WASH Programme
Help WASH away the misery of Neglected Tropical Diseases in the world’s poorest places...
“Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham…” – Genesis 26:18
This Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, we wish to express our heartfelt thanks for your continued support of the ministry of cbm New Zealand. Thank you for your loving kindness towards people with disabilities in the world’s poorest places. Your support is truly transforming lives.
Having recently returned from Nigeria, Murray Sheard, cbm NZ’s CEO, asks for you to prayerfully consider making a special Christmas gift to help ensure clean water, and good sanitation and hygiene practices are accessible to communities, including people with disabilities.
And just like in previous years, your gift will be doubled by the Christmas Miracle Match Fund!
cbm’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene project (WASH) aims to build on the incredible progress made over many years to combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), such as River Blindness and Trachoma. Alongside the successful delivery of parasite-killing medication, which breaks the lifecycle of parasites that cause NTDs, cbm’s WASH project focusses on clean water and good sanitation to prevent NTDs from taking hold again.
Living in New Zealand, most of us are fortunate to have a constant supply of clean water to use for our everyday living. But that’s not the case in many of the world’s poorest places. Around the world there are millions and millions of people who do not have access to clean water.
But your generosity can help change this.
Your gift today will be matched dollar for dollar up to the amount of this year’s Christmas Miracle Match Fund to help provide clean water, and ensure good sanitation and hygiene practices are accessible to all, including people with disabilities.
Good health and clean water go hand in hand. So having access to clean water from well-maintained boreholes, helps free children and adults from contracting NTDs such as River Blindness and Trachoma.
It also means women and children no longer have to spend hours walking to gather muddied and contaminated water.
Clean water helps keep people healthy. And healthy people are more productive, are able to access education, and have a far greater chance of breaking the cycle of poverty and disability.
Ensuring clean water sources, along with good sanitation and hygiene practices in the world’s poorest places, is what this year’s Christmas appeal is all about.
In September, we wrote to a small group of cbm New Zealand supporters and asked them if they would please make a special gift to the Christmas Miracle Match Fund. They believe so strongly in the ministry of cbm New Zealand that they want to encourage others like you to support the cause to provide clean water, and ensure good sanitation and hygiene practices are accessible to all, including people with disabilities.
Together, this group of supporters has contributed to the Christmas Miracle Match Fund, to match your Christmas gift dollar for dollar, which means your gift doubles if you send your gift before 1 December, or before the Match Fund runs out.
We hope you are able to take advantage of having your gift matched by the Christmas Miracle Match Fund.
Your gift will be a double blessing and will go to work in places like Nigeria to help WASH away the misery of NTDs, like River Blindness and Trachoma.
The major success factor of cbm’s WASH programme is to provide clean water.
Clean water from boreholes is vital to a community, but many existing boreholes have ceased to function for various reasons. They are often found broken and in need of repair due to their age. The only place to get water is from an open well or a river where there is great risk of contamination and pollution, and a greater risk of contracting NTDs.
But thankfully, this is where your loving kindness comes into the picture.
With support from generous people like you, new or refurbished boreholes will provide communities with a centrally located source of clean water.
The addition of wheelchair ramps will make the task of gathering water safer and more accessible to people with disabilities.
Right now, there are children, adults and whole communities in great need of clean water in places like Nigeria... but your generous support can change that.
Please help make a lasting difference with your special Christmas gift which will be matched dollar for dollar, up to the amount of the Christmas Miracle Match Fund, given by a group of kind and generous cbm supporters.
By sending your Christmas gift before the 1 December, you selflessly make it possible for clean water to be made available to communities, and you will also be helping to provide education to primary schools, including setting up WASH Clubs and installing handwashing stations.
When Murray was in Nigeria, he visited a small community and their school where a WASH Club has been set up. The children were excited to have access to clean drinking water, and to learn about improving their personal sanitation and hygiene practices.
The children happily demonstrated their new hand-washing skills, and showed me how to wash my hands using soap and ‘tippy-taps’. These ‘tippy-taps’ were filled with fresh clean water from the refurbished community borehole, and constructed from low-cost recycled materials.
Whilst in the area, Murray also spoke with people in the community who were trained by cbm’s partner to repair wells. One of them was Chetachi, who could not walk unaided, and had a friend carry his tools.
“Before there was no clean water and now, this is no longer an issue,” he said, with a beaming smile.
Chetachi is trained by cbm’s partner to maintain borehole pumps, and repair them when broken.
Because of this training, Chetachi, and other people with disabilities, now have jobs and feel valued and included in the community.
Murray spoke with other people in the community who now have access to clean water from their newly refurbished borehole. They spoke of their gratitude to generous people like you.
We are also grateful for kind and generous people like you, who are willing to help WASH away the misery of NTDs in the world’s poorest places.
Whilst this community is now thriving, right now in places like Nigeria, there are many children and adults in desperate need of clean water... but your generous support can help change that.
In the Christmas spirit of good news and great hope, here is how your Christmas gift will be a double blessing to help provide sanitation and hygiene education to primary schools, including setting up WASH Clubs and installing handwashing stations. It will help provide new or refurbished boreholes so communities can have a centrally located source of clean water, with the addition of wheelchair ramps to make the task of gathering water safer and more accessible for people with disabilities.
Murray has seen first-hand what WASH does for a community. It is life-changing for all, but especially for people with disabilities who often cannot access clean water due to their disability.
We thank God - especially for your faithful support of people with disabilities. But we are also deeply concerned that right now there are so many children and adults who can not access clean water in the world’s poorest places.
Please will you help provide them with clean water to WASH away the misery of NTDs, like River Blindness and Trachoma.
Thank you for prayerfully considering your special Christmas gift which will be matched dollar for dollar before 1 December, or before the Christmas Miracle Match Fund runs out.
Lastly, we want to leave you with a quote from cbm’s WASH partner. It’s a wonderful testament to the faithful giving of generous supporters like you.
The Director said to Murray: “Many charities want to come in at the end when we are winning the battle against NTDs. But cbm has been there from the start.”
Our challenge to you is let’s continue the incredible progress made over many years to combat NTDs.
With your generous support, let’s WASH away the misery of NTDs!
Thank you for your kind and caring heart. May God bless you.
