In the United States, my son, Alexander, age 4, came storming into the house covered in mud and out of breath. He and the dog had been excavating a hole in the backyard, possibly digging to the center of the earth. After entering the house, Xander asked for a cup of water. He drained the entire cup and asked for another – digging is thirsty work.
Water is something I often take for granted. It is a drink that my kids aren’t usually interested in for dinner or lunch. Yet, clean drinking water is an amazingly rare gift. In America, we are fortunate to have it directly in our houses. However, around the globe, that isn’t always the case.
Sabiha, age 9, often has to dig holes in her backyard: to plant crops, to clear pasture land. She doesn’t get to play since her life consists of watching her siblings and working with her parents. But one thing she does have in common with Alexander – she is thirsty.
Sabiha travels four miles to the nearest well in order to draw water. In Kenya, her family relies on the community well for drinking water and hygiene purposes. Living in an arid region, they have little water for crops or livestock. In Sabiha’s world, clean water is sacred.
The water from the well is mostly clean – a rarity. After a storm, brush has to be cleared out. Clean water requires work. Instead of the faucet, they have the tippy tap. A tippy tap is a bucket system that dispenses water for washing hands. This is how many live in Kenya.
How can we – who live in our comfortable houses isolated from water problems – help?
FH is active in providing clean water for drinking, hygiene and irrigation. We help build wells, install high-flow pumps and teach the basics of hand washing. Your support helps by enabling us to provide the invaluable resource of water.
Help me to provide a water project for people like Sabiha and her family. By starting these projects, it will improve not just one life, but a whole community.