31 Little Lives Lost: Why Clean Water Matters

Two weeks ago, I wrote a post blathering on and on about my really rough week. I was dealing with a husband out of town and a sick baby.  Blah, blah, blah. . . First-world problems.  Blah, Blah, Blah. . . ants in my bathroom.  Blah, Blah, Blah. 

I got it together enough at the end of the post to gain some perspective on my situation in light of the rest of the world.  

There were a few things I mentioned that I was thankful for, one of which was clean water. 

Around the same time that week, tucked in the middle of the DRC and accessible only by small plane, was an orphanage in crisis. 

Dysentery had struck, killing over HALF of the children in just a few days. 

31 out of 52 children.  Many under the age of five.  

All because of the lack of clean water. 

That week, I held my sick, Congolese baby boy and had the privilege of nursing him back to health.  He was given clean water and juice to help him from dehydrating. He was changed frequently when his diapers were runny and full.  He was enveloped in my arms when he was fussy.  He was reminded of my  love over and over as I kissed his feverish cheeks.  

Those 31 little ones and the others who were sick did not have that privilege.  The weight of that wears heavily on me. 

Those 31 little ones did not have access to clean drinking water and because of that, they died. 

Clean drinking water. That is all. 

What I so flippantly take for granted on a daily basis made the difference between life and death for them. 

Please take a minute to head here to read their story, see the precious faces of lives that were lost, and to learn what you can do to help make sure this does not happen again.  

Then read here for an update on the situation and more ways to help. 

This is not just a sad story to read, this is an opportunity to see a need and meet it in a very tangible way.  

My heart is heavy for the lives lost and for those who remain, still living in a precarious situation.  There are adoptive parents grieving, because they received an unexpected phone call that their son or daughter had passed away.  There are orphanage caretakers in mourning over dozens of children who they could not save, though they tried with every resource they had. 

I'm embarrassed by my whiny first world problems, my friends, they PALE in comparison to the burdens so many face around our world.  Forgive me, and join me in praying for these children and those in place to care for them.