“During the floods, we saw funerals for women who’d died of snakebites,” says Jaya Menon, a Catholic Relief Services staffer working in India during severe floods of autumn 2010. “The women had to wait till evening to go to the bathroom outside, and in the dark, they couldn’t see the snakes.”

CRS projects that build toilets or bathing spaces aren’t very glamorous, but they save lives. They also make women’s lives easier in places where using the great outdoors as a bathroom is dangerous. In some places, catastrophes like floods destroy existing outhouses and people must answer nature’s call wherever they have escaped to. Floods also bring out snakes; the combination of darkness and poisonous reptiles can be deadly.
(more…)

Benjamin Krause, a CRS International Development Fellow in Ethiopia, sends in this story from Ethiopia.

Ethiopia has been one of the countries hit hardest by climate change. Today, though, a different kind event is creating a localized and unseasonable weather pattern: It’s raining in the dry season because we just struck water!

The ‘rain’ falling down all around us is gushing forth from nearly 1,000 feet underground thanks to one of CRS’ newest drill rigs.
(more…)

“It’s like the heart. If this stops pumping, the whole body dies.”

Looking at one of his village’s new tap stands, the Afghan man smiled. His life—and his neighbors’ lives—had been transformed by the installation of a pipe system that provided clean, drinkable water to hundreds of people.
In the remote province of Ghor in Afghanistan, villagers must work hard to get clean water, especially in the summer. Women in small villages like Akhtakhana Bala must walk down to a valley to get water, carrying it back up in vessels on their heads.
(more…)

March 22 is World Water Day. With two thirds of the earth under water, you might not think we’d need a day to remind us that millions of people don’t have anywhere near enough of it.

On the 22nd, we’ll publish a World Water Day page with stories, video, and other features about the state of water needs. Until then, each day this week, we’re posting one fact about water that you might not be aware of.

Today’s fact: Each $1 investment in basic water and sanitation services is estimated to return $5 – $28 in economic benefits.

You can learn more about World Water Day here.

March 22 is World Water Day. With two thirds of the earth under water, you might not think we’d need a day to remind us that millions of people don’t have anywhere near enough of it.

On the 22nd, we’ll publish a World Water Day page with stories, video, and other features about the state of water needs. Until then, each day this week, we’re posting one fact about water that you might not be aware of.

Today’s fact: 900 million people don’t have access to an improved supply of water.

You can learn more about World Water Day here.

March 22 is World Water Day. With two thirds of the earth under water, you might not think we’d need a day to remind us that millions of people don’t have anywhere near enough of it.

On the 22nd, we’ll publish a World Water Day page with stories, video, and other features about the state of water needs. Until then, each day this week, we’re posting one fact about water that you might not be aware of.

Today’s fact: Nearly 50% of people in developing countries currently suffer from a water and sanitation-related disease (dysentery, typhoid fever, cholera, intestinal worms, etc).

You can learn more about World Water Day here.

March 22 is World Water Day. With two thirds of the earth under water, you might not think we’d need a day to remind us that millions of people don’t have anywhere near enough of it.

On the 22nd, we’ll publish a World Water Day page with stories, video, and other features about the state of water needs. Until then, each day this week, we’re posting one fact about water that you might not be aware of.

Today’s fact: In the U.S., nearly 100% of people have multiple taps and flush toilets inside their homes. In Sub-Saharan Africa, less than 30% have running water and sanitation available.

You can learn more about World Water Day here.

March 22 is World Water Day. With two thirds of the earth under water, you might not think we’d need a day to remind us that millions of people don’t have anywhere near enough of it.

On the 22nd, we’ll publish a World Water Day page with stories, video, and other features about the state of water needs. Until then, each day this week, we’re posting one fact about water that you might not be aware of.

Today’s fact: Water has both a physical and spiritual dimension. It is essential for life and all major religions have a spiritual link between faith and water.

You can learn more about World Water Day here.