Australian Aid Project Provides Clean Water Solutions To Save Kiribati Babies TARAWA, Kiribati (Radio Australia, May 26, 2014) — An Australian independent aid project is tackling water and sanitation problems in Kiribati to combat the nations high infant mortality rate. One in 20 newborns die before their first birthday because of illnesses related to unclean drinking water. The Island Rescue Project is providing solar powered water desalination equipment and water purifying kits to communities to prevent disease. Island Rescue founder Carol Armstrong told Pacific Beat the situation in Kiribati is unacceptable. Often a baby will be born and theres no water to wash the baby, and we cant even comprehend that in our lifestyle, she said. When one in 20 babies are dying from diarrhea and other treatable diseases its just not acceptable in this day and age. As the parents are suffering from diarrhea and other infections, theyre going to pass that onto the children too. Ms. Armstrongs organization is teaching communities to make household sized solar-powered desalination units to produce enough clean drinking water for families. They have also been promised a commercial-size osmosis desalination plant by a major water company. The Island Rescue Project will also provide water treatments including LifeStraw filters, which filter out 99 per cent of parasites, looking into community sized filter units. Ms. Armstrong says the situation in Kiribati needed urgent attention. There really isnt adequate water supplies for the island population, she said. I just had to do something about it. Ms. Armstrong believes the situation in Kiribati has been overlooked. Theyve had a lot of foreign aid but it just doesnt go quite far enough, she said. The government is struggling financially to cover all the areas that need to be addressed so mothers and babies health, although its important is a little further down the list.
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 03:06:42 +0000
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