The world water crisis is one of the most pressing global health issues of today. More than 1 billion people around the world lack access to clean and safe water and over 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation services.
Safe water supply is a matter that hits close to home for us at Autonomie. Our rubber producers in Sri Lanka did not have a reliable source of running water close to their homes and were forced to walk miles each day with heavy buckets just to get their daily supply of water for drinking, cooking, and laundry. Dysentery and other water-borne diseases were also a major issue for these workers and their families due to the lack of a safe and clean water supply.
Recently, we’ve made great strides towards bringing these hard-working people better access to clean water. As part of every sneaker purchase you make, a Fair Trade premium goes directly to funding community projects that improve the standard of living for our workers, their families and their neighboring villagers.
The 2007 payments went to provide a clean piped water system bringing running water to 65 families living on the rubber plantation. While the funding we were able to provide was not enough to meet all of their needs, this is the first time in history that clean water is available from taps right in front of each house! The project was successfully completed with extra funding donated from the rubber estate, the workers own contributions, and the use of old and abandoned materials, such as an unused pump found on the estate.
There are other worthy groups trying to help solve the world’s water issues. Just this morning, we found this video on YouTube about a new innovative bike that alleviates the burden of walking and carrying water long distances and even purifies the water on the ride home!
If you’re wondering what you can do to help, you can buy a pair of sneakers or a Fair Trade sports ball so that we can help raise more funds for even better community projects in 2008.
You can also get involved with the UN’s World Water Day coming up on March 22, join a virtual Walk for Water, or donate to one of the many non-profit organization’s and NGO’s, such as our favorites Water Aid and the Global Water Foundation, that are committed to ridding the world of inadequate water.
April 8, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Oh my gawd – that water purifying bike is so bad ass!! this is totally what all the wealthy people in the US should buy and donate to poor countries all over the world !!
June 4, 2008 at 1:01 pm
[...] Many Fair Trade retailers, such as ourselves, take this definition even further and take steps to ensure that our Fair Trade workers are being paid a living wage, are not held or forced to work overtime, are subject to a safe and healthy working environment, do not employ child labor, and are actively involved in wider community initiatives such as building a village health clinic or our 2007 water access program. [...]
April 22, 2009 at 2:02 am
This is very up-to-date info. I’ll share it on Digg.
April 26, 2009 at 9:36 pm
[...] Many Fair Trade retailers, such as ourselves, take this definition even further by taking steps to ensure that our Fair Trade workers are being paid a living wage, are not held or forced to work overtime, are subject to a safe and healthy working environment, do not employ child labor, and are actively involved in wider community initiatives such as building a village health clinic or our 2007 water access program. [...]
December 11, 2009 at 3:34 am
[...] initiatives that will affect their entire community, such as building a health clinic or bringing a steady water supply to a small village. We provide our workers with a fair wage so they can beat out sweatshops and [...]
February 18, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Very interesting I am going to have to pass this post along to friends that have sites that may be able to help you out.
March 25, 2010 at 4:32 pm
[...] always evil. And even us, tiny, little, Autonomie Project has tried to help this crisis by directly funding water projects in the communities from which we work [...]
March 25, 2010 at 4:37 pm
[...] always evil. And even us, tiny, little, Autonomie Project has tried to help this crisis by directly funding water projects in the communities from which we work [...]
October 13, 2010 at 1:25 pm
[...] and healthcare, which provides stability for these workers and their families to help effectively raise their community out of poverty. By purchasing Fair Trade products for our children, we not only [...]