Water and Children
by Shannyn Snyder
With nearly three-quarters of the earth covered in water, it would seem unlikely that there is water scarcity at all. However, water scarcity does not have as much to do with the availability of “any” water as it does with the availability of potable, or usable, water. Searching for potable water sources is a daily chore for over 2 billion women and children across the globe, who spend many hours each day hauling water from pumps and basins to their homes. In what is sometimes described as a “six hour journey,” this population, predominantly girls, spend their day fetching water instead of attending school or playing with siblings or friends.
In addition, children who are consistently exposed to hazardous, unpotable water or exposed to pumps or water sources that have been contaminated by water-borne bacteria, contract diseases such as cholera and they are often affected by life-threatening diarrhea from parasites in unclean water.
Not only does the work of transporting water inhibit a child’s ability to access education, but it is also “back-breaking” work. With endless household chores such as caring for livestock, siblings, washing, cooking, cleaning and storing, the need for obtaining water never ends, from morning to night, every day. The heavy water, fetched in containers that vary in size, is carried on a child’s head for many miles, and with children carrying an average of one gallon or more, this water plus the container can weigh up to 10 pounds or more, which can also cause physical damage to a child’s body. The older the child, the more water they typically carry, with adolescent girls and women carrying up to 45 pounds of water (roughly the weight of a kindergartner) on their head.
Nonetheless, disease, lack of education and deformities are not the only risk of fetching water for these children. They also face the risk of being attacked by vicious animals, such as crocodile and large cats that live along the water route.
Crocodiles Make Fetching Water a Life Threatening Experience
Many communities around the world may take water for granted; but for those living along Malawi’s longest river, the Shire, water is something to die for. The 400 kilometre long river is the main outlet of Lake Malawi as it flows south into the Zambezi River.
While the Shire River is the most convenient water source for people living on its banks, it is also home to killer crocodiles. Women and children, required by tradition to fetch water for their households, are most at risk from the crocodile attacks.
”In one area in Machinga, locals estimate almost three deaths a month,” Agnes Wilson, now in her late 50s, survived a crocodile attack seven years ago while fetching water from the Shire River in the south of the country. She escaped with her life but lost the use of her right arm.
”The crocodile attacked me just as I dipped the bucket I was using to draw water into the river. The beast tried to drag me to the deep end (of the) river, but I was luckier than others who have died. I was rescued by some men who were passing by,” she recalls.
Despite almost losing her life, Wilson braves the crocodiles every day to fetch water. There is no other option for her and her community.”I have just accepted the risk I face every time I go to the river. Either I die of thirst or die while trying to fetch water…I may die fighting for survival if a crocodile attacks me again,” says Wilson.
There are no statistics available for the crocodile population in Malawi, but people like Wilson claim there are many, especially in the Shire River.
Traditional leaders in the south of the country, especially those from the Lower Shire Valley, have accused government of caring more about crocodiles than human beings.
WaterAid, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that helps the world’s poorest people gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education, indicated in a 2003 study that up to 44,000 people in the area had no access to safe water and had to resort to the crocodile-infested river for their water needs.
A programme officer for WaterAid in Malawi, James Longwe, says he knows of three women in Machinga who have been seriously injured by crocodiles while fetching water.
”One of the women lost an arm, while the other two have very deep wounds on different parts of their bodies following the attacks,” says Longwe.
He says that some communities have lost count of the number of people who have been attacked by crocodiles.
Crocodile attacks are not the only dangers facing communities along the Shire River.
The water quality from the river is itself poor: waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea and dysentery are perennial problems in the area.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recorded over 4,000 cases of cholera, a disease associated with poor sanitation, and lack of hygiene and access to potable water, in the Shire region over a three month period last year.
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