Here are Some Interesting and Flat-out Amazing Water Facts . . .

While there actually is a World Water Day (March 22nd), I do believe any day is an excellent time for us to think about water, so, as you go through this day, fix and eat your dinner and spend time with your family, consider the following information about water from water.org . . . 

• Do you have a cell phone? More people in the world own cell phones than have access to a toilet.
• The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
• A bathtub holds 151L of water - someone living in a slum may have 30L of water to use for their needs all day long.
• Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of death among children under five globally. Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. 
• Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease.
• In just one day, more than 200 million hours of women’s time is consumed for the most basic of human needs — collecting water for domestic use. This lost productivity is greater than the combined number of hours worked in a week by employees at Wal*Mart, United Parcel Service, McDonald’s, IBM, Target, and Kroger.
• At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. 

Water.org says, "We believe water is the best investment the world can make to improve health, help empower women, enable access to education, increase family income, and change lives. Yet 2.1 billion people lack access to safe water. Water connects every aspect of life. Access to safe water and sanitation can quickly turn problems into potential – empowering people with time for school and work, and contributing to improved health for women, children, and families around the world. Today, 2.1 billion people – 1 in 4 – lack access to safe water and 3.4 billion people – 2 in 5 – lack access to a safe toilet. These are the people we help empower."  

Stop and think about it for just a moment. How far did you walk this morning to find the water you needed for brushing your teeth, showering and making coffee? A few steps? In many parts of the world people have to walk as many as 12 miles each way to fetch water for themselves and their families. We "use more water in a single toilet flush than the average person in Africa uses in an entire day."

Do your children/grandchildren go to school? In many places around the world, "More than 1 million people die each year from lack of access to safe water and sanitation, and every 2 minutes a child dies from a water or sanitation-related disease. Access to safe water and sanitation improves health and helps families protect themselves from illness and disease. It means reduced child and maternal mortality rates. It means improved hygiene, privacy, and safety for women and girls. It means reduced physical injury from constant lifting and carrying heavy loads of water. Now more than ever, access to safe water is critical to the health of families around the world." 

I did not realize these things. Yes, I knew finding and having access to clean, safe water was a huge problem around the world, but I had no idea the scope of the problem, so I spent some time researching about the water crisis and learned the following from water.org:

• The root problem will always be dirty water. It causes a life characterized by sickness, poverty, illiteracy, and early death. 
• When dirty water is replaced with clean water, everything changes. High mortality rates drop because babies no longer suffer from parasites and diarrhea. 
• Children become healthy enough to attend school and they have the time to do so without long walks to a water source. Some may eventually attend a university where they will receive a higher education, bringing hope to their villages and communities. 
• There is more food from gardens and irrigated land. Livestock is healthier and provides better meat. Families eat what they need and can sell what is left at the market.
• Productivity increases, poverty decreases, and children’s lives are transformed.

So, given these water facts, how can you involve your children and Put Feet to Their Faith with water.org? Consider these ideas as a place to begin . . . 

• Consider purchasing bottles of water and then have a label design contest among your family and friends to design your own labels. Provide crayons, markers and name badge  labels so children can decorate labels to put on each bottle of water. Sell the water bottles and send the money to water.org.
• Make "drops of water" stress balls by filling blue balloons with rice or sand - use the top portion of a water bottle as a funnel to fill balloons. Sell your "water drops" and send the money to water.org.

We can make a difference in this world by helping to meet the most basic and essential need we all have -access to clean, safe water. When we provide opportunities for our children to serve others they are "Putting Feet to Their Faith" - when they do this they move their faith from something they "know" to something they "live"!

Today’s water crisis is not an issue of scarcity, but of access. Make this day matter for someone in the developing world who needs clean water. Check out water.org web site at this link for more ways you can help.