You know that feeling when you come home after long exhausting day, you fill a bathtub with hot water with so many bubbles and then you quickly jump in and just relax. Yes, such a sweet feeling. Or what if you suddenly get thirsty? No problem, just fill your cup with water from the nearest washbasin and drink it. Alright, now imagine that the nearest water source is a few miles far away and you are the chosen one who has to grab a jerry can and go there and bring water to your home. Yes, it might seem fine, it is just a few miles and it may be not really exhausting to get there, but what about walking back home with full jerry can which can suddenly weight a few pounds? And what is even worse is the fact that water is turbid and it´s probably just from some river.
According to the latest statistics, there are around 650 million people who don´t have access to clean drinking and safe water sources. Most of them still use turbid water from rivers or lakes for cooking, drinking, washing up and other hygiene things. It mostly leads to bad hygiene conditions - families tend to be more sick or affected by illnesses which could be easily prevented by using safe water sources. It is known that around 1,5 million people die every year because they simply don´t have access to clean drinking water or basic sanitation. The most vulnerable are children who might suffer from absolutely banal sicknesses, such as diarrhea or stomachache. More than a half a million children die because of lack of drinking water or water sources every year.
Apart from unsafe water sources, there is another problem - many people simply lack basic hygiene habits. Especially in the remote and poor areas it is not very well known that washing your hands before eating is just a basic things everybody should know and practise. And this is just one of the basic habits which can help them to improve and save their health condition. Many people, especially girls and women suffer from lack of separated bathrooms or toilets. Unfortunately, a sad fact is that if girls don´t have access to separated bathrooms, they are very often mugged and abused, what means that they are then embarrassed by others. Actually this is also one of the reasons why many families, especially mothers, refuse to let their girls go to school. They either worry about their safety or they want their daughters to stay at home and help them to carry water from the nearest water source.
Access to clean drinking water is one of the basic human rights. Clean drinking water should not be only privilege of rich continents or countries, but also people from worse living conditions should have chance to have it. Better hygiene conditions, clean drinking water, better bathrooms - this all can improve living conditions of people all around the world. In the following years, there is a plan to improve access to water sources in the most vulnerable and affected areas. Schools should have new basic separated bathrooms for girls and boys. There has been a huge improvement in last 15 years in this issue and area, so it is expected that the number will have been lower by 2030.
Source - OSN
