Ten Thirsty Children & Community Water Stories

Ten Thirsty Children

Children bear the burden of the world's water crisis more than anyone else. Everyday, diarrhea caused by water-borne illnesses kills 6,000 people, most of whom are children under the age of five. Our Ten Thirsty Children Campaign presents portraits of children living in water-stressed regions around the world.

• Mexico-U.S.A. border - A child living near the Colorado River recounts how his ancestors used water, and how fleeting this precious resource can be.s
• Tanzania - Rose Mbwawa, an eleven year-old girl in Tanzania, explains what it's like to take not a single drop of water for granted
• Ghana - Twelve year-old Napoga Gurigo's nearest water supply consists of a muddy hole a half-kilometer away from her village.
• India - Four year-old Ravi and eight year-old Gantla Krishnaveni explain water contamination as it affects their villages
• Togo - Seven year-old Bilao from the village of Agbelouve in Southern Togo came to the Togolese capital of Lomé on Earth Day 2003 to tell people about how the lack of safe drinking water in her village affects her life everyday.
• Jordan - Hibi, a ten year-old Jordanian girl, discusses life along the Wadi Kattar.
• Somalia - Every four or five days, eleven year-old Fatima has to travel 40 kilometers to fetch water for her family.
• China - In eleven year-old Xiu's village, people's teeth are stained yellow from the fluorine in their water supply.
• Kenya - An orphaned child in the Kisumu district of Kenya describes how erratic the rainfall has been over the last five years, and how polluted and scarce surface water has become.
• Romania - In the small Romanian town of Baia, one well provides all the drinking water there is, and it's not very suitable to drink.

Community Water Stories

Learn how different communities from around the world cope with water issues. Each of our stories highlights a particular issue, and how the community or organization involved joined together to solve the problem.

• India - Read our story about how fishing communities in India suffered from nuclear development and illegal sand mining, and what they did about it.
• Bangladesh - Read how farmers in Bangladesh use methods of sustainable water management to prevent their soil from getting waterlogged.
• Sri Lanka - Read how the Swarma Hamsa Foundation, a small organization in Sri Lanka, reconstructs water reservoirs.