Water, Sanitation & Hygiene - Nigeria

Description

Help protect children and adults from the agony of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) by supporting the WASH programme.

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) cause excruciating pain and chronic disability to more than one billion people infected in the poorest communities of the world. Approximately 90% of these diseases can be treated with medicines administered once or twice a year.

This programme aims to contribute towards the control and elimination of five debilitating NTDs – River Blindness, Trachoma, Elephantiasis, Schistosomiasis and Soil Transmitted Helminths. The goal of this project is to follow World Health Organisation approaches to contribute to the elimination of NTDs in Nigeria.

THE NEED

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are critical in the prevention of Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Africa has the highest burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in the world. Nigeria has the largest population in Africa and is facing disproportionately large risks for contracting and transmitting these debilitating diseases. Several NTDs affect vision and can lead to permanent visual loss.

An estimated 31 million people in Nigeria are at risk of blindness and a variety of debilitating and disfiguring skin conditions from Onchocerciasis (River Blindness).

8.7 million Nigerians are at risk of Trachoma where, if left untreated, the disease causes eyelids to turn inwards resulting in pain in the eyes and eventual blindness.

Other diseases such as Lymphatic Filariases commonly known as Elephantiasis transmitted through mosquitoes, can cause permanent disability through severe swelling of arms, legs and body parts. Approximately 88 million Nigerians are at risk of contracting the disease.

Nigeria has the highest burden of Schistosomiasis in Africa, a parasitic disease that penetrates the skin of people in the water which can cause cancer of the bladder, anaemia, liver dysfunction and more.

Nigeria also has one of the highest risk of Soil Transmitted Helminths which is caused by the ingestion of eggs from contaminated soil. Commonly this inflicts school-aged children from impoverished rural communities with a wide range of symptoms including diarrhoea, anaemia, and impairment of growth.

These diseases thrive in impoverished, tropical regions where there is poor sanitation, unsafe drinking water, numerous insects to spread disease and little access to health services and Government support.

WHAT YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT CAN HELP FUND

Through your generosity, this programme uses the W.A.S.H. (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) strategy to help eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases:

Training community workers on early detection of River Blindness, Trachoma and other Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Building community awareness on the importance of safe water and good hygiene behaviours in preventing NTDs.
Increasing the availability of clean water through WASH and improving hygiene in toilets and latrines.
Building/repairing inclusive community water points (boreholes), and training and equipping community members to manage and maintain the water points.

Frequency	One-off, Every Week, Every 2 Weeks, Every 4 Weeks, Every Month, Quarterly, Annually

Water For Life

Your gift doubles when you give this Christmas!

Please help bring clean Water For Life to people in places like Nigeria, living with a deadly water crisis.

“Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham…” – Genesis 26:18

We share this with a heavy heart and a deep sense of urgency.

Every day, dirty water kills more than 1,000 children under the age of 5. That’s one child… every 90 seconds. [1]

This deadly water crisis is devastating for families who live with the daily threat of disability caused by Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) like River Blindness and Trachoma, parasitic worms, and snail fever – or the constant danger of being infected by diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery, polio, and diarrhoea.

Please prayerfully consider making a special Christmas gift to bring clean Water For Life to people in places like Nigeria, living with a deadly water crisis.

And just like in previous years, your gift will be doubled by this year’s Christmas Miracle Match Fund!

cbm’s CEO, Murray Sheard, has seen these diseases first-hand and they are cruel. But they are entirely preventable – if only families had access to clean, safe water.

Right now, nearly 2 billion people globally are drinking water contaminated by human waste. [2]

You and I can turn on a tap and have clean water right away.

But in many places where cbm works, the water people need just to survive, can also kill them.

In these places, clean water is either miles away, or completely unreachable.

And for people with disabilities, it’s even worse.

Water may be located down steep embankments. Access to it may require a long, exhausting walk.

It might come from open wells or shallow muddy holes, where wheelchairs get stuck and access is impossible.

In many cases, people with disabilities are simply left behind, unable to drink, unable to wash, unable to survive.

We cannot let this tragedy continue.

And we don’t have to.

Your Christmas gift today will be matched dollar for dollar up to the amount of this year’s Christmas Miracle Match Fund to bring clean Water For Life to the people who need it most.

In September, we wrote to a small group of cbm supporters and asked them if they would please make a special gift to this year’s Christmas Miracle Match Fund.

They believe so strongly in the ministry of cbm that they want to encourage people like you to help bring clean Water For Life to people in places like Nigeria, living with a deadly water crisis.

Together, this group of supporters has contributed $40,495 into the Christmas Miracle Match Fund, to match your Christmas gift dollar for dollar, which means your gift will be doubled until the Match Fund runs out.

I hope you are able to take full advantage of having your gift matched this Christmas.

Your gift will be a double blessing and will go to work in places like Nigeria to bring clean Water For Life!

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, you selflessly make it possible for clean water to be made available:

…where children are dying of thirst…

…where women and children must walk for hours each day to collect unsafe water…

…where children and adults with disabilities are most at risk – not just from disease, but from exclusion and despair.

Through local cbm-funded partners, your support will help:

Drill and restore safe water boreholes. Install hand-washing stations in schools. Educate communities in hygiene and disease prevention. And most importantly, ensure accessibility for people with disabilities, so no one is left behind.

Murray wishes he could take you with him to see what he has seen: the impact of clean water in a remote village.

The joy on a mother’s face when she no longer fears her child will die from diarrhoea.

The freedom of a man in a wheelchair to finally collect water from a pump with ramp access.

The smiles of children who’ve never had a tap, now learning how to wash their hands at school.

This is what your generosity makes possible.

Murray has seen first-hand what Water For Life 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 cannot access clean water in the world’s poorest places.

Please will you help bring clean Water For Life to people in places like Nigeria, living with a deadly water crisis.

Today, please send your special Christmas gift which will be matched dollar for dollar before the Christmas Miracle Match Fund runs out.

Thank you so much for your compassionate heart – and for helping to reflect God’s love to children and adults who need it most.

Your Christmas gift will be matched dollar for dollar, up to the amount of the Christmas Miracle Match Fund, given by a group of kind and faithful cbm supporters. Please send your generous gift before 1 December, or before the Match Fund runs out, to bring clean Water For Life to people in places like Nigeria, living with a deadly water crisis.

Thank you for your kind and generous support.

[1] UNICEF Thirsting for a Future Report
[2] WHO Fact Sheet on Drinking Water

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene – Nigeria