PCI Fights for Clean Water in Tanzania: The Babati Health Through Water & Sanitation Project

By Janna Smith, PCI Intern

“We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking-water, sanitation and basic health care.”

Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General

Lack of immediate access to water can have adverse effects on the health and development of a community, and especially affects the women and children of the community. In many parts of Tanzania, women and children spend an average of 6-8 hours per day accessing clean water. This can prevent some children, especially girls, from attending school, since water is usually collected by girls. Traversing long distances also leads to more danger for women and girls- including sexual assault, and rape. Children also frequently miss school due to illness, stemming not only from water-borne diseases, but also from walking long distances without shoes.

PCI has been working for many years in the area of water, sanitation, and environmental health. We have found that freeing up time for women and girls who spend hours each day collecting water positively impacts their health, education, and overall well-being, which in turn leads to positive community development and capacity building.

We firmly believe that community involvement is crucial to the success of our programs. Collaborating with community leaders is an essential part of the process to assess local needs and make decisions that would best benefit the local people. To this end, PCI has teamed up with the district council in Babati, a region in north-eastern Tanzania, and another community-based organization called ADRA/Tanzania to implement our newest water and sanitation project, called the Babati Health Through Water and Sanitation Project, funded by the Starbucks Foundation-Ethos Water Fund. This project will provide safe water for at least 30,000 people in the Babati region of Tanzania, as well as education programs for better sanitation and hygiene practices to mitigate the incidence of water-borne diseases. The project will also build rainwater harvest systems in schools within the area, so that children will have access to clean water while they are in school.

PCI has carried out successful water and sanitation projects in Central America, India, and Indonesia, and hopes to add Tanzania to the list of sustainable water projects in which women and children especially reap the benefits.

WATER IS LIFE

Access to basic water supply and sanitation services are increasingly acknowledged as fundamental for health and development, and are being increasingly accepted as a fundamental human right. In observance of World Water Day on March 22, 2008, I thought I’d share some interesting facts about this basic necessity that can help translate the global problem into terms that are a bit more easily digestible:

• A person can live about a month without food, but only about a week without water.


• A human being needs about .5 to 1.5 gallons of drinking water - which weighs from 4.5 to 11 lbs - per person per day to maintain health. Imagine carrying enough water to meet your family’s needs every day.


• Did you know the average girl/woman in Nicaragua spends 6 hours a day obtaining water? By bringing water to her household, 10 years of her life (6 hours day times 365 days times 40 years) can be freed up to be much better spent on other things such as education, economic development, and improving health.


• A third of the Earth’s population lives in “water-stressed” countries and that number is expected to rise dramatically over the next two decades.


• We use an average of nearly 40 gallons of water per person each day in our homes; our great grandparents managed with under 5 gallons.


• Many people in the world exist on 2.5 gallons of water or less each day. Our toilets can use that amount in one flush.

So what can you do??? Here are a few concrete ways you can immediately get involved:

• Join PCI and other organizations to participate in the Walk for Water that will take place in LA, Seattle and NYC on Saturday, March 22.


• Join the Virtual Walk for Water and your name will be included in a symbolic water jug to be carried by a participant in one of the local Walk for Water events.


• Create a Water Advocate page and tell the world why the cause matters to you.

Over one billion people on the planet lack access to clean, safe water. Let’s take this opportunity to effect change and make a positive contribution toward addressing the problem – one family, one village, one community at a time.