Solutions to Extreme Poverty
Solutions to extreme poverty start with meeting the basic needs of those living on less than $1.90 a day.
Clean water and proper sanitation are fundamental to health and, therefore, to solutions to poverty.
Sanitation
About 4.2 billion people worldwide lack sanitation services, which could prevent the spread of debilitating and deadly diseases (from dysentery to polio and hepatitis A).[1] Proper sanitation also means that women and girls do not have to risk their safety by relieving themselves in fields, in the streets, or behind bushes.
GFA has built more than 32,000 outdoor toilet facilities in many countries in Asia. The privacy and safety these facilities provide have saved countless lives. Between 2000 and 2016, improved sanitation contributed to a 15% decrease just in diarrheal deaths alone in Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania.[2]
Water
Likewise, clean drinking water can prevent a large percentage of the 2.2 billion people who don’t have safely managed water[3] from contracting deadly illnesses like typhoid, giardia and cholera and others which cause life-threatening diarrhea.
About 2.4 million people per year could be saved from diarrheal deaths by providing clean water, sanitation and basic hygiene education.[4]
GFA digs Jesus Wells down to 200 meters or more to make sure villagers can access water year-round, even during droughts. Local churches maintain the wells, ensuring they work constantly.
Clean water and sanitation mean more girls attending school
Clean water and private sanitation facilities also encourage girls to attend school. Girls are more likely to miss school than boys because 1) they are the ones who travel to collect water in 80% of households without nearby water services, and 2) girls often miss school during menstruation due to a lack of private bathrooms.[5]
Donate to solutions to extreme poverty
The resources most of us take for granted on a daily basis—clean water at our homes and flushing toilets—could save literally millions of people’s lives, if they were available.
For only $540, you can reduce the transmission of diseases and increase the safety of women and girls by blessing a family with an outdoor toilet.
For $1,400, you can provide an entire village—up to about 300 people—clean water to drink, cook and clean with through a Jesus Well.
Learn more about Poverty Solutions[1] “Water.” United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/water. Accessed February 2, 2022.
[2] “Global WASH Fast Facts.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html. Accessed February 2. 2022.
[3] “Water.” United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/water. Accessed February 2, 2022.
[4] Rabbi, S. E. and Dey, N. C. “Exploring the gap between hand washing knowledge and practices in Bangladesh: A cross-sectional comparative study.” https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-89. January 30, 2013.
[5] Global WASH Fast Facts.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html. Accessed February 2. 2022.