In my house, we drink water at almost every meal. And during almost every meal, my kids still ask if they can drink something instead of water. For my boys, one of their first-world problems is that “water is boring”.
BORING?
The moment I look at them, they know what I’m going to say….
“Let’s take a moment to be truly grateful for the clean fresh water we have in our lives. Let’s be grateful that we have clean running water in our house. Let’s remember there are millions of children around the world that, In This Moment, don’t have clean water to drink.”
Then I pause and watch them drink the water I am so grateful for having in our lives.
This week, when my children complained about having to only drink water, I thought about the transformational work WaterAid is doing by helping the world’s poorest people gain access to safe water and sanitation. With local organizations, communities and individuals, WaterAid uses affordable and locally appropriate solutions to provide safe water, effective sanitation and hygiene education to people in developing countries.
My kids still take their clean safe water for granted, while worldwide 800 million people do not have access to clean safe water. How can my children possibly imagine that millions of children around the world suffer because they don’t have access to safe water and sanitation?
How can they possibly wrap their heads around the fact that many children are frequently absent from school because they are collecting water or they are sick with water-related diseases.
Potty Mouth
I don’t have all of the answers, but thanks to my involvement with the Global Team of 200, I can now open their minds to what heart-centered people are doing to help children without clean and safe water. I’m going to give my kids permission to talk POTTY MOUTH by showing them the video The Adventures of Super Toilet, a fun, yet educational, way to introduce them to global water and sanitation issues.
By having a conversation around this video, I hope my boys will have a better understanding what life is like in areas of the developing world where clean and safe water is NOT easily available.
Thank you WaterAid for helping poor communities gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. Thank you for all you are doing in this world.
Connect with WaterAid Online…
You can connect with WaterAid, play games, watch videos and chat with them on Twitter and Facebook.
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/WaterAidAmerica
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WaterAidAmerica
Twitter: http://twitter.com/WaterAidAmerica
Games: http://www.wateraidamerica.org/learn_zone/games/default.aspx
I wrote this post as part of The Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health. Our Motto: Individually we are all powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.
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