Water is fundamental to survival. Go without it for a short time, and we would die. The water and sanitation crisis does not grab headlines, but far more people suffer from it than from the issues that do. But clean, safe drinking water is not available to over 1.2 billion people (28 percent of the world population). And more than twice that number lack access to adequate sanitation, which is part of the problem. In less time than it takes to read this page, 20 children will have died because of unsafe water.

All told, water-related diseases, which are usually easy to prevent or to treat and are rarely seen in the affluent world, account for 80 percent of illnesses and deaths in the developing world. Imagine if 18 fully-loaded jumbo jets with children were to fall from the sky for just one day what the news would be reporting. But, that is what happens every day because of unsafe water.

It is estimated that half of the people in Honduras do not have access to safe drinking water, and that 80% of disease is related to poor quality water. In Honduras this year 50,000 children will die from diseases associated with unsafe water and sanitation. For them, water is not a source of life, health and well-being as it is for us. Water as they know it, strips them of opportunities for education and work, and contributes to an endless cycle of poverty and despair. Sick children cannot attend school. Parents of sick children cannot work on a regular basis. Having clean, safe drinking water is the first step to break the cycle of poverty in which many people are trapped.

Consequently, Adventure In Missions has teamed up with others to provide safe drinking water to thousands. AIM has been involved in drilling wells, placing BioSand Water filters, and implementing other creative water delivery systems using horse drawn carts and bicycles.

Sanitation, which we take for granted, is non-existent for more than 2.5 billion people around the world – that’s 38% of the world’s population. Lack of adequate sanitation is yet another inhibitor to the prosperity of the developing world, stripping people of their dignity and ability to work and go to school. The odds are,  if you are reading this that you have the luxury of more than one porcelain potty in your home,  and you use 2-ply toilet paper and perfumed hand soap. Rather than having access to the types of facilities that we do, people in Honduras are often subjected to having to defecate in make-shift latrines or open places near their homes. More often than not, their drinking water sources are contaminated as a result. And so it begins, the endless cycle of waterborne disease, sickness and death.

Adventure In Missions is committed to providing a healthy latrine to as many families as we are able. We are committed to community development that will provide a sustainable long-term water and sanitation solution for each village, each family and each person where we have been called to serve