At ILM UK, we focus a lot of our resources on providing clean water to vulnerable communities around the world. One of the main ways we give access to water is by installing hand pumps in rural and deprived communities. As a water pump charity, we see first-hand the huge difference a pump can make, but we couldn’t install this life-saving piece of kit without our generous supporters making a water pump donation to fund our vital appeal.
A single Zakat donation or act of Sadaqah could be enough to install a hand pump and save lives. You can’t put a price on a life, but you can on a water pump. For just £150, we can install a water pump that will benefit up to 25 people. That’s 25 people who no longer have to walk for miles to collect dirty, contaminated water that could kill them.
Divided by how many people can benefit from a water pump – which typically lasts upwards of seven years – that’s just £6 per person. You probably spend more on buying a morning coffee and getting lunch every day.
If you’re eligible to pay Zakat, have unknowingly accrued Riba that you need to get rid of and cleanse, or if you’re looking to undertake an act of Sadaqah Jariyah, donating £150 so we can install a hand pump is a viable option. You will redeem the rewards from Allah (SWT) for doing the right thing, and you will also be saving lives.
With such a low upfront cost, it’s easy to assume that hand pumps aren’t a necessity, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The low price is not a reflection of the importance. If you’re reading this article, you likely have multiple taps in your home that provide water instantly. You might even have a fridge that dispenses water and ice cubes from it. You most definitely have a shop in close proximity where you can purchase bottled yet.
You have all this, and yet one in 10 people around the world still do not have access to clean water near their homes. More often than not, women and children are tasked with walking miles every day to collect water, and oftentimes it is dirty.
Many fatal diseases are spread through water, including Polio, Cholera and Typhoid. These are diseases that Westerners don’t have to think about, but millions of people in developing countries, such as where we work in Nepal, Malawi and India, can and do die from them.
Hand pumps won’t eradicate the presence of disease, but they do greatly reduce the risk of people dying prematurely due to preventable causes and diseases. Women and girls will no longer need to walk for miles to collect water, nor will they and their families have to drink water riddled with dirt, animal waste and disease.
At present, a child under five dies every two minutes from diarrhoea caused as a direct result of dirty drinking water. Estimates show that if everyone in the world had access to clean water, there would be one-third fewer diarrhoeal deaths every year. Children would be born with a fair shot at life, and families wouldn’t be torn apart as a result of simply trying their best to survive.
Not only will a hand pump provide safe drinking water to quench thirst and hydrate the most vulnerable people, but it will serve as a building block for so much more. With fewer young children dying or getting sick from waterborne diseases and infections, they can spend more time at school. Education is the most powerful tool a person can possess, and every day missed has an impact on a person’s future prospects. Without having to worry about water diseases, children can attend school more frequently and build a future for themselves.
Though inexpensive and easy to install, there are many communities around the world who need our help to access water, and that’s why we’re asking you to consider donating to our H2Oath appeal so we can help as many people as possible.
For just £150, you can donate a water pump in Pakistan, Nepal, Malawi, Bangladesh or any of the other countries ILM UK works. We are grateful for any donation you make, and the people whose lives you save will be forever thankful to you for changing their lives for the better.
