Sister Adela Orea finally got a clean water source for her hospital in Chiapas, Mexico. But should it take a tenacious sister and years of persistence for a health care facility to get safe water?
Masanga, a hilly, isolated area in northwestern Tanzania has eight villages that mostly depended on unprotected springs for their water, shared with livestock. The Daughters of Charity arrived in 2007 and started a health center, St. Catherine’s School, a vocational training center, orphanage and more. These facilities and programs relied on rain water catchments or a 10-year-old borehole, but there were often shortages, especially in the dry season. (Courtesy of the Daughters of Charity)
As my office has responded to request after request to find funds to respond to the need for water in clinics, hospitals and schools, I have been stunned by the lack of access to this most basic resource in so many locations around the world. Children scooping up muddy water to carry to their families to drink is cringe-worthy enough, but internationally, one in four health care facilities do not have sufficient water, sanitation or hygiene resources. This puts more than 1.8 bil
Vatican water and hygiene initiative for health care facilities is an investment in life
The lack of water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities worldwide kills infants, women and front-line workers. The Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, led by Cardinal Peter Turkson, has launched a new initiative to improve water, sanitation and hygiene conditions at its facilities. Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay
April 7, 2021
(RNS) With an indomitable spirit, Sister Adela Orea, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and currently the administrator of San Carlos de Altamirano Chiapas Hospital in southern Mexico, has provided health care for 37 years in remote and impoverished areas in Mexico and Cameroon. What’s more remarkable is that she has done so most often without running water.