Life is a race; you become stranded when you refuse to run.
The feasibility of every step towards success requires a fuel that releases the adequate amount of energy.
This fuel is what makes up over 70% of all living organisms, about 70% of the planet earth the driving force of nutrients and hence energy.
What exactly is this fuel? It is water.
As studies show, adequacy in access to safe, drinkable water by persons is directly proportional in impact to their success in activities.
Water improves the access to education, improves health and hence, aids poverty alleviation.
For the awareness creation of these, March 22nd of each year marks the International Water Day.
Some effects and ways of minimising inadequacy in the access to this fuel of life is briefly discussed below.
Health and poverty
Access to safe water reduces crop loss, enables food security and reduces cost of living.
This leads to the disruption of the poverty cycle and restores health and increases the chances of kids to learn and build their future.
A 2019 report by the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) noted among other things that access to water is increasing diseases especially in war-torn regions of the world.
The UNICEF report titled Water Under Fire noted that, “Children under the age of 15 living in countries affected by protracted conflict are, on average, almost three times more likely to die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by a lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene than by direct violence.”
Safe water with clean hands equals healthy bodies. Time lost to sickness is reduced and people can get back to the work of lifting themselves out of poverty.
Education and standard of living
Lack of clean water has grave effects on students’ academic performance and attendance rates.
It can result in even the brightest students losing interest as they are very vulnerable to varieties of water-borne diseases.
With the many additional burdens (such as hunger and diseases) that a lack of clean water causes, education simply becomes less preferred.
Schools cannot run programmes if they cannot provide water to students, faculty and their families.
If teachers are sick, classes get cancelled for all students.
Students miss classes to go fetch water, or to care for sick parents or siblings.
The situation is even worst for girls as many of them are restricted by the typical responsibility of fetching water over long distances.
This in turn limits adequate access to education and business opportunities.
What this means is that lack of clean water and proper sanitation leads to the inability of the nation builders, the future leaders, to develop any useful skill by education.
First step to success
The first move towards the journey of success is manifest in the readiness of members to: make clean water available; drink water and; drink more water.
The government and non-governmental organisations should step up to make water available and easily accessible to the people.
The people should endeavour to take at least 6 cups of water daily, take actions with correctness and perseverance and wait for.
