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Home / Tips & ideas / Charity / World Water Day – why water matters

World Water Day – why water matters

March 18, 2014 by Gretta Schifano 16 Comments

Ecuador: image courtesy of Just A Drop

Ecuador: image courtesy of Just A Drop

I’m lucky. I live in England and take it for granted that my family and I have access to clean, safe water. I turn on a tap in my house and out it gushes, ready to use: lovely, fresh water. We drink it, cook with it, shower in it and brush our teeth with it.  Our water never makes us sick.

World Water Day

But not everyone is as lucky as we are. Worldwide, more than 768 million people – around 40% of the global population – have no access to clean, safe water. To mark World Water Day on March 22nd the international water aid charity Just A Drop has invited five bloggers to write about ‘why water matters’.

#watermatters

The water filter bottle company H2WOW will make a donation to Just A Drop for every share, like, tweet and comment of this and the other blog posts involved in the #watermatters campaign so please do support us both here and on social media.

Water in Sicily

The only time I ever consider our water supply is when we visit our relatives in Sicily and I worry about the water running out. Our relatives only have mains water for a couple of hours every few days and they never know when it’s coming. They all have extra water tanks at the top of their houses to store as much water as possible when it does come. When the water is turned on a cry goes up from house to house, whatever the time, and everyone rushes to switch on their motorised water pumps and fill their tanks.

Our relatives seem very accepting of this situation. The older members of the family remember walking to the nearest well for water when they were young so this is a great improvement for them. My husband remembers helping his grandparents to fill their water tank using a bucket on a rope in the 1970s before they had a motorised pump.

When my eldest child was a baby and I was a very protective new mother I was reluctant even to take her to Sicily because of the water situation. My reluctance seems ridiculous to me now because even if the water did run out we could always buy some. But I guess it was my instinct to protect my precious baby and keep her safe which made me worry.

Image courtesy of Just a Drop

Image courtesy of Just a Drop

Unsafe water

I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like for mothers who have no access to clean water and therefore no way of protecting their children or themselves against the deadly danger of waterborne diseases. I use the word deadly because unsafe water actually kills 4,000 children under five every day. That’s someone’s tiny, precious son or daughter dying every 20 seconds. Dying from entirely preventable illnesses like diarrhoea.

Just A Drop

When Fiona Jeffery OBE learned that just £1 could provide a child with clean, safe water for ten years she set up a charity to help – Just A Drop was founded in 1998 and to date its international water aid projects have reached around 1.5 million people in some of the poorest communities in the world.

How you can help

It’s really easy for you to help too by commenting on this post and sharing it on social media. H2WOW will make a donation to Just A Drop for every share, like, tweet and comment of this #watermatters post. If you’d also like to donate even the smallest amount then you can do so here.

This post is part of the #watermatters campaign by international water aid charity Just A Drop to raise awareness of the vital work they carry out in developing countries around the world – providing clean, safe water to those who need it most.

Tomorrow blogger and Times journalist Sarah Ebner is publishing the next #watermatters post on her Family Travel Times blog. Yesterday’s #watermatters post was by author Keris Stainton on her Della says blog.

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Related

Categories: Seasonal
Tags: #watermatters, charity, Just A Drop, water aid, World Water Day

About Gretta Schifano

I'm a freelance journalist and blogger specialising in family travel with teenagers, trips when parents manage to travel without their kids, and 50+ travel. I also write about vegetarian travel, parenting teenagers, adoption, SEN, ADHD and anxiety. My work's been published by the Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, National Geographic Traveller, Lonely Planet and others. I've lived and worked in Italy and Spain and am now based in rural south-east England with my husband, adoptive and birth kids and our dog. I previously worked as a social action radio producer for the BBC.

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Comments

  1. Fiona Jeffery says

    March 19, 2014 at 5:03 pm

    Gretta, Thank you so much for your contribution to #watermatters and our Just a Drop initiative leading to World Water Day. Its those that have experiencedfor themselves scarcity of water that really understand its value and how much the rest of us take it for granted. Its our most precious commodity and I really appreciate you sharing your own story.
    Thanks for helping us continue to change and improve lives
    Fiona

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      March 19, 2014 at 7:23 pm

      Fiona, I’m pleased to be involved with the campaign and am inspired by what you’ve done with Just A Drop.

      Reply
  2. Kirsty - Hijacked by Twins says

    March 19, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    Such a worth while cause! In this day and age everybody should have access to clean safe water! Sharing and tweeting too x
    Kirsty – Hijacked by Twins recently posted…Cheap Budget Meals – Full of Veg Cottage PieMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      March 19, 2014 at 1:19 pm

      Thank you Kirsty, I really appreciate it.

      Reply
  3. Jenny @ The Brick Castle says

    March 19, 2014 at 12:09 pm

    It is an excellent cause. We take so much for granted living where we do 🙂
    Jenny @ The Brick Castle recently posted…Some of my old Ladybird BooksMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      March 19, 2014 at 12:15 pm

      We are very lucky – thank you for commenting.

      Reply
  4. TwinsplusTwo says

    March 18, 2014 at 9:35 pm

    SUCH an important cause – and lack of a reliable, clean, safe water supply affects SO many in the world. As children we frequently visited the Canary Islands. In those days you all had access to an alhibi tank and constantly worried about it running out. We were lucky thought – we could always afford bottled water and would come home to a plentiful supply. (apart from the 1970s water strike!!)
    TwinsplusTwo recently posted…Fitting it all in – exercise and additional needs.My Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      March 19, 2014 at 11:36 am

      Thank you for commenting – your memories of the Canary Islands sound a bit like Sicily now!

      Reply
  5. mellissa williams says

    March 18, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    I’ve shared for you lovely, great cause
    mellissa williams recently posted…Gemporia Jewellery – Giveaway and Review – Ends 12/04My Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      March 18, 2014 at 9:05 pm

      Thank you Melissa.

      Reply
  6. Jennifer Howze says

    March 18, 2014 at 10:34 am

    It’s astonishing to me sometimes how much water we waste in the Western World. I went into a coffee shop the other day where they had the tap in the sink on, running, for no apparent reason. Thanks for highlighting such an important issue.
    Jennifer Howze recently posted…Should holidays be educational?My Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      March 18, 2014 at 12:07 pm

      I know, we’re so lucky to have water whenever we need it that we just take it for granted. Thanks for commenting Jen.

      Reply
  7. Nicola Swann says

    March 18, 2014 at 10:22 am

    Thank you very much for supporting our campaign in this way and for sharing your own experiences about access to clean, safe drinking water. It’s only when we take time to stop and think about the issue of water that we realise just how much we take for granted that it’s always on tap (if you’ll pardon the pun!). Thanks again Gretta.

    Nicola Swann (Just a Drop)

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      March 18, 2014 at 10:30 am

      I’m happy to be involved and I hope the campaign is a fundraising success for you.

      Reply
  8. Verily Victoria Vocalises says

    March 18, 2014 at 10:06 am

    Such an important and worthwhile cause – I am off to share 🙂 x
    Verily Victoria Vocalises recently posted…My Quest for Health and Fitness – the second week.My Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      March 18, 2014 at 10:07 am

      Thank you Victoria, that’s brill.

      Reply

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