Imagine if
getting a drink of water was, instead of the act of a few seconds, the
commitment of an hour—or two.
Imagine if
it required planning, if it was something you had to squeeze into the schedule
of your day, if it required a long walk through dry and dusty heat.
This is the
reality for many women and children of Sierra Leone, who in some cases have to
walk miles to acquire the single most basic necessity of life. It's a trip that
exacts a steep price for impoverished rural families.
Some
children have to walk up to six miles to fetch water for drinking, cleaning,
and clothes-washing. The math paints a dismal picture. The average human
walking speed is (and this is fairly high estimate) 3 miles an hour. Once can
imagine that a child's speed would be less than this. A child carrying a heavy
bucket of water will have a walking speed that is slower still. That means that
every day, some children have to spend more than 2 hours walking just to
provide themselves and their families with the means to survive. This is time
they could be in school, getting an education to improve their chances in life
and eventually pull themselves out of poverty. This is time they could be
learning useful skills, or simply resting after a hard day's work. Time is a
commodity almost as precious as water, and it is hard for a child to break free
of the cycle of poverty if they have to choose between one or the other.
Khadarlis
for Sierra Leone is an organization committed to helping these children, to
rebuilding Sierra Leone in the wake of a vicious, ten-year-long civil war.
Water is just one of many necessities Khadarlis provides to the indigent of
Sierra Leone—it also builds houses, furnishes schools with supplies and
installs solar panels to provide Sierra Leonans with electricity.
In 2008,
volunteers from Khadarlis built a fresh water well Jimmi. This is a great first
step, but it is only the beginning. Khadarlis seeks to expand its efforts, to
provide the other villages it is currently working with--Kpawama, Senehun and
Bandajuma--with wells also. But these efforts can be costly, and Khadarlis can
only do so much without help from the generous contributions of concerned,
compassioante and giving people.
I encourage
you to donate to Khadarlis for Sierra Leone. It is an organization that is
warm-hearted and unfailingly dedicated to its mission—to improve the lives of
those who have already suffered more than enough.
Stefan
Volunteer Blogger for Khadarlis
No comments:
Post a Comment