DJ and presenter Tyler West recently visited Zambia to mark his appointment as WaterAid's newest ambassador and the launch of Water Means Life.
“I recently returned from an inspiring and humbling visit to see for myself how living both with and without clean water impacts people in the Kazungula district of Zambia, southern Africa.
“Here, over 6 million people are living without clean water, and a staggering 12 million don’t have a decent toilet. Tragically, diseases caused by unclean conditions lead to the deaths of over 2,250 children under five each year. These deaths are totally preventable, and the fact that they’re still happening is just wrong.
“The Kazungula district is known in Zambia for producing most of the entire country’s cattle and chickens, and farming is what most people do here. They rely on the land – and on water – to thrive and prosper, but this is being threatened by the very real impacts of climate change, especially as less rain and longer dry seasons affect water supplies.
On my first day I met Brenda, who invited me to join her on the daily walk she does to collect water for her family. It was a two hour round trip to a hole in a dried-up river bed, where the water isn’t clean and can make her family sick. Brenda knows this but she has no choice.
She told me that the river used to have water, and that the rainy season would refill all the nearby rivers, but the rains were getting shorter. The knock-on effect of this is that Brenda has a longer walk during the dry season to find water for her family.
I couldn’t believe that this was her everyday existence, and that hours of her day were spent fetching water that wasn’t even clean. That’s time that could be better spent raising her children or earning a living.
"Brenda knows this but she has no choice. She told me that the river used to have water, and that the rainy season would refill all the nearby rivers, but the rains were getting shorter. The knock-on effect of this is that Brenda has a longer walk during the dry season to find water for her family.
“I also met Mr Owen, a teacher in a nearby school that was built by the local community. People here had very little, but they valued the importance of education and put what money and resources they did have towards building a school and paying the teacher themselves.
“But the school still doesn’t have clean water or decent toilets. The parents have raised enough to buy bricks for new latrines, but still need the funds to pay a builder to construct them. The children come to school with water from home if they have it – if not, they have to miss lessons to walk to a nearby river to collect some.
“Mr Owen told me that many children didn’t come to school each day, either because they were sick, or due to the lack of facilities for them at school. He couldn’t be the teacher he wanted to be because of the situation, and he felt like he was letting the children down. A school isn’t a school if it doesn’t have the basics of clean water and good hygiene. A child shouldn’t get sick just by going to school to get an education.
“I also met Mr Owen, a teacher in a nearby school that was built by the local community. People here had very little, but they valued the importance of education and put what money and resources they did have towards building a school and paying the teacher themselves.
“But the school still doesn’t have clean water or decent toilets. The parents have raised enough to buy bricks for new latrines, but still need the funds to pay a builder to construct them. The children come to school with water from home if they have it – if not, they have to miss lessons to walk to a nearby river to collect some.
“Mr Owen told me that many children didn’t come to school each day, either because they were sick, or due to the lack of facilities for them at school. He couldn’t be the teacher he wanted to be because of the situation, and he felt like he was letting the children down. A school isn’t a school if it doesn’t have the basics of clean water and good hygiene. A child shouldn’t get sick just by going to school to get an education.
“I went away that first day feeling conflicted. I had imagined what it must be like to not have clean water each day, to not be able to go to a tap and get a drink, or have a shower whenever I wanted, but I hadn’t realised all the other ripple effects it had on people’s lives. What I found upsetting was that, as welcoming as Brenda and Mr Owen had been, they had to accept a less than ideal situation that was severely impacting their lives, but they had no means to change it themselves. It was utterly heartbreaking.
“The next day I visited Simango Secondary School, where WaterAid worked in 2017 to build toilet blocks with handwashing facilities, install clean water taps around the school, and set up a hygiene club to educate about the importance of good hygiene.
There was such an energy and a buzz to the school. There was a real sense of positivity in the air, and a feeling of excitement from both the students and the teachers. It was so contagious that I was immediately excited myself to hear all about the changes the new facilities had brought for them.
“I met members of the hygiene club, who told me how they had learned how to avoid catching diseases by washing their hands properly, and that they were now sharing those good hygiene practices with their family and friends. They explained how having clean water at school meant that they no longer missed classes to go to the river to collect water, and that they were able to spend more time on their homework and studies. As a result, all of them were getting better grades.
“The girls told me the new toilets meant they felt safe and clean coming to school when they were on their period. Before the new facilities, the girls had to use nearby bushes – many simply stopped coming to school every month, which had a real impact on their education. Now, though, they’re all flourishing at school, and have the opportunity to make a better future for themselves.
“I also met Matildah, who breeds chickens for a living. WaterAid supported her community to install a water point in 2016, bringing in specialist equipment to dig a borehole and put an end to the days of having to walk two hours to a river to fetch water.
“The whole community was involved in the project, with some people receiving training on how to maintain and fix the water point themselves, and everyone learning about hygiene and how to build their own toilets. Now, everybody uses a latrine to go to the toilet, instead of going outside, and as a result, everyone’s health has improved.
“Matildah was so full of life and laughter as she told me how much she loved her chickens, and how they were thriving now she had enough clean water for them and her family. She now even earns enough money to send her children to the school in the nearest city for a better education.
“It was clear to me that everyone here was now enjoying a much better quality of life than before. A few simple changes had made all the difference in stopping the spread of disease that was holding back this community. Clean water points and toilets has literally regenerated this entire village.
“After seeing WaterAid’s work for myself, I can see how essential it is for people to get the support, expertise and training to be independent and start to make real progress as a community. I saw first-hand how clean water and good hygiene transformed schools and entire communities, empowering people to build a positive future for themselves.
“There are always challenges in life, but without clean water you just can’t live – it’s the one basic that affects everything. Water really does mean Life.”
Water Means Life
This winter we're supporting communities on the frontline of climate change. Whilst we can't stop the weather, we can change its impact – by making sure everyone has the essentials of clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
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