World Water Day

Every Child Should Have Access to Clean Water

	Dania is often sick from drinking the contaminated river water, but it is her only water source.
Related Item: Watch Dania's Search for Water

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 19, 2015) – Locating and maintaining a fresh water source is no easy task for the poor living in undeveloped communities throughout the world. But it’s especially difficult for children, young girls in particular, who often are assigned the task of collecting water for their families. In many cases, children must walk miles to gather water that may appear clean, but is filled with harmful and potentially deadly bacteria.

Millions around the world will be celebrating the 22nd annual World Water Day on March 22, which began in 1993 to bring attention to a different water issue every year. The 2015 theme for World Water Day is “Water and Sustainable Development.”  Water is at the core of sustainable development, reducing poverty, stimulating economic growth and environmental sustainability. 

Clean water prevents diseases and provides young girls with an opportunity to go to school and get an education.

Near the Nicaraguan town of Ocotal, located northwest of Managua, lives Dania. She’s a little girl who walks down a steep mountain every day to collect water from hand-dug watering holes near the banks of Rio Coco River. The water Dania collects is contaminated with bacteria and parasites that often make her sick, but it’s her only water source.

“Most of us would never collect water from a local canal or nearby pond for daily usage. We certainly wouldn’t drink it or give it to our children. The thought is incomprehensible, but for many throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, their water source isn’t much better,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “Proper sanitation and access to clean drinking water should to be available for everyone. Food For The Poor is committed to providing the poor we serve with this precious resource.”

Since 1998, Food For The Poor has completed more than 1,943 water projects, which include wells, cisterns, tanks, distribution systems, and water treatment units throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

To view a short video of Dania’s story, please click www.foodforthepoor.org/water.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

UPS work in DR

	The community of Rancho Nuevo is in dire need of potable water. The majority of the residents there are currently getting their drinking water from local springs, a water source that looks clean, but is contaminated with life threatening bacteria and parasites.
Related Item: See Photos of the Projects

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Dec. 20, 2013) – UPS is helping to improve the lives of dozens of families in the Dominican Republic with the international relief and development organization Food For The Poor.   

The UPS project will provide for the installation of a 12,000 gallon concrete water tank, which will house and pump clean well water for the tiny community of Rancho Nuevo, near Puerto Plata, and the construction of a 3,000 square-feet greenhouse in Batey Antonci, Monte Plata.

Helping families to become self-sustaining by way of agriculture is a key strategy of Food For The Poor. The greenhouse in the farming community of Batey Antonci will produce 2,400 pounds of fruits and vegetables four times a year, providing the community with a year-round supply of nutritious foods and agricultural training. This greenhouse project will be operated by local farmers, which will be a source of employment for many of the town’s residents.

“Food For The Poor began working in the Dominican Republic 13 years ago and is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in the Caribbean country by creating opportunities for people to help themselves,” said Robin Mahfood, President and CEO of Food For The Poor. “It is important to educate those in the farming communities on how to plant, grow and harvest a better crop for a self-sustaining food source, and as a source of income.”

The greenhouse facility also will have a drip irrigation system fed by a water reservoir and underground supply lines, which will be installed by Food For The Poor.

The community of Rancho Nuevo is in dire need of access to potable water. The majority of the residents there are currently getting their drinking water from local springs, a water source that looks clean, but is contaminated with life-threatening bacteria and parasites. Many of the children suffer with diarrhea and a variety of waterborne health problems as a result.

Food For The Poor’s development team has determined it will take 30 days to install the water project.  Once the water tank is fully operational, piping installed from the tank will run water lines to as many homes as possible or to a community location, providing clean water with the twist of the faucet.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.