Water is a shared symbol among every world religion, yet we don’t honor God by allowing 4500 children to die every day from unsafe water.

The lack of safe water and sanitation is the  #1 global problem -- and keystone solution -- to health, poverty, maternal/child survival, women's rights, girls' education, even peace.

It’s under this shared sacred symbol of water that we call on faith leaders to bring much-needed attention and support to WASH [WAter/Sanitation/Hygiene]. Your powerful megaphones reach hundreds of millions of followers and can deeply impact billions of lives by helping make water a source of life and health, for all.

Easy ways to get involved:

1.  Deliver our Sermon for Water during the week of March 22, World Water Day. Post it on your website, print it in your bulletin. Spread the word. Millions of lives depend on it.

2. Celebrate March 22 by declaring just one week a year "World Water Week".

3.  Watch your child save another child's life - literally. H2O for Life links US youth to a school in need of water and sanitation. Kids of all ages create real global impact and H2O for Life has all the tools you need: www.h2oforlifeschools.org

Here are just a few fun famiy activities that raise awareness and funds to support a WASH project:

"Drop in the Bucket":  Every time a family member uses water, s/he drops a coin in a bucket. That’s not just a drink of water or a bath, it’s flushing the toilet, cooking, watering plants, even filling the dog bowl… It's a fun way to raise awareness of just how vital water is to our daily lives; what it would be like without it; and encourages less waste at home. The funds raised that one week can be donated to any water project of choice.

"Tap into Tap Water": Family members give up soda and other sugary drinks and substitute water for just one week. The money saved goes into a jar.  Families learn just how much they spend on drinks with little nutritional value and lots of calories; and they may even feel healthier for having drunk water instead that week!

"Water Fall": Youth sell paper water droplets for $1/each which are artfully decorated and hung together on a wall to create a beautiful water mosaic. A creative, community-building activity for all ages.

4.  Support your faith’s WASH development work – publicize it, donate to it, volunteer with it.

5.  Let your Congressman know that when it comes to foreign aid, this is the #1 priority.

6. Contact Faiths for Safe Water for more information on how to get involved:  Susan Barnett, Project Director, skbarnett@nyc.rr.com



One child dies every 15 seconds, every day, from water-related illnesses.

Some staggering stats:

*Almost a BILLION people do not have access to safe water and 2.5 BILLION lack basic sanitation.

*50% of malnutrition is due to a lack of safe water and sanitation.

*It accounts for 80% of all disease in the world.

*Half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water-borne diseases.

*This crisis kills more children than malaria, AIDS, and TB combined.

*Women's bodies break under the burden of hauling water and girls drop out of school.

*We spend millions distributing AIDS drugs to patients who must take them with filthy water.

*We spend millions fighting malaria but bad sanitation is a mosquito's breeding ground.

The result: A catastrophic 2 million, mostly preventable deaths, every year.

What’s missing is not technology. Your faith  sponsors WASH projects but these need ramped up and sustained support.

They need YOU.



Our Leadership:

Rabbi Jack Bemporad, Executive Director, Center for Interreligious Understanding (New Jersey) and Professor, Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Rome)

The Very Reverend Dr. James A. Kowalski, Dean, The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine (New York)

The Most Reverend Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Armenian Church of America and immediate past president National Council of Churches (Washington, DC)

Imam Syed Rafiq Naqvi and Mrs. Anjum Naqvi, Chairman, Islamic Information Center (Washington, DC)

Leila Muhammad, African-American Muslim Church, Church leader and daughter of W.D. Muhammad (Chicago)

Fr. Dennis McManus (Archbishop Dolan) (New York)

Rinchen Dharlo, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of the Americas and President of the Tibet Fund (New York)