World Water Day, March 22

This Saturday, March 22, is World Water Day, a day set aside by the UN for member states and organizations to implement programs to deal with healthy drinking water and sanitation issues for people in developing countries.

“Each day 4,500 children die around the world due to mostly preventable water and sanitation- related diseases,” said David Douglas, President of Water Advocates, a US-based nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing American support for safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. “That’s about 135,000 lives per month — a small city’s worth of children — an ongoing disaster by anyone’s standards.”

Those of us who live here in the Sonoran Desert know that water is a precious commodity. But most of us go about our daily lives with little awareness of just how precious (and precarious) a safe drinking water supply is. Complain as we might about the flavor of our water, we know it is there and it is safe for the vast majority of us to drink. And for now we can live with the illusion that there is an unlimited supply of it (though we really shouldn’t, ‘cuz it isn’t).

Discussions of toilet-to-tap water purification systems always inspire a certain to-be-expected “ick” response. But think about it: millions of people around the world everyday experience the original toilet-to-tap water system: they bathe in, wash their clothes in, defecate in, urinate in, and then drink the only water they have available — and that’s if they have access to any real water supply at all.

So, this weekend, as you sip your morning coffee, take a leisurely shower, water your garden, or do the dishes, take a moment to think about others around the world who cannot. Then check out one (or more) of these US-based organizations which are working to implement safe drinking water and sanitation projects in developing countries (list provides by Water Advocates):

Action Against Hunger
http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/what-we-do/water-sanitation
247 West 37th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Phone: +1 (212) 967-7800 | Toll free: +1 (877) 777-1420

African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF)
http://www.amref.org/index.asp?PageID=50&PiaID=6
4 West 43rd Street,
New York, NY 10036
Phone: +212-768-2440

Africare
http://www.africare.org/contact/contact_us.html
440 R Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 462-3614

Agua Para La Vida
http://www.aplv.org/
2311 Webster Street
Berkeley, CA 94705
510-643-8003

CARE
https://my.care.org/05/water?qp_source=170760840000
151 Ellis St., NE
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 1-800-521-CARE

Catholic Relief Services
http://www.crs.org/
228 W. Lexington St.
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-3413
Phone: 888-277-7575

charity: water
http://www.charityis.org/
150 Varick St. 5th floor
New York, NY 10013
646-688-2323

Church World Service
http://www.churchworldservice.org/worship-resources/worship-water.html
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515
Phone: 800-297-1516

El Porvenir
http://www.elporvenir.org/
4214 Van Horn Lane
Bellingham, WA, 98226
Phone: 239-292-2419

Emmanuel International Mission
http://www.e-i.org/
P.O. Box 4050,
3967 Stouffville Road
Stouffville, ON, L4A 8B6
Phone: 905-640-2111

Engineering Ministries International
http://emiusa.org/
130 East Kiowa, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Phone: 719-633-2078

Engineers Without Borders
http://www.ewb-usa.org/
1811 Lefthand Circle, Suite A-1
Longmont, CO 80501
Phone: 303-772-2723

Episcopal Relief and Development
http://www.er-d.org/
815 Second Ave
New York City, NY 10017
Phone: (800) 334-7626 ext. 5129

Global Water
http://www.globalwater.org/
Project Management Office
3600 S. Harbor Blvd., # 514
Oxnard, CA 93035 USA
Phone: (805) 985-3057

Global Water Challenge
http://www.globalwaterchallenge.org/
1001 Connecticut Ave N.W., Suite 925
Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202-457-0960

Healing Waters International
http://www.healingwatersintl.org/
534 Commons Drive
Golden, CO 80401
Phone: 303-526-7278

Helen Keller International
http://www.hki.org/
352 Park Avenue South, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10010
Phone: 212-532-0544

Hermandad
http://www.hermandad.org/
430 Shore Rd., #6D
Long Beach, NY 11561
Phone: (516) 431-6602

International Health Organization
http://www.ihousa.org/
60 Leo M. Birmingham Parkway, Suite 105
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: 617-254-5077

Islamic Relief USA
http://www.irw.org/whatwedo/water
P.O. Box 5640
Buena Park, CA 90622
Phone: (714) 676-1300

Lifewater
http://www.lifewater.org/
PO Box 3131
San Luis Obispo, CA 93403
Phone: 888-LIFE-H2O (888-543-3426) or 805-541-6634

Living Water International
http://www.water.cc/
P.O. Box 35496
Houston, TX 77235
Phone: 281-207-7800

Living Waters for the World
http://www.livingwatersfortheworld.org/
318 Seaboard Lane, Suite 205
Franklin, TN 37067
Phone: 615-261-4008

Lutheran World Relief
http://www.lwr.org/
700 Light Street
Baltimore, MD 21230 USA
Phone: 410-230-2800

Millennium Water Alliance
http://www.mwawater.org/
1980 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 800
Houston, TX 77056
Phone: 713.625.8527

New Forests Project Clean Water Initiative
http://www.newforestsproject.com/
1025 Vermont Avenue
Washington, DC 20007
202-263-5647

Oxfam America
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo/issues_we_work_on/water
226 Causeway St., 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 800-77-OXFAM (800-776-9326) or 617-482-1211

Population Services International
http://www.psi.org/child-survival
1120 19th Street, NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone (202) 785-0072

Rotary International
http://www.rotary.org/en/AboutUs/Pages/ridefault.aspx
1560 Sherman Ave.
Evanston, IL 60201, USA
Phone: 847-866-3000

Rotary-Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group
http://www.wasrag.org/
c/o Horizon Bank 811 Ship Street
St. Joseph, MI 49085, USA

Safe Water International
http://www.safewaterintl.org/
5184 Cambridge Lane
Carpinteria, California 93013 USA
Phone: (805) 705-7743

Save the Children
http://www.savethechildren.org/
54 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
(203) 221-4030 or (800) 728-3843

Seton Institute
http://www.setoninstitute.org/
1800 Sullivan Avenue, Suite 506
Daly City, CA 94015
Phone: (650) 757-2655

Sister Cities International
http://www.sister-cities.org/sci/Sustainable/CleanWater
1301 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Suite 850
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202.347.8630

U.S. Fund for UNICEF
https://www.unicefusa.org/
125 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
Phone: 1-800-4UNICEF

Water 1st International
http://www.water1st.org/
PO Box 17974
Seattle, WA 98127
Phone: (206) 297-3024

Water For People
http://www.waterforpeople.org/
6666 W. Quincy Avenue
Denver, CO 80235 U.S.A.
Phone: 303.734.3490

Water Missions International
http://www.watermissions.org/
P.O. Box 31258
Charleston, South Carolina 29417
Phone: 843.769.7395

WaterAid America
http://www.wateraid.org/usa
232 Madison Avenue
Suite 1202
New York, NY 10016
Phone: (212) 683 – 0430

Waterlines
http://www.waterlines.org/
302 East Coronado Road
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Phone: (505) 988-5642

WaterPartners International
http://www.water.org/
2405 Grand Blvd.
Ste. 860, Box 12
Kansas City, MO 64108 USA
Phone: (913) 312-8600

World Vision
http://www.worldvision.org/
P.O. Box 9716
Federal Way, WA 98063-9716
Phone: 1-888-511-6548

Cheers, Sandy