What better time than the holidays to rethink the value of a gift?  As developed nations prepare their shopping lists, millions of children in under developed nations are still lacking the most essential necessity for life— clean water.

Children in poor countries often have up to 1,000 parasitic worms in their body due to lack of clean drinking water. A five minute shower in America requires more water than a typical person in the developing world uses in one day according to statistics by Water.org. Some of these children will not live to see Santa Clause coming to town. You can change that.

Water.org is a non-profit organization that was co-founded by actor Matt Damon and social entrepreneur Gary White. This holiday, Water.org is offering seasonal shoppers the opportunity to give two of life’s greatest gifts, health and hygiene.

Nicole Wickenhauser is the Sr. Communications and Development Manager of Water.org. In a telephone interview, Wickenhauser told WaterWideWeb, “You can change someone’s life with just a $25 donation”.

Please watch the video of Water.org’s work in Bangledesh here

Donations from holiday givers to Water.org are allocated to community water projects in South East Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Investing in health and hygiene this holiday season is a dual offense to combating mortality rates from water-borne diseases in the developing world.

Research from Water.org concludes that almost one billion people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water, while 2.5 billion people do not have access to a toilet. Research also indicates that lack of sanitation is the world’s leading causes of infections.  A majority of the world’s illnesses are caused by fecal matter. The cholera outbreak in Haiti is an unfortunate example of the dire consequences witnessed when proper programs are not instituted to keep drinking water and sanitation systems to separate.

Water needs and sustainable solutions to meet those needs vary according to the region and community serviced. Water.org works with local partners who can identify a community’s specific needs and trouble shoot methods to meet them appropriately. These local partners are trained on maintenance repairs and other services needed to maintain the operation of the water service after it is implemented.

“We conduct surveys to ensure that projects are effective. We follow up on our programs and monitor the water point’s functionality at all times,” said Wickenhauser. Efforts launched by Water.org include education on hygiene practices and their link to public health. Informing community members on the importance of hand washing and other personal hygiene regimens goes hand in hand with addressing underlying issues like infection and mortality.

In the developing world, 90 percent of deaths from diarrheal diseases occur in children under 5 years-old. For them, holiday will not be the fan fare that other people enjoy. This holiday, consider a giving the gift of health and hygiene to children who can’t live another day without it.

The water crisis causes more deaths than wars cause fatalities. Individually, we may not have the ability to bring peace to warring nations, but we do have a chance to save more lives than on the battlefield. As a holiday gift, it is the gift of life.  

What’s on your holiday list this season?

Would you consider investing in health and hygiene?

Other articles on WaterWideWeb.org that you may enjoy:

Student NGO Builds Wells in India

Bridging Water and Education in Kenya

UNICEF Targets Latino Community in Awareness Campaign

Repairing Water Wells in Africa

Please read WaterWideWeb.org’s newest series on Nautical Archaeology:

Part I-Nautical Archaeology Threatened by Trawling

Part II-UNESCO Works to Preserve Nautical Archaeology

*All media in this article was provided by Water.org