Education is critical for breaking the cycle of poverty and yet over half of the world’s schools lack access to safe water and sanitation facilities.
Lack of clean water has serious effects on students’ academic performance and attendance rates. The lack of safe water can cause even the best students to lose momentum as they deal with stomach pains and diarrhea from disease and hunger.
Students miss class to go fetch water, or to care for sick parents or siblings. In many places HIV/AIDS has already caused a large percentage of children to become orphans, requiring students to drop out and find work to provide food and care for younger siblings. If teachers are sick, classes get cancelled for all students.
Schools cannot run programs if they cannot provide water to students, faculty and their families.