The Global Water Crisis, Up Close
I flinch, feeling the pressure of my backpack digging into my shoulders–then immediately feel ridiculous for noticing.
I’ve barely walked a hundred meters with it and now stand watching as three women, my age or younger, climb down a muddy slope towards a murky waterhole. I straighten my shoulders and take a deep breath. As I do, I inhale the smell of mud and animals and cringe knowing this is the only water source within miles for these women, as well as for the cows and goats nearby.
My eyes land where the orangish clay meets the brown reservoir, where the women now shuffle large yellow cans, full of water, back up the incline. They somehow manage to maintain their balance, clutching splintered branches with one hand and using the other to hoist the cans above their heads, passing the water to the top before climbing back out.
For the first time during my week-long trip to Sub-Saharan Africa*, I’m totally overwhelmed by the devastation of the water crisis–a crisis that is a daily reality for these women.
A small crowd gathers, clearly wondering why there are outsiders at their water source. As they watch us, my mind continues to process what I’m seeing.
This mud hole acts as a lifeline for each member of the crowd: for the village leader who offers me his umbrella as it starts to rain, the two young boys whose eyes remain on me as I take it all in, and the older woman who warmly cups my hands in hers as I leave. All four are clearly hoping we’re here with a plan to bring a better option to their village. All four need a better option.
As we leave, my brain connects the individuals I've met to the statistics I've been hearing for the last year. I know these villages represent just a fraction of the 696 million people who still lack access to safe, reliable drinking water.
Since September of 2024, I've worked at Neverthirst, a nonprofit committed to ending the water crisis and using clean water as a vehicle to bring the gospel to unreached communities in Asia and Africa. For over a year, I’ve known that millions of individuals still rely on dangerous, contaminated water sources like this one. I’ve heard stories of women and children carrying the burden–missing school and work to collect water and losing loved ones to preventable, waterborne illnesses. I’ve known that the crisis is real, but meeting these people and seeing their burden lived out still impacts me deeply. I feel helpless, knowing the enormity of the need and being unable to help these women right now.
But, as we leave their village, I remind myself of the hope I’ve also seen while working for Neverthirst. I know this is a solvable crisis.
During my time in Africa, I saw villages transformed by hand pumps and other water interventions. I heard incredible stories of families breaking free from generational poverty and sending their kids to school because of new access to water. And because our local partners have relationships with these villages, I know there is hope that these women will soon have a safe water source.
Now that I've experienced the reality of clean water changing a community, my helplessness quickly turned into a renewed passion to see an end to the crisis.
Now, during my day-to-day at Neverthirst, I consistently think of the women my age hauling jerry cans up and down the ravine. I remember the color and smell of the mud hole and the steep climb I couldn’t imagine making, and I’m more thankful to be a small part of providing a solution.
*In order to protect local field partners and pastors, Neverthirst is careful about publicly disclosing the specific location of their work. For more information about where they serve, contact [email protected].
If you want to be a part of ending the global water crisis and making a lasting difference in communities like this one, visit neverthirstwater.org to learn more, give monthly, or bring clean water to an entire community.
Delia first heard about the water crisis through a local event, the 6KFORWATER, held annually at Fellowship Bible Church in Texarkana. To hear about her first exposure to the water crisis or join in Texarkana’s efforts to bring clean water to communities in need, read Delia’s previous article and sign up for the annual 6KFORWATER.
