Photo: mattman23

1. Over 1.5 billion people do not have access to clean, safe water.

Photo: ePi.Longo

2. Almost 4 million people die each year from water related diseases.

Photo: Julien Harneis

3. 43% of water related deaths are due to diarrhea.

4. 98% of water related deaths occur in the developing world.

5. Unsafe water is the biggest killer of children under five; around 90% of all diarrheal deaths are in this age group.

6. In Sub-Saharan Africa women spend on average 16 hours a week collecting water.

7. A typical individual in the United States uses 500 litres of water each day.

8. The recommended daily water requirement for sanitation, bathing, cooking and consumption is approximately 50 litres per person per day.

9. Over 1 billion people use less than 6 litres of water per day.

Photo: laihiu

10. A typical individual in Gambia uses just 4.5 litres of water a day.

11. Lack of access to clean water and sanitation has claimed more lives through disease than any war through guns.

12. The average toilet uses 8 litres of clean water in a single flush.

13. At any one time, more than half the world’s poor are ill due to inadequate sanitation, water or hygiene.

14. It takes over 11,000 litres of water to produce a pound of coffee.

15. Half the world’s schools do not have access to clean water, nor adequate sanitation.

16. It takes about 300 litres of water to make the paper for just one Sunday newspaper.

17. Agriculture is responsible for about 70% of the world’s water usage. Industry uses a further 22%.

18. 443 million school days are lost each year due to water related illness.

19. On average, women in Africa and Asia have to walk 3.7 miles to collect water.

Photo: rachelmolenda

20. The average dishwasher uses over 100 litres per cycle.

21. It takes up to 5000 litres of water to produce 1kg of rice.

22. 80% of all illness in the developing world comes from water born diseases.

Photo: Sacca

23. Drilling a fresh water well can cost anything from a few hundred dollars to over $40,000.

24. Over 2.6 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation.

25. 90% of wastewater in developing countries is discharged into rivers or streams without any treatment.

26. About 1.8 million child deaths a year are due to diarrhea.

Photo: Sacca

27. An 18 litre can of water weighs 20 kilos.

28. About half the world’s hospital beds are occupied by someone with a water related illness.

29. A five minute shower in an American household will use more water than a person living in a developing world slum will use in a whole day.

30. A third of the people without access to clean water live on less than a dollar a day. More than two thirds live on less than two dollars a day.

31. Water consumption in a US household is eight times that of an Indian household.

32. In India alone, water born diseases cost the economy 73 million working days per year.

33. In sub-Saharan Africa a child’s chance of dying from diarrhea is over 500 times greater than in Europe.

34. Approximately 2.5 billion people lack access to appropriate sanitation facilities.

35. About 1.2 billion people have absolutely no access to a sanitation facility.

36. In a typical year in Africa 5–10 times the number of people die from diarrhea than from war.

Photo: Julien Harneis

37. Simply washing hands can decrease the chance of diarrhea by around 35%.

38. Global sales of bottled water account for over $60-$80 billion each year.

39. A child dies of water born diseases about every 15 seconds (that’s about 12 children just since you started reading this article). By this time tomorrow, another 2,500 will be dead.

40. As little as one dollar can provide clean water for a child in the developing world for an entire year.

Community Connection:

Want to help? www.charitywater.org, thewaterproject.org, www.water.org, and www.onedollarwater.com are just three of the hundreds of charities trying to bring clean water to the developing world.

Want to know how much water you’re using? Calculate your water footprint.

Photo above by Cross-Cultural Solutions.

We’ve all heard about the importance of sustainable tourism, ecotourism, voluntourism and a multitude of other buzz worlds that help locals benefit from travelers. But as individuals, it can be difficult to believe we’ll ever be in a position to really make a difference.

However, we never know where tomorrow may take us. The stories and examples below show how one traveler can make a difference. There is no reason why we can’t–why you can’t–change the world. Read on.

Help

Ellin Yourgsen was enjoying her break in Thailand when the tsunami hit on December 27, 2004. She gave up the rest of her gap year travel plans to help out wherever she could.

From helping in the removal and burial of bodies to building temporary shelters; she was just one of tens of thousands of travellers who gave (and are still giving) anything they could to help those who needed them most.

www.tsunamivolunteer.net

Photo above by subcomandanta.

Educate

In Africa alone 6,000 people die of AIDS each day; that’s more than the combined total of deaths from war famine and natural disasters.

Volunteer on sex education projects and you’ll be helping to alleviate one of the biggest issues facing humanity in the 21st century. If this doesn’t appeal, simply give out as many condoms as you can afford (while keeping back a plentiful supply for yourself, of course).

www.worldvolunteerweb.org

Unite

What better way to link two different cultures than to get married. Jasmine Avissar, an Israeli Jew, and Osama Zaatar, a Muslim Palestinian, have truly bridged the gaps of a cultural and religious divide since meeting in Jerusalem in 2004.

Sadly, not everyone has welcomed the union between these two bitterly divided states, yet if one can start, could others follow?

http://projecthope.ps

Photo above by locket479.

Enjoy

Matt Harding loved travel so much he danced for his entire journey (well, kind of). His loosely termed ‘music video’ has shown the world to millions and opened people‘s eyes to the wonders of the world.

Whether this has had any benefit to the international community is questionable, but another person’s travel videos have never been so entertaining.

www.wherethehellismatt.com

Observe

When Charles Darwin stepped onto the Galapagos Islands in 1835, he was a young man part way through a world voyage. The species he saw on the islands and from future explorations led him to develop his ideas on natural selection and evolution.

Twenty-three years after his first voyage he published The Origin of the Species, a text that revolutionised our thinking on the world.

www.darwinfoundation.org

Share

The very basis of helping and volunteering relies on a person sharing something with another, whether that be time, a particular skill, material goods or something else.

Gary Myers, a trained doctor, left his home in Oklahoma to help victims of election violence in Kenya. He faced a daily barrage of extreme injuries-most caused by machetes-inflicted by those with opposing political views.

Many would have lost limbs and sometimes their lives, were it not for his extensive training.

www.doctorswithoutborders.org

Explore

Rosie Swale-Pope, who is 52 years old, is currently running across the UK in her last leg of a run that has crossed Europe, Asia and North America- she is expecting to reach the finish line in the middle of August 2008, having raised thousands for various international charities.

In 1983, at just 16 years old, Fyona Campbell set out to walk around the world. She crossed four continents- Europe, North America, Australia and Africa- and walked 32,000 km while raising over £120,000 ($230,000) for charity.

www.survival-international.org

Give

Shortly after the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, David Savage was so moved by the state of Romania’s orphanages that he moved there to help: setting up a small team of volunteers and later building a school, community centre and holiday home to give these under privileged children, many whom are HIV positive, a brighter life.

He was awarded an MBE in 2003 and still continues his work in the small town of Cernavoda, south east Romania.

www.nightingaleschildrensproject.co.uk

Photo above by Island Spice.

Conserve

The destruction of the world’s rainforests- ‘the lungs of the world’- is one of the greatest threats to our natural world. 25% of western medicine is derived from rainforest plants and we can only guess what cures still lie hidden.

With 50,000,000 tribal people still estimated to live in the world’s rainforests, the need to preserve their world and way of life has never been more apparent.

www.yachana.edu.ec

Donate

Half the world- that’s three billion people – live on less than two dollars a day (of those about 1.5 – 2 billion live on less than one dollar a day).

One billion children (that’s half the world’s children) live in poverty and around 30,000 die each day because of that poverty. In comparison, the travel industry is expected to generate almost $7 trillion this year alone.

I’ll leave you to do the math…..

www.stopchildpoverty.org

Feature photo by technicolorcavalry Photo by AsianInsights

The chance to give something back, an opportunity to share your skills and knowledge, to meet other travellers or simply to meet the locals…

There are many reasons to volunteer while you’re travelling and there are literally thousands of charities and organisations that look for help from passing travellers.

Many ask for donations or fees to cover costs, others operate as profitable businesses but the list below is just a few that cost little or nothing to become involved and help out:

1. WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms), Worldwide

Board and lodging is offered in exchange for a days’ work on the farm. Stays available from one week to many years, and with thousands of hosts available in 53 countries there is an opportunity suitable for everyone. Contact: WWOOF.

For more information, check out A First-Timer’s Guide to WWOOF-ing.

2. Turtle Teams, Worldwide

A generic name for the thousands of small groups that help threatened sea turtles. Most groups are based on one or two nesting beaches–which are typically at risk from over exploitation-and appreciate help for even just one night.

Search for groups at the local tourist office close to any tropical beach and help a species come off the endangered list. More information can be found at these larger organisations: www.seaturtles.org and www.cccturtle.org.

Photo by aimabroad

Conservation Volunteers, Australia and New Zealand

– www.conservationvolunteers.com.au – Short-term project in Australia, New Zealand and a few international locations. Working in teams to protect habitats and promote eco tourism.

A small fee (usually around AUS$100 for a week) is usually required to participate, but covers all food and lodging. British based BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) also has similar opportunities. www.btcv.org.uk

Sudan Volunteer Programme, Sudan

– www.svp-uk.com – Teach English in one of the world’s most impoverished countries. Placements are at schools or universities but many volunteers help with community projects in additional to their teaching.

Volunteers must pay for their airfare but all other costs are covered, including a small monthly stipend.

Appalachian Trail Conference, USA

– www.appalachiantrail.org – At over 2,000 miles long the Appalachian Trail is the classic long trail in the Eastern US an home to almost 2,000 endangered or threatened species.

Volunteers help with trail building and maintenance in return for food and (usually very basic) accommodation

Photo by law_keven

Trip Leader for HF Holidays, Europe

– www.hfholidays.co.uk – One of Europe’s most popular walking holiday operators is searching for volunteers to lead their walking holidays. Leaders are provided with accommodation, meals and the chance to explore Europe in return for sharing their passion and knowledge with groups they accompany.

Help Exchange, Worldwide

– www.helpx.net – A website that lists worldwide hosts that are looking for an extra pair of hands; whether it be in their farm or garden, working in schools or on religious projects, building houses or community centres to simply helping a family take the kids to school.

A small memberships fee is required to access the details of hosts but board and lodging is provided in exchange for your work.

Photo by jonrawlinson

Peace Corps, Worldwide

– www.peacecorps.gov – A unique chance to live and work in another country; working on a variety of projects from healthcare and the environment to business development.

A real commitment to 27 months on placement is required, but for those that are willing, this is a life-changing position. Open only to US residents but similar projects are available for other nationals with VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) www.vso.org.uk

United Nations Volunteers, Worldwide

– www.unv.org – From health care and economic development to assisting after natural disasters, the UN offers positions for those that are dedicated to making a difference abroad.

While many positions are open only to experienced professions, the UN has links to hundreds of international NGOs and QANGOS that are looking for help in similar fields on a less formal basis.

Photo by aripeskoe

Kibbutz Volunteer, Israel – www.kibbutzvolunteer.com – An area that is rarely out of the news, Israel offers superb community but complicated politics.

Being a volunteer gives you the opportunity to experience this region first hand while living as part of a socialist community where everything is provided. The region also serves as a good base from which to explore the Middle East and North Africa

This is just a small sample of what’s on offer; be sure to thoroughly research any options before undertaking a project. And remember, while it’s always nice to get something for free, if a project is requesting money, it is usually going to a good cause.