March 22-26 is World Water Week. March 22 was World Water Day. Organizations devoted to providing clean water are asking people to add the event to their Facebook and Twitter pages for the week to raise awareness of the need for clean water for health, life and economic reasons.
From The Huffington Post
A stroll in New York City only 150 years ago would have left your shoes covered with human waste.
This was feces literally thrown into the streets from the windows of mansions and middle and working class homes alike. Cities grew dense amidst the industrial revolution and waterborne diseases such as cholera were rampant. Only in the 19th century did people begin to understand germ theory. They soon discovered the link between water, sanitation and disease. And as society began to view such conditions as signs of poor social and environmental conditions, things started to change.
We have forgotten, but March 22 is our chance to remember. Clean water is worth celebrating. When you eliminate preventable death and disease, a whole new world is possible. This is why people all over the world are joining together to celebrate World Water Day (WWD) on March 22.
In India, lives have changed so dramatically that over 20,000 women spend an entire day coming together from slums and villages in Tamil Nadu to make a statement. Because it’s not just water — it’s increased income, it’s time free from collecting water, it’s the chance for children to attend school, it’s improved health, safety, privacy, and security. It’s a life saved. It’s a family preserved. Its an entirely simple act — some might say, a human right — that triggers a restoration of dignity and a triumph of possibility.
To add your Facebook page or Twitter account to One Week for Water click here.
You can donate to clean water projects at Episcopal Relief and Development.
Last year for World Water Day The Lead wrote this.