The Last Well, a charity for Africa, recently released a blog discussing the impact the water crisis in Africa is having on individual African countries. The crisis negatively affects education, safety, and health across the continent, and organizations like The Last Well are making access to safe drinking water a priority.

The water crisis in Africa affects millions of people. Fourteen countries on the continent are classified as being under water-related distress, due largely to pollution of clean water sources and receding water levels in regions that do have clean water. Lack of access to clean drinking water has been tied to higher infant mortality rates, lower average life expectancies, and interrupted education for children who are tasked with finding and retrieving clean water for their families.

Some African countries are experiencing more water scarcity than others. In Somalia, where decades of armed conflict and droughts have limited access to clean water, the Red Cross has brought medical treatment and water to hundreds of thousands of people to help. Less than half the population of Ethiopia has clean water, again due in part to droughts and contamination. Charities there have built wells, dams, and other protected water sources, then provide regular maintenance. The Last Well is doing similar work in Liberia, where as many as 1 in 5 deaths result from contaminated water. In Mozambique, the vast majority of people -- 75 percent -- lack adequate sanitation, which in turn causes water pollution. Water sources throughout the country have fallen into disrepair because of lack of access to spare parts and unclean pumps. Organizations in the country have worked with locals to provide maintenance and hygiene training. Finally, in drought-devastated Niger, modern drilled wells sponsored by the World Bank have helped ease the crisis.

Speak to The Last Well for more information about how you can help mitigate the effects of the water crisis in Africa. Charities like The Last Well are working to increase access to clean water by building wells and educating people on proper hygiene and sanitation. The Christian charity is working towards the ambitious goal of providing clean water to everyone in Liberia by the end of 2019, and you can make a one-time donation to the organization or pledge to sponsor a village through monthly commitments to help it reach this goal. Contact The Last Well at 972-544-5846 or online at https://thelastwell.org/. The organization is headquartered at 2255 Ridge Road, Suite 206A, Rockwall, TX 75087.

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