Why Can't Half Of Children In Developing Countries Wash Their Hands?

It's the year 2010, and humans have done some pretty incredible things. We've built the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt. We've dug deep into the Earth and set foot on the Moon. In America, we've even passed health care reform. (Ba-dum-ching.)

What haven't we done? Built toilets and sanitation systems for the 1.2 billion people who have to pee and poop in the open, polluting drinking water and spreading disease. In terms of saving the world, solving the world's water crisis would be a real gamechanger, says David Trouba of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council.

"Solving the sanitation crisis would be a more momentous accomplishment for humanity than the building of the Great Wall, the Apollo Moon Missions or the construction of the Pyramids," he said recently.

What else would change if people in the world's developing countries had access to safe, disease-free water? More kids would get to go to school. Students in developing countries lose 443 million school days each year due to diseases associated with the lack of water, sanitation and hygiene, says John Sauer, Communications Director for Water Advocates. Not having access to clean, safe water means constant diarrhea and worm infestations. Ever try to learn when you're sick? It's next to impossible to concentrate on a book or a teacher's words if your own body is demanding your attention.

Safe drinking water. Toilets. Soap. The lack of these basic necessities in more than half of the schools in developing countries traps children and parents in a cycle of survival. There's little energy left to devote to education if you are spending hours a day searching for and transporting water, fighting off diseases caused by contaminated water and guarding your limited supply. 

Groups like Water Advocates are working to solve the world's water crisis. Students are getting involved, too: H20 For Life links North American students with schools in developing countries, enlisting kids to fundraise and partner with businesses and NGOs to create sanitation systems in schools across the world.

Today is Blog Action Day 2010, where the world's bloggers unite to call attention to a global problem and brainstorm solutions. Please sign Change.org's Blog Action Day petition on the global water crisis and add your own ideas into the mix. We've invented cars that run on sunlight and figured out how to split an atom. Now, can we help 1.2 billion people wash their hands?

Photo credit: Jennifer Su