We’ve been taking a closer look at each of the 3 charities we’re supporting through the #HostEnvironmentalPledge campaign; which will see each charity receive a donation at the end of the 2018/19 academic year providing we can reduce our overall energy consumption across our accommodations in the UK and Ireland.

We’ve already taken a look at Student Minds and LandAid, therefore the spotlight turns to our final partner charity, Just a Drop.

Who are Just a Drop?

Just a Drop brings sustainable safe water, sanitation and hygiene projects to communities around the world, transforming lives.

Why Just a Drop?

With clean water, communities can begin to lift themselves out of poverty and build brighter futures. Drinking dirty water can make people sick. That’s just part of the picture. A lack of clean water and sanitation also holds back development and makes it harder for communities to escape the poverty trap.

There are 844 million people around the world who don’t have access to clean, safe water. These people often have no choice other than to drink dirty water which can make them ill; every 2 minutes a child dies from a water-related disease.

In addition to this, 1/3 of the world’s population (2.3 billion people) don’t have access to adequate sanitation.

In many developing countries, the primary responsibility of collecting water falls to women and children, who spend hours a day walking to collect water. These journeys are arduous and dangerous, with women and children at risk of abduction, rape and animal attack.

Access to safe water, sanitation facilities and hygiene practices, such as handwashing, changes everything. It improves health, education, and women’s rights, and leads to secure food sources, economic growth and brighter futures. It completely transforms lives, especially those of women and children.

How does Just a Drop help to make a difference?

Just a Drop works with communities to deliver sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (‘WASH‘) solutions which best suit a community’s specific needs, and take into account local water availability, geography, infrastructure, economic conditions and culture.

Their projects include the construction of hand-dug and drilled wells, pipelines, sand dams, rainwater harvesting systems and latrines, and hygiene and sanitation programmes.

All of Just a Drop’s safe water, sanitation and hygiene projects are community-owned, sustainable, and monitored for a minimum of 7 years after completion. This ensures they make a real, transformative impact to the lives of communities for decades to come.

Since they began in 1998, Just a Drop have already reached over 1.5 million people in 32 countries. Their project work is currently focused In Cambodia, India, Kenya, Nicaragua, Uganda and Zambia. They have also recently developed food security and micro-finance programmes, which further support community development and economic growth.

If you would like to find out further information about Just a Drop, please visit their website https://www.justadrop.org/.

If you’re living with us at Host, don’t forget to make your pledge to become more environmentally friendly. Choose to support Just a Drop – or one of our other charities; LandAid and Student Minds. Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for more news on the #HostEnvironmentalPledge campaign and the charities we’re supporting.