According to the World Health Organization (WHO) water-borne illnesses continue to contribute to the sickness and deaths of over 500,000 children worldwide with most of the deaths occurring in developing countries.

-Diarrheal disease is the second leading cause of death in children under five years old. It is both preventable and treatable.

-Each year diarrhea kills around 525,000 children under five.

A significant proportion of diarrheal disease can be prevented through safe drinking-water and adequate sanitation and hygiene.

-Globally, there are nearly 1.7 billion cases of childhood diarrheal disease every year. Diarrhea is a leading cause of malnutrition in children under five years old.

According to WaterAid, in, Sierra Leone, 6 out of 10 people don’t have access to safe drinking water and 8 out of 10 people don’t have access to a decent toilet. Children under five are 5x more likely than other age groups to die from typhoid fever, malaria and Diarrheal Disease and children ages 5-11 are 3x more likely. Unfortunately, the death toll from preventable water borne illnesses continue to rise daily, especially where there are no toilet facilities (site of Seeds of Life project)

The absence of clean and safe water and toilet facilities in schools make it challenging for children to stay in school. It is makes it harder to prevent water borne diseases from affecting children and their families. Providing access to sufficient quantities of safe water sanitation facilities are vital to motivating sound hygiene behaviors and reducing the spread of infectious diseases, helping children stay healthy and in school, and key to increasing performance.

Through Impact Sierra Leone’s Hands of Hope campaign, we are helping to provide resources to prevent water-borne illnesses during Sierra Leone’s rainy season – a time when these types of diseases are prevalent. Our goal is to provide:

250 raincoats, umbrellas, rainboots, anti-diarrheal medicine, vitamins, mosquito nets, malaria medicine, soap, food, and water.We are aiming to reach our goal by mid-August but will need your help by going to:

https://gofund.me/3a969dd6 and making a tax-deductible donation through GoFundMe’s nonprofit giving program. You can also go to www.impactsierraleone.org to donate.

Thank you for your continued support!