The cost of dirty water
In rural Nigeria, water comes with a twist of cholera or a hint of typhoid. Poor families are paying the highest price for this cocktail of ill health.
Within weeks of moving to her new home in Mabudi, a weeping rash spread across Marta’s body and she was hospitalised with dysentery. Within a year, both her sons contracted Hepatitis B, and her youngest nearly died from cholera.
The cause? Dirty water.
Mabudi is in Nigeria’s Plateau State, an area often hit by long, decimating droughts. The village dam is the only water source for miles around, serving around 10,000 local residents and five nearby villages. The water table is so low that wells and boreholes can’t operate.
Marta took on two jobs and got a loan to pay for medical treatment as the costs mounted. “I was too sick to carry water so I had to pay for delivery,” she says. “Then there’s transport to hospital, antibiotics, missed wages...I could go on.”
We’re turning dirty water into clean water
This is the true cost of dirty water. But thanks to your support, we’re making a difference. We fund a clean water project in Nigeria, run by the Catholic Church. So far, we’ve provided filters which prevent waterborne disease to 75 families in Marta’s village.
Our water filters use sand, charcoal and gravel. Unlike other filtration methods they do not require chemicals or electricity. Effective, cheap and easy to maintain, they can – and do – save lives.
“The filters work because they are simple,” says project director Sister Esther Shebi. “You don’t have to be a scientist to see what clean water looks like.” She points at two glasses of water: one brown and full of sediments; the other crystal clear. “Which would you rather drink?”
Last year, for a small deposit, Marta received a water filter. “It’s the best money I have ever spent,” she says. “My children are back at school, I am back at work. My family is healthy and strong again.”
Water filters cost a fraction of the cost of dirty water. Please help us change more lives.
