1 February 2010
Incidents of waterborne illness are being radically reduced in Afghanistan thanks to the work of Tearfund’s Disaster Management Team.
Locals in two areas, Kapisa and Jawzjan provinces, are enjoying better health due to projects that are improving the water supply.
The introduction of biosand water filters has been cited by one doctor in Kapisa as a big factor in the reduction he’s seeing of sickness cases.
The filters are being used by more than 3,400 households to treat drinking water and are proving highly effective at removing bacteriological contamination.
They work by using layers of sand and gravel to filter water and can remove parasites such as cryptosporidium and giardia cysts which cause diarrhoea, particularly in young children.
Like all good inventions, biosand filters are straightforward to use. After training by Tearfund staff, families are able to maintain them themselves.
Less pain
Over the course of a working day, each filter can produce 240 litres of clean water, enough to cater for the daily drinking, cooking and dishwashing needs of a family of six.
Tearfund’s Zekarias Asfaw Shenkut says the filters are bringing more than health benefits to communities:
‘People are saying they are now able to save more money because they are spending less on medicines for water-related illnesses which are very common in Kapisa and Jawzjan,’ he said.
‘Recently a Mullah was saying that his kidney stone problem is becoming less painful and probably this is highly linked to the reduction of the turbidity of the water that he’s drinking from the filters.
‘The demand for filters and the benefit they are giving to households is increasing in all the project areas that Tearfund is introducing them.’
• Give thanks that thousands of ordinary Afghans are enjoying better health because their drinking water is safer.
• Pray that Tearfund will have the resources to extend this water project to benefit more people.
• Continue to pray for improved security in Afghanistan so aid work can flourish and lift people out of poverty.