How I Plan To Use Water To Reach Some Of The UN MDG's

For those who are unfamiliar with the UN MDG's, they're the Millennium Development Goals that were developed by the UN and their partners. They broke 8 categories down that they outlined and plan to change by 2015. For more info: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Goal 4 is to reduce the Child Mortality Rate and it specifically says reducing the Under 25 mortality rate by 2/3. Through my project, I can help out some of the 16,000 kids that die a day due to hunger related causes and the 5,000 who die a day due to water-borne illnesses.(That's 1 every 5 seconds to hunger and 1 every 20 seconds to unsafe water) Using safe drinking water can not only eliminate the water borne illnesses like dirrahea that kills an unnecessary 1.8 million a year but it can help make food to eliminate the deaths caused by hunger. Using hand soap and water will cut the deaths to diarrhea by over 40%. They also want to cut the number in 1/2 of people who lack access to safe drinking water by 2015 and I'll be doing everything I can to make sure that I fulfill at least that part of the MDG's. Water can be used to tackle a lot of these MDG's if you take a step back and look at it from a simpler approach. If these people are drinking clean water and using clean water to farm and cook the food they eat, it will attribute to cutting the number in 1/2 of people who live under $1 a day. If they're healthy, they'll be more productive and jobs as focused on in Target 1B can be accessible to women who want to make safe drinking water products like ceramic filters. Not only will they produce them but they will be community leaders in telling people how effective they are and how they can be used to save lives. This model employs, educates and save lives!!! The people in these developing countries need to know how to build the products that can save their lives so they don't need to be so dependent on Foreign Aid. This applies to everything, people who want to help in these countries need to tell people who live there how things can be fixed so when volunteers leave, a citizen of that country carries what you told them so life goes on without the constant aid. (Schooling, Technology, Farming, etc.) This model also tackles another 2 goals in Universal Education and Global Partnership because we're teaming up with the people who know the country best, with the issues we know most, giving them the answers to the problems that affect them. People in these countries don't know the issues that affect them! When I was in Masiphumelele, a white man came into a clinic and when he found out he had HIV his reply was, "I thought only coloreds could get that!" All in all, many of the MDG's begin and end with safe drinking water and that's why I'll be able to make a difference on a lot of the different goals at once.

Peace to All,
Christian