Only three percent of the world’s water is fresh, and one percent of that water is clean and accessible. This means that for nearly one billion people who live in impoverished communities, access to clean water is a matter of life and death. In the developing world, unsafe water conditions and lack of basic sanitation cause up to 80% of disease.
The majority of accessible water sources are contaminated, as they are used not only for drinking and cooking, but for bathing, laundry, irrigation, and water disposal.
Delivering clean water and improving sanitation is at the heart of Esperança. Communities are built around access to clean water through community wells, water systems and latrines. Each benefiting family participates in the construction of their water system, which in turn creates a personal ownership connection towards improving their health.
