Each day hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan and in greater East
Africa, walk for hours through the dangers of the desert to collect
water to drink. This water is often contaminated with parasites such as
Guinea Worm, Schistosomes; and the dangerous Cholera bacteria. The
United Nations reported in April, 2001, that 36% of all reported
hospitalization cases in Sudan pertain to parasitic intrusions. Many
more cases of such illnesses go unreported, especially in the more
devastated South, due to a staggering lack of health care
infrastructure. The result: there is rampant disease throughout the
region, caused in many cases by an unsafe water supply. Water-borne
disease often results in a diminished immune system which then allows
the intrusion of other opportunistic diseases. This exposure results in
pain, sickness, and often death, especially among infants and children.
Another consequence of the lack of having safe water available
locally is the instability of villages. Every dry season, entire
villages migrate with their livestock to find water. Such migration
prevents the establishment of schools, health clinics, markets, and a
general social infrastructure.
