|
Overview
Water
The world
water crisis is one of the largest public health issues of our time.
Nearly 1.1 billion people (roughly 20% of the world’s population) lack
access to safe drinking water. The lack of clean, safe drinking water is
estimated to kill almost 4,500 children per day. In fact, out of the 2.2
million unsafe drinking water deaths in 2004, 90% were children under the
age of five.
The
statistics in Liberia are no different. The water supply and sanitation
sector has seriously deteriorated after 14 years of civil war that left
approximately 80 percent of the population living in absolute poverty and
54 percent in extreme poverty (living on less than US$1/per day).
Even
before the war, waterborne diseases were a problem in Liberia. This was
exacerbated during the war when many water points and water systems were
damaged. While the Government of Liberia is currently working along with
its partners to restore pipe borne water supply to Monrovia and its
environs, the country
faces serious healthcare challenges regarding waterborne diseases like
Cholera and Diarrhea. While significant progress has been made since the
end of the war, still only 25% of Liberians have access to safe drinking
water. Many Liberians continue to drink contaminated water because of
unsafe water treatment and distribution systems and unsafe water storage
and handling practices. As such, diarrheal diseases remain among the
leading causes of morbidity and mortality, especially for children under 5
years of age. Epidemics of cholera and acute bloody diarrhea occur during
the rainy season when the water and sanitary conditions are deplorable.
FACE Africa and Clean Water
In October of 2009,
FACE Africa, in partnership with Clean Water for
Kids Now and a generous grant from the Davis Project for Peace,
completed it’s first project in Bardnersville, a small community of
approximately 450 - 650 with several wells but no direct source of clean
water supply. The project involved the installation of a water
purification system, known by its
trade name as the Skyhydrant,
that can
produce up to 20,000 liters of drinking water per day. For more
information on
the Skyhydrant, literature materials, updates and future
project plans,
please contact Dr. Armah Kpissay,
Project Inventor and Founder of Clean Water for Kids Now.
Future
Clean Water Project Goals
Our goal is to provide clean and safe water
to those in need through
long lasting projects implemented by existing and local partners. Our future projects in collaboration with partners
include:
-
Drilling new wells and rehabilitating
existing ones
-
Installing water pumps
-
Distributing point of use water treatment solutions
-
Training water and sanitation
committees
-
Organizing
hygiene education sessions
Sources: WaterAid, 2005,
UNICEF/WHO Water for Life, Making it Happen, 2005, UNICEF/WHO
Water for Life, Making it Happen, 2005, USAID Liberia Water and
Sanitation Profile, PSI Liberia
|
