HOTLINE - week of March 28, 2005

Church World Service extends you warm wishes for a blessed Easter season.

Some 1.1 billion people are without clean water or have no local access to water. Acquiring water remains a grueling chore in the developing world, especially for women and children.

World Water Day (March 22) marked the launch of the "Water for Life" decade, in which the international community will work to cut in half the number of people without access to safe water. In the spirit of this goal, Church World Service is continuing its commitment to provide clean, easily-accessible sources of water for vulnerable communities.

For example, in Pakistan, some 1,350 women in 15 drought-affected villages in the Mirpurkas district are learning how to harvest and store rainwater for clean drinking water through a program of CWS and the Lower Sindh Rural Development Association. The women's extended families – about 3,150 people – are benefiting from the project.

Mirpurkas is a very poor district and suffers frequent droughts. The women have to walk long distances for even a pitcher of water, and then the sources are old and brackish or often polluted with chemical fertilizers. Drinking this water causes health problems such as cholera, gastroenteritis, and diarrhea.

The women are learning how to collect rainwater into large tanks that are made from brick, plaster, and plastic sheeting. Locally-made pumps are installed so the women can access filtered – drinkable -- water from the tanks. The women are also learning how to clean and maintain the tank and pumps on a regular basis.

In Uganda, 840 rural peasant families near the town of Alube in Nebbi district are participating in a clean water project.

Alube has many water sources, but all are dirty and unsafe for human consumption. The families are collecting rocks, sand, and other natural materials needed to construct protection around eight springs and wells, with the help of CWS and our partner, the Church of Uganda. CWS is helping to provide technical and skilled labor, along with building materials -- cement, water pipes, and tools – to construct protective aprons around the springs.

The Alube families are also learning about water hygiene, clean home management, and management of the environment around them. As the families consume clean, safe water, they will experience fewer waterborne ailments, and have more strength to undertake income generating projects.

In northern Laos, CWS is helping rural communities and primary school students to have access to clean water.

Laos is one of the poorest countries in Asia. It is estimated that 60% of the population lacks access to clean water -- in rural, mountainous areas 85%. Some 90% of rural people suffer from intestinal infections and parasites.

The CWS water systems consist of a clean spring-fed water source with tubing carrying the water to a tank at a village or school. Many of these water systems are at CWS-supported boarding schools. Local communities are organized and mobilized to help in the construction of the water systems.

The well projects are also providing villagers with skills in water system construction and maintenance as well as some trouble-shooting and repair capabilities. The villagers are learning to improve the health and sanitation in their own villages, and becoming artisans and construction helpers for clean water systems in other parts of northern Laos.

As part of the "Water for Life" decade, Church World Service is creating a resource series on water. More information.

Your prayers and support - and your participation in CROP WALKS and the TOOLS & BLANKETS Program - make possible these and other life sustaining programs. For information on how to get involved, please call your Church World Service/CROP Regional Office toll-free at 1-888-CWS-CROP, that's 1-888-297-2767.

For information about free loan videos, please call 1-800-297-1516, ext. 338, or e-mail us at: videos@churchworldservice.org.

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