Living Water and World Water Day

Tomorrow is World Water Day, how will you celebrate? In many countries around the world, an abundant and potable water supply such as our own is pure fantasy. In Haiti, countless women and children wake hours before sunrise in order to walk miles to the nearest community well or mountain spring.

These sources, however, are often polluted by fecal matter from farm animals or poorly constructed latrines. A 2004 report by the United Nations Development Program estimated 20% of Haiti’s children, under the age of five, die every year from diarrhea alone.

While Peace Corps Volunteer, I spoke to numerous farmers in Savannlong and Savannlet and more, whose wells had dried up as desertification overtook the water table. In other parts of the country, I heard from farmers whose wells began to pump salt water as the water table receded and the ocean advanced.

In 1992, the UN General Assembly designated March 22 as World Water Day to draw attention to this growing, global problem. In Haiti there are numerous organizations that are working to stave desertification, to preserve water tables, and to offer clean and safe drinking waters to entire cities. I strongly encourage you to visit the website of Living Water, a highly motivated and praiseworthy organization out of Houston, TX and the World Water Day homepage to learn more about how you can help the people of the world overcome this most basic problem.

Click here to see Living Water's blog post from December 16, 2005.