Water is an essential need in a human’s life. Without water, humans can’t exist. The world celebrated world water day on 22nd March, 2018. The world is still battling with the global need for clean water, proper sanitation and hygiene. One in ten people lack access to clean drinking water in the world. 1000 children die annually due to water related diseases from lack of clean water . Water has been a constant problem affecting most parts of the world. As part of the 2004 the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) number 6, stating availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. This issue may not have been fully addressed but is is encouraging to see how organizations are playing roles to curb this need.
In Kenya alone, 41% of the population do not have access to clean and safe drinking water. The Rural-Urban migration and unpredictable cycles of flooding and drought has contributed to imbalance in clean water in delivery of clean water throughout the country.
P&G in conjunction with NatGeo wild have been working and still working towards providing clean and safe drinking water for all. They came up with a documentary called Transformation of water, pushing #PowerOfClean. The documentary is part of Children’s Safe Drinking Water programme. Till present, through the programme, P&G has provided 13 billions of clean water to over 92 countries across all continents around the world. P&G in conjunction with NatGeo Wild, sample cases of three families: Veronika Petra from Malaka , Indonesia; Mary Anyango from Migori, Kenya; Antonia Karina from Oaxaca, Mexico.
Veronika, Mary and Antonia are part of the many families lacking clean water for consumption. The available water sources are rivers and wells . The water they access is not safe for human consumption because it is usually contaminated by chemical wastes, fecal waste ,animals and human bathing in the water. They have suffered first hand in suffering water borne diseases, and lacked social growth. In their quest of treating the water how best they know through boiling, they contributed to environmental degradation. For water to boil, they needed a lot of firewood. This thus took up their production time that should have been used to create income, and affected study time for student Veronika .
The thirsty, school going children really didn’t bother about clean or safe water. All they had in mind is quenching their thirst. With them drinking the contaminated water, their immunity was really affected. The numbers of absenteeism was high, learning had to slow down in these communities. With a sickly community, social growth was not being experienced thus major contributor to poor communities.
Water is life’s matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water. ~Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Proctor and Gamble launched Children’s Safe Drinking Water programme since the year 2004. P&G invested in scientific technology that purified water to clean and safe for human consumption. P&G packaged the powder in to a 4grams water purification sachets. 1 sachet can easily purify and clean 10 liters of water. The sachet works within 30 minutes. 5 minutes are spent on a stirring, the water is then let to rest for another 5 minutes. After the residue has settled down, the water is sieved into a clean container through a clean well woven cotton cloth. This separates the residue from the treated water. The sieved treated water stands for 20 minutes and it’s ready for Drinking. 10 liters of drinking water easily lasts a family of 5 people for a day.
P&G water purification sachets , through the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water program, have been distributed to 92 countries in the World, including Kenya, Indonesia and Mexico. Veronika, Mary and Antonia are among the many communities that has benefited by receiving the P&G water purifier sachets. Provision of clean drinking water has economically improved their lives. The time spent to gather firewood has been converted to time to be spent by family, business and friends.
Water is equally crucial to human lives as education, nutrition, health and economic development of the community.
