Shockingly, around 1,000 children die every day from lack of access to clean water, unsafe sanitation and unhealthy hygiene. This week, pray for new ideas and opportunities to bring lasting water, sanitation and hygiene improvements to communities across the world.
Sunday 22 March
‘We used to wake up early around 5am to fetch water, and sometimes children would fall ill with bilharzia [a life-threatening waterborne disease] because the water was unsafe,’ explains Prudence from Zimbabwe. Lord, we ask for the provision of clean water for people like Prudence. Amen.
Monday 23 March
A new piped-water system in Prudence’s community is bringing safe, clean water to more than 1,500 people. ‘Most of us now have access to clean water,’ Prudence says. ‘My children often used to miss school just to help me fetch water. But now, with abundant water available, we’ve started nutrition garden projects.’ Praise God that her children can now go to school. Lord, may this transformation multiply and impact many more communities. Amen.
Tuesday 24 March
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, many families are now returning to their homes and finding that water and sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed. Tearfund is exploring new low-cost sanitation solutions so that families can have safe and hygienic latrines. Pray for innovative solutions to tackle the sanitation crisis.
Wednesday 25 March
Approximately 1.5 billion people still don’t have their own toilet. Tearfund’s Toilet Twinning (toilettwinning.org) programme invites people to twin their toilet with a toilet in a community supported by Tearfund’s work, helping to provide sustainable and life-transforming access to safe water, sanitation and healthy hygiene. Pray that more people and organisations will twin their toilets.
Thursday 26 March
Rev Donna Williams was so inspired by seeing a Toilet Twinning certificate in her friend’s bathroom, she set up a fundraiser to see how many toilets they could twin. ‘We came up with a game where people had to pay to throw loo rolls through a toilet seat we’d hung up.’ Praise God for people like Donna, finding innovative ways to fund sanitation.
Friday 27 March
‘We spent more time looking for water than working in the garden,’ says 59-year-old widow Korka from Mali. Korka depends on her garden to feed her family, but with the traditional wells mostly dried up or producing unsafe water, the search for water was exhausting. Lord, we lift up to you women like Korka, facing water scarcity every day. Amen.
Saturday 28 March
Praise God that everything changed when Tearfund’s partner listened to the voices of the women and built a solar-powered water system, providing water for household needs and for agriculture. ‘It was a relief for us women,’ says Korka. ‘The water is available at any time, and even those who left their gardens have returned.’
