On this page you will find*:
Water Fun Facts; Simple Solutions; Sanitation; Water Resources Development; Hygiene Education; Two Main Parts of Hygiene Education; Children & Water; Benefits From Water,Sanitation & Hygiene; 3 stories about Kids like you!
Also try out the Special Activity;
And check out the Special Water Photo Gallery
(*Content for these sections has been modified from WaterAid information)
 |
FUN FACTS |
Did you know water had something to do with some kids going to school? What is the difference in the amount of water you use and another kid uses in another country? Check out some amazing stats...
| Did you know that the weight of water that women in Africa carry on their heads is about the same weight as the the luggage you check at the airport? That is about 20kg (44 lbs)! | Did you know that it is 12% more likely that kids will attend school if water is available within a 15 minute walk, rather than a 1 hour walk? |
| The simple act of washing hands with soap and water can reduce diarrhea diseases by over 40%. | 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe water. This is about 1/6 of the world’s population. |
| Did you know that the average person in the developing world uses 10 liters of water every day for their drinking, washing and cooking? This is the same amount used in 1 flush of a toilet! | Only 0.008% of the planet's water is available for human consumption, for things like drinking. This water is found in lakes, rivers and underground aquifers (ground water). |
Want to find out more fun facts that you can use to improve your knowledge? Check it out here.
Simple solutions to global problems
Did you ever think there was a reason you were told you to wash your hands? Here are a few simple things we should all think about when we are at home, at school and around town:
| The simple act of washing your hands regularly with soap and water can reduce diarrhea diseases by 1/3. |
Washing your face and hands regularly with clean water can prevent the spread of trachoma, the largest cause of preventable blindness in the developing world. |
Wearing shoes in latrines can stop hookworms penetrating the skin on people’s feet.  |
Sanitation – a dirty word? Sanitation can be an embarrassing subject. It can be a taboo, regarded with horror or ignored. It takes time to create an environment of trust where people will speak with complete strangers about such intimate matters as going to the toilet. This is why hygiene education is so important. |
Sanitation can be defined as access to a place where human waste is properly disposed. We usually call this a toilet or latrine. This needs to be a clean, private environment.
This is one step towards a community having access to clean water. There are many other ways a community can have a supply of safe drinking water. It is also important that adults and children have some hygiene education. Read more on both of these below.
Supplies of drinking water can be developed from a variety of different sources, and by a variety of different methods. Building rainwater storage tanks, digging wells or taking water from nearby lakes are just a few ways a community can get access to clean water. There also should be consideration of cost, maintenance and the people in the community.
How would you know that unclean water can make you sick, if you were never taught that before?
How do you teach people about how to get in the habit of washing their hands? How do you learn all the safe things you should do, like cooking your meat properly, or wearing shoes in a public toilet?
You can learn more with Hygiene Education!
Hygiene education encourages people to change their unsafe hygiene practices with simple, safe alternatives.
Most people are only too happy to use clean water for drinking, cooking and bathing, once it is readily available.
But there are also other hygiene practices that are crucial in preventing water- and sanitation-related diseases. Things like putting baby diapers or child waste (feces) in places away from food and water, having access to safe water storage, drinking clean (or purified, boiled, etc.) water, and cooking food until it is completely cooked, are a few good things to start with.
If you drink unclean water there is a chance you could get diseases like cholera, dysentery and typhoid. These result in 2 million deaths a year.
Do you know what bacteria causes these diseases? Did you know one of them can also be caused by an amoeba? You can read more by clicking here.
TWO MAIN PARTS OF HYGIENE EDUCATION
Hygiene education is about helping people to first understand how their water and food can get contaminated with harmful bacteria that makes them sick, and then what they can do to prevent getting sick. We all know it is not fun to be sick!
Understand - One big part of hygiene education is teaching people about how their water and food can get contaminated with harmful bacteria, and how that can make them sick. This is usually taught to adults and kids by explaining what the fecal-oral route is (how you may eat or drink contaminated food or water), and some ideas on how to stop this. Click on the picture below to read more about what this is.
From WaterAid
Prevent - Learning about things you can do to help prevent you from getting sick is the next step. These can be called Safe Hygiene Practices.
You can read all about the good habits and practices here. They are broken down into categories: Food, Water and Cleaning, Washing & Maintenance.
In many countries children, particularly girls, are responsible for the collection of water. Girls as young as 10 may take the main responsibility for drawing and carrying the family’s water.
The size of water container can vary according to the age of the child, but each liter of water still weighs 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) and may need to be carried for up to 5-6 km (3-4 miles). Where there is no clean water source available, they have to collect water from contaminated sources such as muddy pools, which harbor harmful bacteria.
Did you know that access to water also has impacts on kids health? and education? Did you know that health education can help keep kids healthy and in school? Read more about the Impact on Kid's Health, and the Impact on Kids's Education.
BENEFITS FROM WATER, SANITATION & HYGIENE
Although there are a lot of sicknesses and bad things when children and adults don't have access to clean water, there is some really good news. Once kids and adults have access to clean water, and better understand things they need to do to prevent getting sick, great things that start to happen. Kids get sick less, have more time to do things like study and help at home, and families have more time to spend together. This is all great news!
A long list of benefits is just a click away. We also explain a little bit about who WaterAid is.
3 STORIES ABOUT KIDS LIKE YOU! (From WaterAid)
Bad Water: Muhaba Kedir (says he is 11, but could be older).
I don’t think that this water is very good. When we drink it you can hear a sound in our stomachs. I think that this shows that there is some kind of worm in your stomach. You can see the worms in the water – when we try to collect water and clear them you can feel them bite your feet. I have seen many children bitten by worms here – their feet swell up and it is very painful for them.” |
Good Water: Umbechna Kana Katapazi Rural Health Centre, Zambia A borehole has recently been installed at the clinic and the borehole near the Katapazi primary school was rehabilitated in December 2002. “Every morning a group of six or seven of us come and get the water containers and then go to the borehole. We wash them – both inside and out – and then fill them and bring them here, so that we can use them throughout the day. This means we have less of a walk and can wash our hands or have a drink whenever we need to. We collect water for the school twice a day. Before, when we had to collect water from the stream, we didn’t feel comfortable. It wasn’t good water but now the water from the borehole is clean and is a much shorter distance for us to go. When we learn about good hygiene in school we go home and teach our parents the same things. We also tell our friends who aren’t able to come to school. It makes me happy that we can tell other people as it means that they are learning too. I want to be a nurse when I leave school. I am moved when I see people who are sick and would like to be able to help them.” |
Sanitation: Children at the Progynist training centre and school for those who cannot go to the state school Kebele 7, Ethiopia 7-14 year old school children pictured in their classrooms. The school has drama groups and classes where the children learn about sanitation and hygiene. The school has been here for two years and has 400 pupils who come on a shift system – some in the morning (8-11), some in the afternoon (12-13). 20% are boys and 80% are girls, as girls are especially targeted. They are given uniforms and exercise books from Progynist. Often this is their only chance of an education. Q: How many children wash their hands before going to the toilet? Q When should we wash our hands? |
The community members here currently all use the pond which is filthy and riddled with worms. Animals drink at the same source. 
Here is an activity that goes with a lesson you may do with your teacher. You can also try it on your own. Click on the link below.
How much water do you use every day? You can help the team prepare for their trip.
