2014 JUNE PIpeline

IN 2006 MY DAUGHTER- IN-LAW SOPH
IE GREGOIRE-TRUDEAU
AND I TOOK AND EMOTIONAL ONAL JOURNEY TO ETHIOPIA WITH
WATERCAN, A CANADIAN CHARITY COMMITTED TO HELPING
THE WORLD’ S POOREST PEOPLE GAIN ACCESS TO
CLEAN
DRINKI
NG WATER AND BASIC SAN
ITATION.
Margare
t
Trudeau
Today nearly half a billion
“men
“
wo
and girls world
wide
“ontinue “c
to be slaves to water
“— “tential their po
and their
“m “drea “andered “s squ
by a vicious
“y
“cle of inequality.
It is w omen who walk man
y kilometers to fetch water each da
under the heavy load. It is w
and take turns keeping animals away that might spoil the sour
women who forego an education and empo
simply is no time. It is women for whom the threat of rape is all t
during the dry season when water is elusive and long distances ar
through isolated areas. It is w omen who t end to the sick and dying.
On my second trip to Uganda with W erCan, I opened a w
y, suffering
vy load. It is women who are expected to ration the supply
y that might spoil the source. It is
o an education and empowering ering activities because there
ape is all too real
es are traveled
anda with WaterCan, I opened a well in the memory
of my son Michel. Overcome by tears, I was comforted by the women
present. We shared a common sorrow, as many of their own children
had died of disease caused by water and sanitation-related ed illness. From
African women, mothers,
I learned many lessons on my road
to recovery.
My work with WaterCan is an opportunity to give back, and although the
need is gr eat, I kno
w that water is the star t.
the Canadian member of W aterAid, Wat
erCan will no w be able to have a
much, much larg
er pover
erty-fighting impact. Simply put: we will be able to
do more good for more people in more places!
WaterAid`s vision is a bold and ambitious one, and if achieved it will
unleash the potential of women and girls in the developing eloping world, dramati-
cally accelerate progress in the fight against global poverty. WaterAid`s
vision to is ensure that everyone everywhere has access to clean water
and sanitation by 2030. I am placing myself fully behind this vision and
hope that you will join me. I know that in a small but fundamental way
each of us can make a difference, e, and that those small acts can amount t o
enormous change.
This Mother`s Day, as I am surrounded by loving children and grandba-
bies, I will be thinking
of my sisters in Africa and elsewhere around the
world. My commitment will not waiver until each and every one of them
has access to clean water and sanitation.
However, the challenge e ahead of us remains great. Due to increased ur-
banization, rapidly growing populations, increasing competition for finite
water resources and the effects of climate change, over 768 million people
today continue to lack clean drinking water while triple this number — 2.5
billion — lack proper sanitation. We also need to redouble our efforts to
address the persisting inequalities between men and women, which result
in women w
suffering disproportionately from this crisis.
It is the magnitude of this challenge coupled with our insatiable desire to
effect even greater change that has inspired WaterCan to join forces with
WaterAid, the world`s leading water and sanitation charity. By becoming
Over the past 27 years WaterCan, with the help of countless
caring
Canadians, has created over 1.2 million success stories — children, women
and men whose liv es have been dr
amatically transformed though improved
access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation.
EMPOWERING WOMEN.
Clean water makes it possible.
With permission for reprint from Horizon May 2014 Magazine
the pipeline | June 2014 11