03/12/2020
March is Water & Sanitation Month
By Kelly Gaines on Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Water! Most of us in the U.S. don’t really think about water much except maybe when we get our water bill or when we have had a drought. How fortunate that to get safe, clean drinking water (or water to wash our hands, flush our toilets, take a shower, or cook with) is just a turn of a k**b away. As the Executive Director of TanzaCare, I have seen first-hand the trials and tribulations that people go through to get water; women and children walking several hours a day to get water that most of us would not feed to our pets. We have lost children to crocodiles and hippos while they fetched water from rivers. Indeed, this is not as simple or as safe as turning a k**b!
I am writing this article to bring attention to Rotary’s Water and Sanitation Month and TanzaCare’s fundraiser on March 14 to raise funds to build a well. We assume that clean water is a basic human right, but that is not the case for the 748 million people that don’t have access to clean drinking water. Each day, nearly 1,000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrheal diseases.
In the remote areas that TanzaCare works in, all of our students live in mud huts with no electricity, little food, and no safe drinking water. The women and children walk close to two hours daily to fetch water to drink, cook, and bathe with, carrying the heavy buckets on their heads. The water source is not sanitary (please watch video).
TanzaCare is currently fundraising to build a well at our partner school, Kwachigwe, in Tanzania, Africa. I am pleased and honored that Meck-South Rotary is part of this effort. We work diligently with the stakeholders to create a sustainable program that includes sanitation and hygiene education as well as maintenance and longevity of the bore hole and well. When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly, and mothers can spend less time carrying water and more time helping their families.
If you would like to help, please join us, this Saturday, March 14, 2020 at 7:00pm for our Casino Night Fundraiser. This is going to be an AWESOME night! There will be great prizes, a phenomenal silent auction, fantastic food from Brios, Tzatzikis, and Johnson & Whales, wine & beer, and of course fun Casino Games!! But best of all, you will help provide clean water to hundreds of children and their families! Sign up here