It's life's most basic need.

是我們最基本的生理需求。

But there's a water crisis in our world right now.

不過現在地球正面臨到水資源的危機。

Seriously, a crisis.

完全沒在開玩笑，是真的危機。

Nearly one billion people live without clean drinking water.

全世界約有十億人口的生活缺乏乾淨飲用水。

It's happening all over the world, especially in developing areas, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

全世界各地都有這個危機，特別是在開發中國家，像是撒哈拉以南的非洲大陸、東南亞以及拉丁美洲區域。

It's a water crisis because it starts with water.

說是水資源危機，因為一切源自於「水」。

But water affects everything.

水會影響所有的事物。

Education, health, poverty and especially women and children.

教育、健康、貧窮、特別會影響到女性及小孩。

Let's look at a family caught in the water crisis.

我們來看看一個受水資源危機所苦的家庭。

It's likely they live on less than a dollar a day.

他們每天的生活費大概都不到一塊美金。

When they're thirsty, they can't just turn on the faucet for a nice cold glass of water.

當他們想喝水時，他們無法打開水龍頭馬上喝到一杯冰涼的水。

They don't have a faucet.

他們根本沒有水龍頭。

Instead, the women and children go off to collect water.

取而代之的是，女性以及小孩必須出門取水。

Many walk up to three hours a day to the nearest swamp, pond or river to gather water.

許多人通常一天都要花三個小時走到到最近的沼澤、池塘或是河流取水。

That's been sitting out in the open, exposed to all kinds of germs.

而且這些水源都是在戶外的地方，暴露在各種的細菌下。

Time spent gathering water is time they can't spend learning to read, write, earning income or take care of their family.

取水所花的時間就無法用來學習讀書、寫字或是賺錢養家。

Some women in Sub-Saharan Africa spend more time collecting water than any other activity they do in a day.

在撒哈拉以南非洲大陸的女性每天花費比其他日常活動還多的時間去取水。

And the walk isn't just hard. It's dangerous.

走路去取水不只艱辛，而且還很危險。

The women are alone and burdened with forty pounds of water.

女性通常是獨自一個人背著四十磅的水。

Many get hurt. Sometimes they're even attacked.

她們多半都會受傷，有時候還會被攻擊。

When they make it home, the little water they've collected isn't clean.

當他們到家後，他們所收集的一點點水根本不乾淨。

Some families know their water is contaminated with germs that cause diarrhea, dehydration, even death.

有些家庭其實也瞭解他們所飲用的水資源有細菌汙染，可能會造成拉肚子、脫水、甚至死亡。

But what choice do they have?

不過他們有什麼選擇呢？

Kids, especially babies, are affected most by these germs.

通常小孩，尤其是嬰兒最容易被這些細菌感染。

About every nineteen seconds, a mother loses one of her children to a water-related illness.

大概每十九秒，就有一位母親因為水相關的疾病失去她的小孩。

And each day, almost a billion people are living this way.

而且每一天，幾乎有十億的人口過的這樣的生活。

Until they get a little help.

直到他們得到一些幫助。

The water crisis is solvable. There are solutions.

其實水資源問題是可以解決的。

Some are brand new and innovative like water filtration systems.

有一些創新的解決辦法，像水源過濾系統

Some are age-old like drill or hand dug wells.

有一些是比較古老的方法，像是鑽地井或是手拉水桶的井。

These solutions bring clean water much closer to the people who need it.

這些辦法讓需要乾淨水源的人們可以方便取得。

A safe water project near a village restores hours each day to a person's life.

在村莊附近進行的淨化水源計劃，讓人們每天不再需要花費太多時間在取水上。

This time, it's opportunity. It's freedom to go to school and get an education, to work or start a business, to raise a family.

這次，是個機會也是種自由，讓他們自由去上學接受教育、可以去工作或創業，可以養育一個家庭。

Africa alone could save forty billion hours each year.

單單非洲每一年就可以省下四百億小時的取水時間

That's the entire annual workforce in France.

那跟法國一整年的全國工作時間一樣。

Clean water means less disease. That's less money spent on medicine,

乾淨的水資源代表疾病的減少，也就是說花在藥物上的錢也降低了。

which means more money for books and school uniforms.

如此一來我們就可以把省下的錢拿去買書本以及學校制服了。

And if the water project is built near a school, it can increase attendance, especially among young girls.

而且如果把淨化水源計畫建造在學校附近的話，可以增加學生的出席率，特別是年輕女學生。

The water crisis is vast, but we can solve it.

水資源問題層面很廣，但是是可以解決的。

Just twenty dollars can provide one person with access to a clean water project in their village.

只要二十塊美金就可以提供一個人在他的村落取得乾淨的水。

And this will mean more than clean water.

這不僅意味提供乾淨的水。

Because water changes everything.

因為水可以改變一切。

Join us.

加入我們吧！