4.1 million people don't have a decent toilet of their own.
4.1 million people don't have a decent toilet of their own.
That's more than three quarters of the population.
1.3 million don't have clean water close to home.
1.3 million don't have clean water close to home.
That's almost a quarter of the population.
Almost 500 children under the age of five die a year from diarrhoea
Almost 500 children under the age of five die a year from diarrhoea
caused by dirty water, and poor toilets and hygiene.
Clean water after Ebola
Yeartee Barteh is a cleaner at the Pipeline Health Centre in Paynesville, Monrovia.
She used to walk to a well every morning because the clinic did not have its own water supply. But often the well did not have enough either, so she would pay children to find water elsewhere for her.
During the Ebola outbreak, Yeartee’s job became much harder and more dangerous. She had to clean constantly to prevent the spread of the disease, but it was hard to find enough water. The chlorine-treated water she used was so strong it made her skin peel.
One day, she was sent home and quarantined – an Ebola patient had stayed at the clinic and her managers feared she may have contracted it too. “21 days passed, I was alright,” she says. But others were not so fortunate. “The patient died, and the doctor who treated them also died."
By bringing running water to the health centre, we have been able to make life easier and safer for everyone in the community. Yeartee is excited: “Drawing water is my greatest challenge. What I need to make my job better is a good running water system because water is everything.”