Water, a Necessity for Life

Nearly 1 billion people in the world lack access to potable (drinkable) water, mainly those living in third world countries. In these areas, women and children often have to travel to collect clean water. This can even affect the ability of children to go to school.

Often times, people will have to resort to using the only available water, even if it is unclean. This lack of clean water causes a huge problem in underdeveloped areas. Pathogenic microorganisms – such as viruses, bacteria or parasites — are transferred to a person through drinking, washing or bathing with contaminated water or eating foods that have been prepared from unclean water, contaminated by feces. These pathogens often cause diarrhea, which can be fatal when a person becomes dehydrated.

Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death among children under five globally. In fact, nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea, killing more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined (CDC 2015).

In order to help people in communities with unclean water, International HELP trains Community Health Workers how to obtain clean water and to how to help with diarrhea to prevent unnecessary deaths from dehydration. We teach on things such as:

Water is necessary for life. Simply by knowing the importance of clean water and how to obtain it, Community Health Workers are able to make a big difference for their family, friends and neighbors.

– Monterey Starkey, President & Founder