No Clean Water!

Results from a recent study of current living conditions throughout Africa report that more than one billion people do not have enough clean water to provide for their basic human needs. As a result, more than 2,500 children are dying each day.

"When people are desperately thirsty," one official explained, "they are willing to take the risk of disease by consuming water that may not be healthy. For them - it's either risk infection or die from thirst! It is a horrible position to be in."

Unsafe drinking water can carry diseases such as malaria, trypanosomiasis, intestinal worm infections, dengue, and schistosomiasis - as well as bacteria that can lead to deadly diarrheal infections. "In some areas," the report continued, "the level of suffering and misery owing to the inadequacy of clean water is almost beyond comprehension judging by the number of pregnant women and children who suffer from deadly diarrheal diseases such as cholera and dysentery.

"These parasites and diseases feed on very young children and the elderly," explains Fr. Richard Roy. Fr. Roy is the director of the Missionaries of Africa's development office in Washington, DC. "They are the innocent and silent members of society... they have no one to be a voice for them."

"Entire villages and communities are being wiped out by diseases that are living in dirty water," Fr. Roy continued. "Children are dying in huge numbers! For many people, these numbers are so big that they cannot begin to comprehend them - they are statistics! But imagine your own child dying . . . and then imagine if it happened to every child in your neighborhood school! That's when we start to understand how horrible the crisis is! These poor people desperately need our help!" The Missionaries of Africa are currently accepting contributions that will be used to provide safe drinking water for men, women and children in Africa's neediest regions. All donations are tax-deductible.

Devastating drought is once again threatening the lives of African men, women and children. In the months ahead, as many as 14 million people will be at risk of starvation and malnutrition.

"Vegetation has decreased drastically," a study on the current conditions within the African continent recently stated. "The eastern side of the continent on the Horn of Africa is being affected more substantially than others. In this region, the rainy season occurs between February and June. Much less rain has fallen than normal this year, so their staple crops of corn and sorghum simply withered. Poor harvests over the past three years have worn away food surpluses and incomes in the region. As many as 14 million people may be at risk of malnutrition or starvation." The study stated that as much as 270,000 metric tons of food assistance will be needed immediately . . . but only 120,000 metric tons is currently available.

"Food shortages are particularly severe in eastern and southern Ethiopia," another report explained, "where deaths from starvation are being increasingly reported. Sudan and Uganda are also being affected."

"There has been famine before," the report continued, "but this is the first compounded by the widespread presence of HIV/AIDS. In southern Africa, infection rates range from 20 to 38 percent of the population. Most of these are working adults - the people who produce food and earn money, the people with the skills needed to be passed on to the next generation. Men and women weakened by AIDS need extra nutrition to fight the disease, and the illness takes a heavy toll in a community struggling to meet basic food needs."

"We are seeing an entire continent of people experience suffering like never before!" explains Fr. Richard Roy who served in Africa as a missionary for more than 20 years before being assigned to head the organization's development office in Washington, DC. "With a drought of this magnitude -- the land, the animals, the people -- everything is dying! If we don't reach out - we could see the end of entire villages, regions . . . even cities. An enormous amount of food, water and medicine is needed. I am praying that our benefactors will help us get supplies to our missionaries in the field . . . so that they can reach those who are on the verge of dying!"

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