World Water Day is held each year on March 22nd. Created in 1992 by the United Nations, this global day of awareness is celebrated to raise awareness of the issues surrounding water on our planet. The goal of World Water Day is to draw attention to the importance of water and to promote the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
The theme of this year’s World Water Day was “Water: The answer is in nature.” People around the world were exploring different ways that the natural world can protect water resources and helping to identify our individual and collective role in protecting the environment and our watersheds. Climate change, the water cycle, deforestation, wetland restoration, and sustainable agriculture were some of the topics that were explored.
In Haiti, our WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) training team joined our project team and hosted an event in Darbonne, Léogane, a community in which we have worked with families for the past few years. We had 35 participants from Chrétienne Bon Berger School.
The students at this school are young, so the topics we focused on had to be simple and applied to the local context. We talked about the importance of water, water in nature, and protecting local water resources. Then we had a “Water and Nature” painting activity.
Darbonne is an area in which we have delivered water source protection training to families and community members in the past. Our goal was to reinforce what we have already taught to the parents with the students.
Also working with our team for this event was Gauthier Marre, a member of a team of sailors from France who sailed the Atlantic and landed in Haiti, while raising funds for Pure Water for the World programs. The group is in Haiti for a month, gaining hands-on volunteer experience with our team. In response to what he saw at the WWD event, Gauthier stated, “The work that PWW is doing is very important.” He had a great time with the children at the school and was very impressed by the attention that the students paid to the activity and how engaged they were.
Overall, the day was a success. Everyone shared and learned a great deal.
It’s not too late to celebrate World Water Day by making a donation. Just $25 brings life-changing safe water to one child. >> Click here to share your gift.