Jim's Cartoon
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Tropical Diseases in the World’s Poorest Places
Christian Blind Mission (cbm) Director recently visited Nigeria and spent time with a small community benefitting first hand from initiatives aimed at bringing clean, fresh water and good hygiene practices to combat diseases.
“Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham…” – Genesis 26:18.
In New Zealand, most of us are fortunate to have a constant supply of clean water. However, that’s not the case in many of the world’s poorest places. Globally there are millions of people who do not have access to clean water.
With support from donors, Christian Blind Mission (cbm) continues the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). In Nigeria, the battle against River Blindness has been highly successful over many years. Alongside the delivery of parasite-killing medication which breaks the lifecycle of parasites that cause NTDs, cbm’s Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project focuses on clean water and good sanitation to prevent NTDs from taking hold again.
Clean water helps keep people healthy, and people in good health are more likely to be able to access education, have improved livelihoods and have a far greater chance of breaking the cycle of poverty and disability.
As we celebrate World Humanitarian Day on 19 August, I ask you to prayerfully consider making a special gift to help ensure clean water, and good sanitation and hygiene practices are accessible to communities, including people with disabilities. This will help prevent children and adults in local villages losing their sight due to River Blindness.
I recently travelled to Nigeria and visited a small community and their school where a WASH Club has been set up. The children were excited to have access to clean drinking water and to learn about improving their personal sanitation and hygiene practices.
The children happily demonstrated their new hand-washing skills and showed me how to wash my hands using soap and ‘tippy-taps’. These ‘tippy-taps’ were filled with fresh clean water from the refurbished community borehole and constructed from low-cost recycled materials.
The director from cbm’s WASH partner said, “Many charities want to come in at the end when we are winning the battle against NTDs. But cbm has been there from the start.”
We wish to continue the incredible progress made over many years to combat NTDs. Please prayerfully consider sending a gift today by phoning 0800 77 22 64 or on cbm’s website www.cbmnz.org.nz/wash.
With your generous support, let’s WASH away the misery of NTDs!
