Cholera: 2024
Countries in southern and eastern Africa are facing the deadliest outbreak of cholera in the past decade. Cholera is an often-deadly infection caused by eating or drinking contaminated food or water. It can kill within hours. One in three suffering from cholera are children. The worst part of this story? Cholera is preventable.
Cholera, like other waterborne illnesses, spreads through contaminated water into everything people need to live their lives – what they drink, what they eat, what they wash with. The most effective way to prevent cholera and other waterborne diseases? Clean water.
Public health workers are saying it is rare to see so many cases of cholera in so many countries at the same time. This devastation is linked to increasingly frequent and extreme weather events, a shortage of vaccines, but most critically a lack of clean water, sanitation and hygiene. But it doesn't have to be this way.
Here's where you come in
Your donation can provide:
Emergency hygiene kit
A gift of $156 can pay for dignity and comfort for a family in an emergency
Training hygiene educators
A gift of $50 can pay to train a group of community-level hygiene educators
Lillian must fend for her family after losing her husband
"I want my children to get a decent education.
I don’t want them to end up on the street.”
— Lillian Lungu, Zambia
Lillian lost her husband to cholera suddenly earlier this year. She is now widowed with 11 children amidst this growing health crisis.
Why WaterAid?
WaterAid has been working on water, sanitation and hygiene projects for more than 40 years. Thanks to thousands of people like you, we have reached 29 million people with clean water, 29 million people with decent toilets and 27.8 million people with hygiene education. We have a Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar and have the highest ranking, (four stars) rating from Charity Navigator.
We're on a mission to reach 400 million more people with life-saving clean water in the next decade.
But we will need your help to do it.
Donate now
Clean water
Clean water
2 billion people don't have safe water. We work with communities to fix this, to provide lasting solutions so communities can break free from poverty.
Decent toilets
Decent toilets
3.5 billion people don't have a decent toilet of their own. We're working with communities to build a local workforce that can install and maintain toilets.
Good hygiene
Good hygiene
Good hygiene and handwashing are among of the most effective ways of improving global health. That's why we have always supported hygiene education.