"Before the Vivoblu filter, there were bacteria and bugs in our water, and my children and I would throw up and have diarrhea all the time. Now we only drink filtered water, there are NO bugs we don't get sick anymore." - Submit
This was the narrative I heard repeatedly as I walked through the slums of Kolkata, India. These words hit us hard as we visited many slum homes that had installed our filters. To set the stage, let us take a moment and try to understand the landscape of Kolkata and the slums. Kolkata is the city of joy and there are over 20 million people just in the city alone, and over 30% of the population live in the slums. The Hindu caste system is alive and well in Kolkata, and there are over 4,000 slums in the city. There is open sewage everywhere you go, and trash every inch of the city. Cows, chickens, goats, and stray dogs wander the streets as millions of motorcycles, rickshaws, taxis, cars, bicycles, and trucks just clutter every road, and as far as the eyes can see, traffic is everywhere and every vehicle is honking their horns the whole time. The air is heavy and the smells of curry, smoke, spices, and putrid trash assault your senses nonstop. Welcome, to Kolkata. Again this is just a small attempt to take you to the City of Joy and give you a small sense of what it's like. Even with all the mayhem and chaos, the people, culture, and food are amazing and beautiful. But, the water situation is very dangerous and very real.
So, can clean water change family lives in Kolkata? It's a great question. The UN states that clean water is a basic human right. Most of us in America never have to worry about clean safe water. Most of us never really even considered the risks of drinking contaminated water. But most of us if not everyone at one point in our lives has had stomach pains and diarrhea. Now imagine that 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Imagine your home life, school life, or work life? How could you function? And all the while you knew it was the water you were drinking but had no other choice. Either die of dehydration or drink the contaminated water. What kind of choice is that? That's the only choice for these families in the slums of Kolkata. The only choice is to drink the contaminated water from the city pipes or the rivers that flow through the slums.
7 benefits to drinking clean safe water?
What we know, is that humans are unable to live without air for no more than 4 minutes, and water for no more than 3 days. Three days! Now, we would argue that water is the second most important thing right after air to survive. So, if the water is contaminated, the whole body is sick all the time and it doesn't let up. But when the body receives clean safe water, everything works better. When the family gets clean water, that affects everything. When we talk about the developing world and the families who have an average income of just less than $2.00 a day, clean water is imperative to their thriving. When families are drinking clean water:
NO risk of death due to contaminated water
Increased absorption of nutrients from food and medicines
Children stay in school - bringing generational hope to the families
Weight gain for the children and family members
Mothers and fathers stay at work - savings of $13 - $20 per month
Less medical bills - savings of upwards of $20.00 per month
Families sleep better
Bringing Love and Hope to the Slum Communities through Clean Water Systems
Water for All's mission is very simple, and it's to bring life-saving clean water filters to the world. We partner with organizations like Momentum Global and offer the communities filters that they are directly involved in. Our filter is a tool to bring the Love of God to the families they serve. Our goal is to bring 5,000 filters in the next 18 months to the families of this slum where Momentum Global is working. These partnerships are designed to offer opportunities and open doors for building relationships with the people. Giving the people a tangible tool that saves their lives is a wonderful and loving way to offer the Living Water. Water for All deployed 125 filter systems this past May 2022 to the families. What an amazing experience! When we first started drilling the holes in the buckets, we had children and mothers from the community come into the building and ask if they could help. This was such a moment of real genuine partnership. The families came to participate not only in the deployment of the filters, but they came to assemble the filters. This is a perfect picture of what a true partnership looks like, and having the community involved touched the hearts of the slum community leaders. 125 families received a Vivoblu system and Water for All had the opportunity to pray over every family. This is our mission and vision. Won't you join us to help Momentum Global hit its goal?
3 things you can do to bring Hope to the slums of Kolkata
Pray for the ministry of Momentum Global and Water for All
Go to our webpage www.waterall.org/projects and donate a filter
Connect with our President John DeYoung and learn more about how you can support the cause. john@waterall.org
Every Filter donated serves a family for up to 3 years. That means that every liter of clean water costs less than 0.001 cents. Your donation of $65.00, provides each family a Vivoblu Filter System, 2 locally purchased buckets, a drill bit, install and maintenance training, and all the shipping, and handling fees. 100% of your donation goes to the field. Water is the greatest investment in the developing world.