Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada partner with SOPAR - a Canadian international development organization - to bring upon change.
It’s hard to believe but close to 800 million people on our planet do not have an easy access to drinking water. What does this mean? It means that these people walk long distances every day to fetch water. It might be 1, 3, or 5km. Back and forth. And back again to get some more. The water they collect is often contaminated leading to an array of diseases and health issues. The World Health Organization says that 340 000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases due to unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and poor hygiene. Many water sources in the villages where SOPAR works face an extra challenge: they contain quantities of fluoride that surpass acceptable limits. Prolonged consumption of such water is known to cause serious damage to bones, joints and teeth.
Access to water is one of SOPAR's key programs. Our goal is to raise awareness on health and hygiene issues related to water. We help villagers get an easy access to water by building borewells and by installing water purification systems in needy villages.
Laxmi, pictured to the left, is one of the children touched by our Water Program. Laxmi lives in a small village in India’s state of Andhra Pradesh. She is 14 years old. Neighbors say that she is a brilliant and hardworking girl. She loves going to school and dreams of becoming a teacher.
Laxmi is an only child. She helps her mother with all the house choirs. Her biggest task is fetching water. Up until now, she was going to draw water from a well located 2 kilometers from the village. She had to do several trips every day to get enough water for her family’s needs. To arrive in time for school, Laxmi had to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning. Most days the queue at the well was very long and she would arrive 1 or 2 hours late at school.
Up to now, SOPAR has helped more 3 million villagers like Laxmi to get an easy and affordable access to water. But that is not all…
We believe people must participate actively and take ownership in all stages of their development, from needs assessment to finding solutions for their own problems. At SOPAR, it’s more than just building a well… We get villagers to invest time, energy and money in their projects. We support the creation of elected local committees that play a determining role in the projects’ management. And so, our Water Program acts as a catalyst in communities. Mobilized, trained, and proud, villagers are inspired to lead other needed development initiatives in their community. - Janice Aubry, Program Manager
