Women and the Water Crisis

I planned to have Monday be the day to talk about water. My business name is Ritual Waters and I value water and the rituals surrounding bathing. Last week I wrote about the health benefits of drinking water. Today I want to talk about the present water crisis and how this affects women in particular.

The water crisis affects about one billion people mainly in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America. In these countries, women are responsible for finding and collecting the water for their families. Often they have to walk for miles and spend hours walking to and from the water’s location. They may carry jugs that can weigh up to 40 lbs. The water they collect can be contaminated as it is usually an open stream or river. The water that is gathered can possibly make one very sick because of this contamination. There is no choice as she and her family need the water for drinking – cooking – washing.

This crisis affects women and families in many ways. As girls get older they join their Mothers in gathering water and end up dropping out of school. In this way the girls remain stuck and uneducated due this fact of life. They then lack the education to be able to work themselves and get out of poverty. Women and girls risk gathering water that may be contaminated and promotes disease.

One additional issue that also affects women and girls in particular is adequate sanitation. Many women lack a toilet and in many countries it is not acceptable for women to relieve themselves during the day. They are forced to hold themselves until nightfall where they can have privacy. As a result, this puts an additional burden on their health and safety.

Almost half of all girls worldwide attend school with no toilets.

The information above was quoted from the site water.org .

Oher sites discussing this issue are below~

The Water Project      Try to watch this video for more information.

Women for Water

Won’t you please check these out and learn what you can do to help?