Did you know that 50% of all hospital beds worldwide are occupied by people with easily preventable waterborne diseases? Or, how about the grim reality that a whopping one in eight people on Earth do not have access to safe, clean water!?
Unfortunate stats like these are why Medical Solutions is gearing up once again to sponsor Planet Water’s Project 24 in 2018. In celebration of World Water Day, Thursday, March 22, 2018, this effort will bring clean water to 24 communities in just 24 hours by installing school-based water filtration systems within villages in need worldwide.
Medical Solutions backs this annual effort because we are constantly inspired by the hard work and compassion that our amazing Travel Nurses display every day in their quest to save and improve lives. YOU are the inspiration for our company to support this amazing cause!
This year, the Medical Solutions-sponsored water filtration tower will go up at Buntog Elementary School in the rural farming community of Buntog, Philippines. The community’s main water source is a deep well nearly a mile away, where people line up to collect unsafe water for drinking, cleaning, cooking, and bathing. Compounding the issue, Buntog is a largely impoverished community, with many households earning less than the U.S. equivalent of $150 per month, making them unable to buy clean, bottled drinking water or have transportation to travel the 7.5 miles to the nearest clean water source.
“I am a solo parent earning 7,000 pesos ($135 USD) a month. I have three children and I just let them drink water from the deep well most of the time because I cannot afford purified water,” says Marge, a Buntog community member.
Most Americans are fortunate enough to have access to transportation, but even with that, can you even imagine if you had to travel 7.5 miles for a glass of clean water?! To put it into perspective, I just walked about 20 feet to my nearest clean water source!
The lack of accessibility of clean water causes frequent illness and other health issues, and also creates an obstacle to learning for the village’s children.
“The water from our deep well is for washing purposes only,” says Jobert, a third-grade teacher at Buntog Elementary School. “I reprimand my students if they drink it since it is not safe, but I still catch a lot of them drinking it because they couldn’t buy purified water. I am not surprised that there are many reports of amoebiasis and diarrhea — not just among children but adults as well.”
There is a general lack of knowledge in the area regarding water health and hygiene. As a part of Project 24, Planet Water will not only erect the Medical Solutions-sponsored clean water tower, they will also provide crucial water health and hygiene education! Just as Medical Solutions’ sponsorship helped thousands of villagers in 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2017, our 2018 effort will benefit Buntog’s population of 2,000 people — including 237 students throughout 489 households.
Please join the Medical Solutions team in taking a moment to be extra grateful for the easy access to clean water that most of us enjoy in the United States — and to learn more about Buntog, Project 24, and Planet Water Foundation.
Thank you for continuously inspiring us to make the world a better place, Travel Nurses!