ADRAnews-0513
1/5/13
10:59 AM
Page 1
Winter 2012
Emeline would walk an hour, twice a day to collect water she knew would make her family sick. Now, clean water flows from 12 water points in her community.
In the rainy season they were forced further to the nearest river. By the river bank they would dig a hole, watching it fill with the water they needed to survive, but knew would likely make them sick. After an hour by the river, they would begin the arduous return journey.
Measuring the complex issue of poverty is difficult. One simple indicator is the distance you walk to collect water.
T
he further you have to walk for water, the more likely it is you face a broad range of issues associated with poverty – difficulty accessing education, reduced food sources, lower house-hold income and fewer opportunities to develop as a community. As you read step it out – how far do you have to walk? One meter, maybe six or seven but rarely more – unless your house is a mansion. The average distance for women and children, who in most cases collect the water, in Asia and Africa is 6km. For close to a billion people around the world this is a daily reality. But it’s not just in the far-flung corners of the globe. It is here, right in our own backyard. A one hour flight from Australian shores takes you to a country of extreme disadvantage – East Timor. Torn apart by civil war, East Timor has struggled to rebuild. Emeline* and her children would walk for an hour, twice a day to collect water from a shallow well, which testing found had e-coli levels ‘too numerous to count’. Together they would push a rusty wheel-barrow filled with jerry cans to gather the muddy, parasite laden water.
Skipping meals was a regular occurrence for Emeline and her family – collecting water simply took up too much time amongst all the other necessities. And to conserve what they did have, they would eat less, drink less and bathe less frequently. The combination of dirty water and compromised nutrition and sanitation led to constant illnesses. “We would all get sick at least once or twice a month,” Emeline recalls. “Diarrhoea, fevers, stomach upsets. When my husband was sick he couldn’t work. When the children were ill they couldn’t go to school.” These bouts of illness would last up to a week – meaning that each of Emeline’s
ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF AGENCY AUSTRALIA
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Walking for water
Together they would push a rusty wheelbarrow filled with jerry cans to gather the muddy, parasite laden water.