Blog 9

https://water.org/our-impact/water-crisis/

Water ties together every facet of human life. The ability to use safe water and to have access to proper sanitation can give people more time and energy to focus on other important things such as their education and careers. It also helps to better the health of people all over the world. There are over 800 million people worldwide who do not have the ability to use clean water; there are also over 2 billion people in the world who do not have any way of accessing a toilet. Women are inordinately affected by the global water crisis due to the fact that they are the ones expected to collect water. This gives women less time to focus on other important aspects of their lives, including education, their jobs, and raising and taking care of their children. This keeps women stuck in a position of poverty. Liberating women is an essential component in fixing the water crisis we are facing. When women are able to obtain clean water in their homes, they have more time to work and make money, as well as pursue any other interests they may have. “The water crisis is a health crisis”(water.org). Close to a million people die every year from diseases pertaining to unsafe water and poor sanitation conditions. A child dies from a water-related illness approximately every two minutes. The ability to access clean water and quality sanitation helps to enhance health and to keep diseases from spreading; it also contributes to lower death rates in children and mothers. At times children may also be expected to gather water for their families. This means less time for school and for playing, which is necessary for children. Spending less time collecting water has been shown to boost school attendance, even more so in girls than boys. There is over 200 billion dollars lost worldwide every year because of poor access to proper water and sanitation. This is because of the large amount of time that is spent collecting water and trying to find quality sanitation; it is important to realize how essential time is when considering these things. Having clean water and sanitation gives people and families extra time to go to school and to work, which in turn can contribute to helping them get out of poverty.

I learned a lot about the global water crisis from this website. It really helped to put this issue in perspective and it illustrated how big of a problem the water crisis really is. One thing I learned from this website that stood out to me was the fact that women are very disproportionately impacted by water crisis, due to the fact they they are the ones most often expected to seek out clean water and collect it for their families. This takes up a lot of time that they could be spending on other important things and interests. The website also states how the water crisis affects children. When children are the ones relied upon to collect water for their families, they don’t get the time they need for school and to do things kids should be able to do. The website also makes it clear how much of an economic problem the water crisis is; there is a massive lack in economic opportunities due to the water crisis, and billions upon billions of dollars are lost annually across the world because of poor access to clean water and sanitation.

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