Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development
Young Australians Sharing Skills with our Pacific Neighbours
Case Study
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| Teacher's Notes | Student Activities |
How come I look for it
Find it no where! Oh I find it nowhere!
All the water is dirty.
The dirty river
tires and dulls and bores my eyes
The dirty field,
with battered hairs of paddy plants
Where is the clean water?
Where is it? and where?
This poem is by Nguyen Quoc Huy, in Class 5D Ngo Si Lien Primary School, Bac Giang, in Vietnam. (Translated by Do Trong Tan ).
Nguyen Quoc Huy's poem depicts just a glimpse of what it is like to live without a supply of clean water. The painting below by one of his classmates shows a variety of advantages which he is looking forward to receiving from a piped clean water supply.
In Vietnam today :-
- just 43% of people have access to safe water
- only 22% of people have access to toilet systems
- only 100 of Vietnam's 436 towns have piped water supplies.
Many schools have no running water. Toilets are often just pits and children must bring their own water to school each day.
For many families, the only supply of water is stagnant black sludge in the lanes around their houses. Skin infections and stomach upsets are just two of the side effects they experience from drinking this water, even when it is boiled.
The lack of an adequate water supply causes many disadvantages and difficulties for people.
- Thirsty children can be tempted to drink from open drains rather
than walking hundreds of metres to a town well. This can make them
very sick.
- People die from diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery,
typhoid, hepatitis and cholera because the water they drink is polluted.
- Women trudge for many hours of each day carrying water to
their homes.
- Food production can be limited by lack of water for crops and gardens.
Australia is currently contributing $50million through the Australian Government's overseas aid program to a project to bring safe, continuous and clean water to 400,000 people in five Vietnamese towns. The majority of the households will be able to access the water from their own home tap or a community tap. Australian companies are supplying equipment, materials and technical expertise for the development and construction of systems to deliver clean water.
Local families are encouraged to pay for some of the work, such as for the building of drains or the installation of toilets. They may also do some of the labouring work themselves too.
Rosal Fischer, ( below with children) an Australian from Cairns, is currently working on this project in Vietnam. She is involved in community education, helping people to learn about the ways in which clean water can lead to better health, and encouraging the community to become involved in the project.
In schools and communities where new wells and toilet blocs, and piped water and drainage systems are being built, children are teaching each other, and their families, about the health advantages of the new systems. The project on which Rosal is working is creating a variety of ways for the children to learn about health and clean water.
This painting ( above ) was entered into an art competition conducted by the project. Later a calendar was made using some of the paintings. Concerts and performances are held to promote messages about health and clean water.
Recently a meeting and street parade were held in the province of Bac Ninh. There were over 7000 participants. During the parade the participants cleaned the streets and planted trees. They carried banners and slogans about clean water and sanitation.
Children learn public health awareness messages by heart and share their knowledge with family, friends and the community. These messages include :
' Many illnesses are prevented by using clean, piped, safe water.''Many illnesses are prevented by boiling unpiped water for at least five minutes before use.'
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