Facts!

Fact: 29% of the world's freshwater is underground.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

More About Swaziland!

Are you still wanting to learn more about the Swaziland Project? The Thirst Project tells you all about it on their website! Swaziland Project!

Click that link and it will take you to their website where you can find out more about Swaziland, what the Thirst Project has done there, their commitment, how it effects the people living there and more!

100% of donations to this charity go to building wells in Swaziland!

Visit our Donation Page!

Friday, June 19, 2015

Taking Action!

As the final part of our project we have set up a donation page on the Thirst Project website! Throughout this project we have learned about different ways of getting clean water, different places effected by the water crisis and things that can effect others access to water.

The Thirst Project that we found very interesting and are very excited to be able to help! You can donate directly to the Thirst Project through our page and 100% of your donations go to helping the water crisis.

We have a goal of $150 and have until December 31st, 2015 to reach our goal. We will be sharing our page on Facebook, Twitter and with out friends and families! You can also share the blog by going to our page and hit share! Here is the link: Our Donation Page!

The money goes towards the Thirst Project's Swaziland Project that they are currently working on. Our recent posts can give you more information on this Project, the places they are helping and what they do. You can also visit their website for more information on the charity: Thirst Project .

Donating as little as $25 can give one person clean water for life. $50 can give a married couple clean water for life. $100 can give a family water for life.  $12,000 can build a well providing a whole village with safe, clean water.

Doing this Genius hour has taught us a lot about ways to clean water, people effected by the water crisis and much more. We've enjoyed learning about this and are very happy to be fundraising to help people in Swaziland.

Thirst Project's Twitter
Donation Page
Thirst Project
Victoria's Twitter



Friday, June 5, 2015

Swaziland Project

Many places are affected by the water crisis. Charities have researched places that are in need of safe, clean water and are finding ways to help them. We have taken big interest in the charity Thirst Project. The Thirst Project has started a project called the Swaziland Project. Their goal is to have everyone is Swaziland have access to safe, clean water. They have built wells and helped 13 different countries and are currently active in 7 countries. They are currently active in India, Uganda, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Kenya and Columbia.

Uganda is one the many places affected by it. Uganda is a small country in East Africa. Uganda is right on the equator making it super hot and even worse for the people living there because they don't have access to safe, clean water to keep them hydrated. Women from Uganda walk for 6-8 hours to get water to drink and the water ends up giving them diseases.

The population of Uganda is about 37.58 million people. More than half of the population in Uganda is under the age of 15. The average life expectancy is 59 years old. This country's infant mortality rate is 69/1000 and the average annual income is about $584.20 per capita. Many women have fallen into the poverty cycle due to not getting an education because they have been going and collecting water instead of going to school.

India is in south-east Asia and has a population of about 1.252 billion people. The life expectancy is about 66-years old. India is the second highest populated country in the world and they are without access to safe, clean water. The child mortality rate is 56/1000. Along with the contaminated water people in this country fall into the poverty cycle. Almost half the population lives on only $1.25 a day and 3/4 of the population live on $2 or less each day. Women and children are at risk of slavery and almost half of high school students drop out before they finish. Bio sand water filters are being installed into homes in India. They should last up to 10 years for a family of four or more people.

These are just two of the 13 countries The Thirst Project have helped or are currently helping. Over $8 million dollars have been donated to this charity and when you donate on their website 100% of it goes to the Swaziland project. Charities have taken action and are now building wells in Uganda as a part of a Swaziland project. These wells can last for up to 40 years if they are maintained. Bio sand filters can last up to 10 years for a family of four or more. Jerry Cans are a cheap way of collecting water. The jerry can could cost from $1-5. Once filled these can weight up to 40lbs and the job of collecting the water falls onto young girls shoulders. They walk for up to 8 hours to collect this water that gives them diseases. Once a well is built they can use the jerry cans to bring clean water to their families at home.

Check out the Thirst Project's website: http://www.thirstproject.org/

Friday, April 24, 2015

Thirst Project

One of the main websites we have looked at for information on our topic is thirstproject.org. It is a charity in the United States that's current goal is to have the people of Swaziland  supplied with clean water by the year of 2022.

This charity provides tons of information on their website and help many people who don't have access to clean water. Thirst Project was started in 2007 by a 19-year-old college student; Seth Maxwell. He thought of the idea after hearing about one of his friend's missionary trips to Uganda. He noticed that many people there not only had very little money, but didn't have access to safe, clean drinking water. Seth spent several months researching this topic and ways to help people.

One day Seth and seven of his college friends decided to put their money together (about $70) and bought 1000 water bottles. They spent the day handing them out on the street of Hollywood Boulevard. People saw the kind act that they were doing and that $70 quickly turned to $1,700. Now they are going across America educating people on what the water crisis is and what the Thirst Project is. They are also currently building wells in Swaziland, Africa.

Now this charity has raised over $8 million and even have celebrities such as: Willow Shields, Drake Bell, Connor Franta, Dylan O'Brian, Boo Boo Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence and many more.

Road Warriors is a program Thirst Project started for people 18 or over to take part in the Thirst Project and help educate people across America. It is a great opportunity to help with this charity.

We have learnt a bunch of information about the water crisis from this charity and we are looking forward to learning more!

Friday, April 17, 2015

Facts

So far we have been researching where in the world people are without clean water and organizations that help people without it.

We came across some facts such as:

- 1% of the world's freshwater is easily accessible.
- 29% of the world's freshwater is underground.
- 70% of the world's freshwater is in ice form or snow cover on mountains.
-80% of global diseases are water-borne from contaminated water.
-There are aquifers 100-300 ft. in the ground to reach clean water. Then organizations help the community get the water by building wells.
- You can boil your water, if needed to clean it.
- 1.5 gallons of water are needed to produce one plastic bottle of water.
-An average toilet flush uses more water than most people in Sub-Saharan Africa will use all day.

How it affects the world:

-3.5 million deaths per year are from water-related diseases.
-Every 20 seconds a child dies from water-related diseases.
-About 1 billion people are without clean water that's safe to drink.
- 4,100 children die everyday from diseases caused by contaminated water.
- Women in countries without access to clean water have to walk up to on average 3.75 miles to collect water that isn't even safe to drink.
              - This makes the women fall into the poverty cycle, because they spend up to 8 hours collecting the water instead of going to school and getting and education. Therefore harder for them to make money.
-The jerry cans that they carry can weigh up to 44lbs.

These are just a few facts we found while researching the water crisis. We have realized that a lot of things we do in everyday life affects the water crisis, such as flushing the toilet or using a plastic water bottle.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Some Solutions

There are multiple solutions to the water crisis. They can cost from as little as $10 to more than $20,000. organizations such as Thirst Project, The Water Project, The Global Water Crisis and Charity Water raise money to help provide people with clean water. 

Bore hole well:
Cost: $1,500 - $20,000
Need to dig 100-500 ft. to reach aquifers with clean water.
Lives affected daily: 1250
These need to be maintained and properly cared for.

Lifesaver Jerrycans:
Cost: $199
How long they last: 3 years until they need to be replaced.
Lives affected daily: 4 for up to 3 years.
Was invented as a cost-effective solution to provide water to disaster areas and water crisis zones.

Biosand filters:
Cost: $90
Lives affected daily: 20
About 200,000 are being used today.
A cheap method of filtering water through natural processes.

These are just a few solutions to help bring clean, safe water to people without it. 


Here is a picture of children filling up the jerry cans. They can weigh up to 40 lbs when filled.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Welcome!

Welcome! As a part of our Science class Genius hour we, Victoria and Shelly, have decided to research on the water crisis (having no access to clean water), how it affects people, the diseases that come with using contaminated water and how we can help with this problem.

Our driving question is 'How does the water crisis (no access to clean water) affect people's lives/world and how can we use what we know to help people get clean water?'
We have chosen this topic because we both are very interested in the water crisis and want to learn about how it affects the world and how to help with the crisis. We have already looked at a charity called the 'Thirst Project' which helps provide people who don't have access to safe, clean water and they build wells that can provide them with clean water.