Health and water
![Odetta Myambo, 9 yrs. The children of Kalisowe go to the radio interactive school [Caroline Irby]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/where-we-work/zambia/images/odetta-myambo-in-kalisowe/780048-1-eng-GB/odetta-myambo-in-kalisowe_1column50_12space_landscape.jpg)
Millions in poor countries are underweight and more than three million children die each year as a result.
Many deaths are caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation, mainly through infectious diarrhoea – and around 90% are children from developing countries.
Odetta Myambo’s family in Zambia used to have to walk for more than fours hours to collect heavy buckets of water and she had no time for her school studies.
Even after all their effort, they could not collect sufficient water to drink, water their crops and animals, and it was often dirty.
Odetta and her brothers and sisters were always at risk of serious illness, such as diarrhoea, but now they have all the clean, safe water they need. “It’s good having the water taps near my house,” says Odetta (pictured) with a big smile.
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