Churches to give up luxuries this Lent to help WaterAid get clean water to women and children
This Lent, WaterAid is inviting church congregations across the UK to give up their favourite treats and donate the money they save to WaterAid’s Jars of Change appeal. The money raised will help bring clean water, decent sanitation and good hygiene to women and children living in some of the world’s poorest communities.
Congregation members who make the difficult decision to give up chocolate, coffee or other luxuries during Lent, are encouraged to put the money saved into a Jar of Change and then donate the money raised to WaterAid’s life-saving work.
The Jars of Change Lent appeal will help bring clean water and decent toilets to communities like Mado Majina village in Ethiopia where Mulualem, mother of six, lives without access to any clean water.
Mulualem’s family relies on water collected from a dirty stream for cooking, cleaning and drinking water. The stream can only be reached by a treacherous path, where people frequently fall and injure themselves. Mulualem’s daughter, Banchiayehu, 16, makes the trip to collect water several times a day, risking her safety to get the water her family needs.
Mulualem said:
“Whenever my daughter goes out carrying a jerry can, I get so worried until she comes back home. I know it’s so slippery especially during the rainy season and I don’t want her to get hurt or injured.”
This year, by giving up a daily snack or bar of chocolate and saving £36, congregations could help to install a school handwashing station so girls can stay clean at school. Foregoing a daily extra cup of coffee and saving £72 could pay to lay 3 meters of water pipes to connect a village to clean water while £500 could provide a whole village with a 5,000-litre water tank.
One in ten people around the world don’t have clean water close to home, while one in four have no decent toilets. Without clean water nearby, women and girls often trek great distances to collect water, risking injuries and attacks. Girls miss vital lessons in school, and women lose precious time to earn an income and be with their families. In places without clean water, women and girls don’t have an equal chance to be safe, healthy, educated and financially secure.
Marcus Missen, Director of Communications and Fundraising at WaterAid said:
“Clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene should be normal for everyone everywhere, but today, millions of people have their access denied simply because of who they are, how much money they have, or where they live.
“Through WaterAid’s Jars of Change Lent appeal, churches can help tackle this problem. By giving up something this Lent and putting the money into a Jar of Change, congregations can come together to help give whole communities the gift of clean water.”
Last year, churches in the UK raised an impressive £230,000 for WaterAid during Lent. This money helped bring clean water to communities such as Chiswe village in Malawi where WaterAid has installed a water kiosk for the first time; keeping children in school and giving the community hope for a healthy future.
WaterAid has developed a range of resources to support churches, including an all-age talk, Sunday school activities, a fundraising poster and jar sleeves. Fundraising ideas for churches include holding a pancake sale, organising a Lent lunch or hosting a Mothering Sunday arts and craft session.
To find out more and download the free resource pack, visit: www.wateraid.org/uk/lent
ENDS
For further information, interviews and images please contact
Rosie Stewart, Senior Media Officer, [email protected] on
+44 (0)207 793 4943
Anna France-Williams, Senior Media Officer, [email protected] on +44 (0)207 793 5048
or Laura Crowley, PR manager, [email protected] on
0207 793 4965
Alternatively call our after-hours press line on +44 (0)7887 521 552 or email [email protected]
Notes to Editors:
WaterAid
WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 26.4 million people with clean water and 26.3 million people with decent toilets. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org/uk, follow @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or find WaterAid UK on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid.
- 785 million people in the world – one in ten – do not have clean water close to home.[1]
- 2 billion people in the world – almost one in four – do not have a decent toilet of their own.[2]
- Around 310,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's almost 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.[3]
- Every £1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of £4 in increased productivity.[4]
- Just £15 can provide one person with clean water.[5]
[1] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines
[2] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines
[3] Prüss-Ustün et al. (2014) and The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2018)
[4] World Health organization (2012) Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage
[5] www.wateraid.org
