World Water Day 2016

The issue of clean water is close to my heart. It was the first global issue that I learned about. It was the subject of the first speech that I gave, the first campaign (We Create Change) that I got involved in and the first time that I saw that I could create change.

Learning about clean water was a big step in my journey as a change-maker. It made me realize how interconnected the really big issues are. I learned that access (or lack of access) to clean water impacts education and health – and this is especially true for women and children.

As I learned about water, I started to become a global citizen. I understood how lucky I am to have been born in Canada where my family and I are safe and healthy. I had never before considered it a privilege to turn on the tap to get a glass of water, take a shower or go swimming at the local community center pool.

To honour World Water Day 2016, I’ve gone to some of my favourite organizations and websites that work on water projects to put together 16 facts about water. They are shocking and overwhelming…but please read to the end…because there’s hope.

1. 663 million people – 1 in 10 – lack access to safe water. (water.org)
2. Globally, 1/3 of all schools lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation. (water.org)
3. Women and children spend 125 million hours each day collecting water. (water.org)
4. Diseases from dirty water kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. (Charity: Water)
5. 43% of those deaths are children under five years old. (Charity: Water)
6. Access to clean water and basic sanitation can save around 16,000 lives every week. (Charity: Water)
7. Only 0.007% of water on the planet is available for drinking. (Free The Children)
8. The average distance that someone in a developing community walks to fetch water is 3.75 miles. (Thirst Project)
9. When you fill a 5-gallon jerrycan with water, it weighs 44 pounds. (Thirst Project)
10. 80% of illnesses in the developing world are linked to poor water and sanitation. (Free The Children)
11. Unsafe water, and poor sanitation and hygiene kill an estimated 1.7 million people annually. (Free The Children)
12. Over 2.6 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation. Enough to circle the globe about 100 times, standing side-by-side. (Ryan’s Well)
13. With nearly half that number (1.2 billion), living without sanitation facilities at all. (Ryan’s Well)
14. Every 90 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease. (Charity: Water)
15. educing the distance to a water source from 30 minutes to 15 minutes increased girls’ school attendance by 12% (according to a study in Tanzania). (UN water)
16. YOU CAN DO SOMETHING.

YOU CAN DO SOMETHING.

I believe that the first step of doing something, is learning about an issue. Because you’re still with me here, you’ve just done that. If you want to learn more, please check out the organizations and websites where I pulled the above facts from.

Share what you know with others. This is a crucial step to creating change. When you share what matters to you with others, many of them will join you. Talk to your friends and family, your teachers and your classmates.

Get Social. Sharing about an issue that you care about on social media is a great way to use social media for good and raise awareness for something that you care about. Water.org has some great ways to help you get started using your voice to change the world. You can download covers for Facebook and Twitter and you can  donate your voice to help Water.org tell your followers on Twitter about the global water crisis.

Buy, wear and give products that support clean water projects from Me To We: Water Rafikis are only $10 and they provide clean water to a family for a month and check out the other awesome gifts from Me to We, like bracelets, necklaces and school supplies that all have water impacts.

Give what you can. In my first speech that I gave at a school assembly about how we can support clean water projects, I talked about what you can buy with $25 – a DVD, a video game, a pizza. That $25 can also provide clean water to someone for life with a donation to Free The Children.

Change the world on your birthday with Charity Water. I remember when he turned 17, Justin Bieber asked his friends, family and fans to donate to his Charity Water Birthday campaign and raised $47, 148. But it’s not just for celebrities – for his 6^th birthday, Lory asked his friends and family to each donate $6 and he raised $2,386 for clean water projects in Rwanda.

If I had to choose one thing that I have learned in my journey as a change-maker to share, it’s this: It all adds up. Every choice, action, donation that we each make – adds up to create change. No action or amount is too small to be counted. Just like it takes many drops of water to fill a glass, it takes many of us doing many things to change the world.