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Delivering Water to Damaged Cities
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Photo: Anonymous
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Children from a community that had been displaced by conflict in Iraq’s western Al Anbar province watch as 500-liter water tanks are delivered to their neighborhood, where USAID helped 520 families begin rebuilding their lives.
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Families struggled to cope, without shelter and without access to clean water and sanitation facilities, making living conditions grim in this area. Women and children would walk up to three kilometers each morning to collect water, which was only available sporadically.
The lack of water storage facilities, latrines, and adequate health services caused severe outbreaks of diarrhea and communicable diseases among these families, and especially among children and the elderly. These families had no resources left to relocate again — they simply had to accept these conditions.USAID saw the situation of the families in one settlement and took action, providing assistance to 520 of the neediest families there.
USAID and its partner installed 520 latrines, provided one 500-liter water tank to each family, and coordinated with local officials to ensure the availability of potable water. USAID also provided funding for the distribution of tents, blankets, mattresses, and kerosene lamps to the families. This community will take a long time to recover, but in the meantime they are improving their living conditions and their health so that, when the time comes, they will have the strength to rebuild.
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