REVEALING FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS

DO YOU KNOW?

Every 20seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease

Worldwide 1 of 5 deaths is due to water related disease

More than 1 Billion people do not have access to clean, safe water

Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water related disease

80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions

1 out of every 5deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease

Lack of medical resources increases death rates

Every 6 seconds 1 child dies of malnutrition

Children lose 443million school days due to these diseases

Women spend 200million hours a day collecting water

DAILY PAYMENT DUE

Abu Hurairah (r.a.) reported : Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) said : “Every day that the sun rises, charity (sadaqah) is due on every joint of man; doing justice between two men is charity, doing justice between two people is charity, assisting a man to mount his animal or lifting up his belonging is charity, and a good word is charity, every step which one takes towards (the masjid) for Prayers is charity, and removing harmful things from the pathway is charity” (al-Bukhari &Muslim)

ROOT-CAUSE OF POVERTY : WATER & MALNUTRITION

Although poverty and under-development of a country can be the result of political instability, ethnic conflicts, climate change and other man-made causes; deeper research is beginning to show that root-cause of the problem is, clean water, hunger and malnutrition which results in poor health conditions, degenerative diseases and death among children and youth. In order to promote education for the rural poor in under-developed countries, we have to firstly address the causes which hinder children from receiving education.

The lack of water is an often insurmountable obstacle to helping oneself. Communities are not able to grow food, build housing, stay healthy, stay in school or continue working. Without clean water, the possibility of breaking out of the cycle of poverty is incredibly slim. Relieving hunger and poverty has to begin with access to clean water. Without access to a reliable source of water, food is hard to grow and even more difficult to preserve and prepare. It takes huge amounts of water to grow food. Globally, we use 70% of our water resources for agriculture and irrigation and only 10% for domestic use.

Abu Hurairah (r.a.) reported Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.) as saying, “forgiveness was granted to an unchaste woman who upon seing a dog almost dead due to thirst at the mouth of a well, she took off her shoe, tied it with her head-covering and drew some water for it. On that account all her sins were forgiven and entered Jannah” (Bukhari & Muslim)

With unclean water sources often miles from villages, many of the able bodied members of a community are forced to spend hours each day simply finding and transporting water. Women and children carry between 40-50pounds of water on their backs and walk miles home everyday. Imagine how heavy it is to carry a healthy 5-year old child or the size of a baby hippo daily.

With much of one's day already consumed by meeting basic needs, there isn't much time for much else. The hours lost to gathering water are often the difference between time to do a trade and earn a living and not. Just think of all the things you would miss if you had to take three hours out each day to get water.

Good health begins with access to clean water, as tiny worms and bacteria live in water naturally. Most of the bacteria are harmless, but some of them can cause devastating disease in humans. Every glass of dirty water is a potential killer.

Infants and young children are especially susceptible to diseases. Children who are malnourished or with waterborne illness are not able to attend school. If the sick child needs medicine, that money is not available to feed the rest of the family or for schooling needs of other siblings. Healthy children, on the other hand have to miss school in order to walk miles away from home and fetch dirty, diseased water or to care for sick parents or siblings. Girls drop out of school when they reach puberty, if the school does not have proper toilets. These children miss the chance to be educated, become dependent and contribute to the cycle of poverty. Schools cannot run programmes if they cannot provide water to students, faculty and their families. The consequences of dirty water and malnutrition are particularly severe,  often  irreversible, and reach far into the future. 

WATER, SOURCE FOR LIFE

“We made from water, every living thing. Will they not then believe?” (Surah Al-Anbiyaa- The Prophets : 30)

“Allah has created every creature from water. Of them some that creep on their bellies, some that walk on two legs and some that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills. Verily! Allah is able to do all things” (Quran 24:45)

Water covers 71% of the earth’s surface, while land occupies 29% of the whole surface area. It has been proven that the percentage of water in a human body is 71%  for adults and 93% in an embryo that is a few months old. Water composes more than 80% of human blood and more than 90% in the bodies of a large number of plants and animals. Water is essential in building the bodies of all living organisms as it is the most efficient solvent. All vital actions and processes like nutrition, excretion, growth and reproduction cannot be undertaken without water.

Every living thing has been created from water, and they continue to live with sustenance from water. It is for this reason that humans can survive for a month without food, but would die after just a week without water.  

“It is He who sent down rain from the sky, and with it We bring forth vegetation of all kinds, and out of it We bring forth green stalks, from which we bring forth thick clustered grain. And out of the date-palm and its spathe comes forth clusters of dates hanging low and near, and garden of grapes, olives and pomegranates, each similar (in kind) yet different (in variety and taste). Look at their fruits when they begin to bear, and the ripeness thereof. Verily! In these things there are signs for people who believe” (Quran, 6:99)

WATER : BETWEEN HUMAN RIGHTS & NATIONAL SECURITY

Water is the most important single element needed in order for people to acieve the universal human right to “a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family” (Article25, Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

United Nation’s Secretary General Kofi Annan, asks us to face up to the threat of an upcoming catastrophic water crisis and counter such bleak forecasts by adopting a new spirit of stewardship.

Former President of the Philippines, Fidel Ramos, using the example of the enormous potential of people-power in South East Asia highlights, human solidarity is the only force capable of facing a task of this magnitude. There must be solidarity in International and regional governance; there must be solidarity between sectors, stakeholders; and there must political will amongst governments to work in good faith both with their neighbours and with their own people. These people, including often marginalized groups such as women and minorities must have a voice, and the information and means necessary to use it.

Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of Russia campaigns, without water security, social, economic and national stability are imperiled. This is magnified where water flows across borders – and becomes crucial in regions of religious, territorial or ethnic tension. In some cases, as between India and Pakistan over the Indus River, successful cooperation over water resources can be cited as proof that even states with difficult relations can work together. In other cases, the opportunities to improve regional relations which a common watercourse presents have not yet been grasped. The Jordan Valley, shared by the people of Israel, Palestines, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, is one example.

Water has been a fundamental security matter in the Middle East as well as the United States and its neighbours since antiquity. The allocation, use and rights to the increasingly scarce water resources of this volatile region remain sensitive, and potentially explosive issues. We need to find solutions to the escalating regional water crisis. In all of the 261 International basins, joint management should be built on a system of effective interdependence, a pooling rather than a restriction of nationa’s sovereignty.

GIVE OF WHAT YOU LOVE

“O believers, never shall you attain to true piety unless you spend on others out of what you cherish yourselves; and whatever you spend – verily God has full knowledge thereof “ (Quran 3 : 92)

MALNUTRITION

Worldwide, children suffer most from hunger, also referred to as malnutrition or malnutrition. Their mothers also suffer greatly from malnutrition, which affects the child before birth. There are two basic types of malnutrition. The first and most important is protein—energy malnutrition—the lack of enough protein (from meat and other sources) and food that provides energy (measured in calories) which all of the basic food groups provide. This is the type of malnutrition referred to when world hunger is discussed. The second type of malnutrition is micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) deficiency.

Poor children live in urban slums or in poor agricultural communities without sewers or other sanitation facilities for removal of human and animal excrement or garbage removal. This lack of sanitation can cause sickness, and also, by contaminating the water supply, cause further sickness.  From these sources, children get diarrhea, to name just one important cause of illness.  Diarrhea keeps children from getting enough nutrients from their food and thus is an important cause of hunger, especially wasting. Hunger causes poor health, low levels of energy, and even mental impairment, hunger, especially in childhood, can lead to even greater poverty by reducing people’s ability to work and learn.

Children who are poorly nourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year.  Malnutrition magnifies the effect of every disease, including measles and malaria.  The estimated proportions of deaths in which malnutrition is an underlying cause are roughly similar for diarrhea (61%), malaria (57%), pneumonia (52%), and measles (45%) (Black 2003, Bryce et al. 2005).   Malnutrition can also be caused by diseases, such as the diseases that cause diarrhea, by reducing the body's ability to convert food into usable nutrients.

Charity cures illness

“treat the sick with alms (reported by ad-dailami from Ibn Umar)

PROTEIN-ENERGY MALNUTRITION

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), in some degree, is essentially what is meant by hunger.  Protein-energy malnutrition is basically a lack of calories and protein. Food is converted into energy by humans, and the energy contained in food is measured by calories.  Protein is necessary for key body functions including provision of essential amino acids and development and maintenance of muscles.

'The believers ... are steadfast in prayers, and in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged, for the poor and the destitute. (Qur'an 70:22-24).

RESULT FROM PROTEIN-ENERGY MALNUTRITION

Malnutrition in children appears in three ways, and it is most commonly assessed through the measurement of weight and height.  A child can be too short for his or her age (stunted), have low weight for his or her height (wasted), or have low weight for his or her age (underweight).  A child who is underweight can also be stunted or wasted or both  (UNICEF 2009, p. 13).

Stunting. Stunting affects approximately 195 million children under 5 years old in the developing world, or about one in three.  Africa and Asia have high stunting rates—40 percent and 36 percent, respectively—and more than 90 percent of the world's stunted children live on these two continents.(UNICEF 2009, pp. 15–19).

Wasting. Children who suffer from wasting face a markedly increased chance of death.  According to UNICEF, 13 percent of children under 5 years old in the developing world are wasted, and 5 percent are extremely wasted, an estimated 26 million children (UNICEF 2009, p. 20).

Underweight. UNICEF estimates that 129 million children under 5 years old in the developing world are underweight--nearly one in four.   Ten percent of children in the developing world are severely underweight.  The prevalence of underweight is higher in Asia than in Africa, with rates of 27 percent and 21 percent, respectively.  (UNICEF 2009, p. 17).

“That which you give in usury for increase through the property of (other) people, will have no increase with Allah: but that which you give for charity, seeking the Countenance of Allah, (will increase); it is those who will get a recompense multiplied.” (Qur'an, 30:39)

MICRONUTRIENTS

Quite a few  trace elements or micronutrients—vitamins and minerals—are important for health. One out of three people in developing countries are affected by vitamin and mineral deficiencies, according to the World Health Organization. Three micronutrients, perhaps the most important in terms of health consequences for poor people in developing countries, are:

Vitamin A Vitamin A deficiency  can cause night blindness and reduces the body’s resistance to disease. In children Vitamin A deficiency can also cause growth retardation. Between 100 and 140 million children are vitamin A deficient. An estimated 250,000 to 500,000 Vitamin A-deficient children become blind every year, half of them dying within 12 months of losing their sight. (World Health Organization.)

Iron Iron deficiency is a principal cause of anemia. Two billion people—over 30 percent of the world’s population—are anemic, mainly due to iron deficiency, and, in developing countries, frequently exacerbated by malaria and worm infections. For children, health consequences include premature birth, low birth weight, infections, and elevated risk of death. Later, physical and cognitive development are impaired, resulting in lowered school performance. For pregnant women, anemia contributes to 20 percent of all maternal deaths (World Health Organization).

Iodine Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) jeopardize children’s mental health—often their very lives. Serious iodine deficiency during pregnancy may result in stillbirths, abortions and congenital abnormalities such as cretinism, a grave, irreversible form of mental retardation that affects people living in iodine-deficient areas of Africa and Asia. IDD also causes mental impairment that lowers intellectual prowess at home, at school, and at work. IDD affects over 740 million people, 13 percent of the world’s population. Fifty million people have some degree of mental impairment caused by IDD (World Health Organization).

Updated September 2, 2012