Water

I was trying to think of something other than a pretty water droplet as my blip for today - as the May HeartFreek Photo Challenge today is Water.

A few years ago, when we used to have hot summers, we had a hosepipe ban and Mr. HCB installed 3 water butts in our garden to catch any rainwater, so that we could make the best use of the water dropping from the sky and of course, as a gardener, he feels that rainwater is better for his plants than tap water!

Today's photograph is looking down into one of those water butts - and it's not particularly clean. Did you know that the diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation kill more children every year than AIDS, malaria and measles combined? Did you also know that at least 2,000 children die from diarrhoea every day? In number terms, this means that the same number of children in one of our large Comprehensive schools die every day. That is a terrible and sobering thought! Before Mr. HCB retired, he worked for a company that supported Wateraid and I have been looking at Malawi one of the places where this charity works.

Water covers about 70% of the earth's surface, and is vital for life but approximately one billion people still lack access to safe water and over 2.5 billion lack access to adequate sanitation.

I know I take for granted the fact that I can turn the tap and clean water gushes out, that I am able to use a toilet, wash my hands, fill my washing machine and wash my clothes and take a shower or bath, and I'm sure I am not the only one! We have a special timer in our shower, a bit like an egg timer, which was provided by the local water authority, to encourage us to take a 4 minute shower - whilst I am doing that today, I will think, not only about those who do not have access to clean water, but also about those who mourn the loss of loved ones because of that.

I am surprised to learn that the amount of money I spend on coffee with friends each week could provide a tap for a village water point - maybe not much, but it's a start!