UNICEF Tap Project

"Today, more people have access to mobile phones than toilets."

"Carrying heavy bottles of water for long distances is the main cause of injuries for young girls in rural areas."

"Over 70% of people without access to clean drinking water live in rural areas."

"In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours walking to retrieve water."

Imagine not having the luxury of being able to obtain pure, clean, safe drinking water from your tap at any convenient moment.
Imagine having to walk miles just to fill a collapsible water bucket with water that contains a multitude of diseases, every time you are thirsty.
Imagine missing school because the water you drank contained illnesses and diseases that are treatable by a simple purification tablet.
Imagine missing school because you have to fetch water for your family.

Unfortunately over 2.5 billion people don't have to imagine. Most families in America have access to water and live without the fear of contracting a disease from the water they drink. Most Americans take for granted the ability to go to the store and buy a 24 case of Aquafina to place in their garage when they get thirsty in the middle of the night. I know I have taken for granted the simple luxury of having access to clean water, let alone being able to go to the store and grab a case of water. I can't tell you how many bottles of water I have poured out that only contain only a mouthful left. UNICEF changed my view on water and many other issues.

UNICEF is a non-profit organization who helps with various different issues that plague third-world countries. Various issues include: poverty, poor sanitation of war, sex slave trade, improper medicinal care, etc. This is where I have participated in the "Below the Line" Challenge, which I will continue to do this year as well.

The UNICEF Tap Project "is a nationwide campaign that provides clean water and adequate sanitation to children around the world. Currently, UNICEF works in more than 100 countries around the world to improve access to safe water and sanitation facilities in schools and communities and to promote safe hygiene practices" (UNICEF.org). Not only is UNICEF participation in such a campaign but they have also paired up with several well-known organizations to help the fight against poor sanitation, including: S'well, Giorgio Armani Fragrances, Medivest, Modern Assembly, and UNICEF's next generation.

The project is simple: On your phone head to tap.unicefusa.org and follow the instructions. Now, spend 15 minutes away from your phone and UNICEF will send 11 purification tablets, enough to last one day, to a child in need. The tablets are oral rehydration salts, and one packet can conduct a reverse osmosis and provide pure, clean, and safe drinking water for the child.

15 minutes is all it takes

Can you spare that?

15 minutes?

I took on this challenge and lasted 15:20:05, which funded 62 days of clean water. I only stopped because I knocked my phone off my dresser. The monthly record is 88:14:06. 

Today I pulled 3 more people into putting their phones down for 15 minutes and one friend told me, "Wow, I helped a child get clean water for one day? This is awesome! I feel so great about this!" 

It's so simple. 

Go on, give it a try.

I dare you.

Allons-y!
Erin