the people in the greatest need, but that can be very difficult because of their geographic location. Many of the villages we are responding to are listed in “no-go” areas by other organizations or by the national government. These villagers are truly hopeless because no one is willing to drill wells in their area. They are mostly located in hard to reach villages, oftentimes only accessible by tiny goat paths and impassible during the rainy seasons. Out of the 830+ sub counties in Uganda, we work in three of the top 10 “no-go” areas.
View the Areas We Serve »
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This was the water source for thousands of people in the village of Bugodo, Uganda, Africa. (top) |
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75% of all deaths in remote villages are caused by lack of dean drinking water.
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The number one killer in East Africa is malaria followed by measles, dysentery (caused by dirty water) and diseases related to HIV/AIDS. More often, up to 75% of all deaths in remote villages are caused by the lack of clean drinking water. Children die from malaria due to dehydration because of high fevers and sweats. What is so regrettable about this is that the diseases named are both preventable and treatable. However, we’ve drilled wells in villages next to medical clinics where patients couldn’t even take their medicine because they didn’t have any water to wash it down. Unfortunately, these are not unique stories. They are very common in the communities we serve.
Learn About Water-related Diseases »
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Fetching Water is up to the Girls
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In addition, young girls are normally the ones responsible for fetching water in developing countries. So many of them are unable to go to school to receive an education. If they are unable to attend, they will spend hours in the morning collecting water. When their job is finally done, reaching school tired and exhausted, focusing on the day's remaining lessons is nearly impossible. |
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Water 4 Kids International is a division of Hope 4 Kids International – a faith-based 501(c)(3) non-profit committed
to help children around the world that are suffering from
extreme poverty and disease. Water 4 Kids is restoring
hope through safe drinking water…one village at a time.
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