By: Hope Randall, DefeatDD
In my work to raise awareness about the global burden of diarrheal disease, I read a lot about the many benefits of safe water and sanitation, including the promise it holds for girls and women. But whenever I think about its impact, I don’t think of a specific report or news article. I think about a timid, obedient girl I met in a tiny village in Western Kenya. She moved carefully in a bright green dress as she demonstrated how she gathers water for her family from a contaminated spring. I could tell she’d been doing it for a long time, as she skimmed the surface of the water with the bottom of her bright yellow container in a sincere, yet unsuccessful, attempt to clear the debris.
My heart ached as I watched her. I could see her life play out as I heard it in those reports and news articles, with heart-breaking predictability. Too many girls just like her sacrifice so much – their education, their safety, and endless hours of time – in a constant pursuit of water that may not even be safe to drink. Some estimates from Ethiopia predict that a girl can spend up to 8 hours – an entire workday – on solitary walks to remote water sources, making education impossible. In communities that are fortunate enough to have a safe water source close by, girls’ education and safety still suffers when there are no sanitation facilities at school. A study in Rwanda showed that about a third of girls chose not to attend school during their menstrual cycle because they were spied on or laughed at by boys. Continue reading