Living water

Hayley Still introduces the 2023 Helping-Hand Appeal

WHAT do you do when you are thirsty? For many of us, the answer is simple: we turn on the tap and out streams a seemingly unlimited supply of clean, safe water. But this is not the case for everyone.

Water scarcity is a growing issue with 1.42 billion people – including 450 million children – living in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability.

Around the world, The Salvation Army is present in many communities where people feel the impacts of water scarcity daily. One such place is the Karonga district in northern Malawi. Here, The Salvation Army has worked alongside community members to find a solution to the water and sanitation crisis. As a result, a large-scale water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash) project has been established.

One element of this far-reaching, integrated project is the construction of boreholes. Without a borehole, women and girls have to wake early to collect water from the nearest stream or river – a water source that’s shared with animals and easily becomes contaminated. A local borehole means that they can draw clean water more quickly and efficiently. This has not only led to a reduction in cholera, diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases, but it has also had positive impacts on the lives of women and girls.

They previously had to walk through wooded areas, thick with trees and bushes, to collect water – the threat of violence and sexual assault was ever present along the route. Additionally, the high demand for the water, which was collected by scooping from shallow pools in the riverbed, meant that it often became busy and they had to get up early to beat the queues.

An accessible borehole, constructed in an open space alongside the houses, means that women and girls need no longer wake up early and gather water in fear. The borehole is centrally located and only a short walk from home for lots of them. The time that has been freed up simply through the installation of this local supply means women can