2018 has just come to a close, signaling another successful year for the Well Aware team. Since our start in 2010, we have implemented projects in 59 communities with a 100% success rate and affected more than 245,000 lives across East Africa by bringing a sustainable source of clean water to their area.
With clean water, more kids have the time to get an education, risk of hunger and malnutrition decreases and drinking water is more readily available. However, one effect of access to clean water that is sometimes overlooked is sanitation.
Findings by the United Nations on this relationship are staggering. According to their estimates, 1,000 kids die each day due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrheal diseases. This is partly due to the fact that 80% of wastewater from human activities is put back into rivers and the sea without any treatment for pollution. At the same time, 4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation facilities, such as adequate hand-washing stations and toilets. Because of this, at least 892 million people still practice open defecation.