Want to Save a Life? Build a Toilet

This Season of Giving, you can double your impact by helping some of the great NGOs on OneVietnam Network with their matching grant challenges. As part of a holiday special, the NGOs are sharing their thoughts and reasons for dedicating themselves to Vietnam’s poor with you. The article comes from Children of Vietnam (COV), who recently successfully completed a challenge grant with readers’ support. Stay tuned for more opportunities to double your impact with COV!

 

Toilets save lives…it’s not very sexy to talk about, but it is the bare and honest truth.

Here’s why…every day hundreds of children die from illnesses like diarrhea and dysentery caused by dirty water and unhygienic living conditions. We can’t fight malnutrition, lack of education, or poverty without tackling the diseases that contribute to it. As part of Children of Vietnam’s holistic approach to helping children, we’re working hard to be sure all families have good sanitation. Improving disposal of human excreta can reduce illness due to diarrhea by 34%!

Take the Thanh family…Ms. Thanh is a widow supporting two children, but she does not earn enough to provide this basic necessity. They live in Hoa Tho Tay, Cam Le district, Danang city. The whole family must “go” outside in the fields and drainage ditches.  They really need a toilet.

The Phuong family is in a similar difficult situation. Ms. Phuong works in a factory and her husband is a farmer. They also live in Hoa Th? Tay, Cam Le district, Danang city. They labor every day to support their two children, but they cannot afford this most basic need for proper sanitation.

The children in these families are all at risk for diarrheaol diseases and parasitic worm infections both of which lead to malnutrition and weakened immune system.

Sanitation is vital for good health plain and simple. Spread the word. If 15 donors gifted $21 each, one toilet can be built for a family that will have profound and lasting impact.

 

Want to save a life? Head this way to COV’s fundraising page.