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Clean water saves lives

No one should be forced to choose between drinking dirty water, a dangerous journey or going thirsty. Donate $35 to help provide families with the clean water they need to survive. 

We need clean water to drink, cook, grow our food and prevent the spread of disease. But what if you couldn’t access it? 

What if you had to choose between going thirsty or drinking water that could make you sick? Bathing your children or cooking them a meal? Walking hours each day in difficult conditions or watching the garden that sustains you die?

Maigao lives in Papua New Guinea, where families are facing impossible choices like these every day. Women spend up to 3 hours a day collecting just enough water to survive, but not enough to meet all their needs.

“Women and children spend half of their day collecting water … They must carry their containers with them. They carry their loads like food and things, and on top of that they carry their water. It’s a lot of burden,” says Maigao.

A lack of water doesn’t just harm health. The time it takes to collect water takes people away from work, school and caregiving tasks, deepening inequality and poverty. But there is a solution.

By donating today, you can help provide families with access to the clean water they need to live. It also helps them grow food they can eat and sell, providing a way out of poverty.

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Help provide clean water today

By donating today, you can help families have access to clean water, changing lives for families in Papua New Guinea and around the world.

Papua ​New ​Guinea: The installation of three water taps in Somano's hamlet has allowed him to grow an abundant garden. The garden harvest contributes to feeding his family, fellow hamlet members, and gaining some household income through sales at the local market. Photo: Aimee Han/Oxfam

Somano

“Now that we have a water supply, our lifestyle has changed, and the water can support us — for example, buying clothes for our children or soap, or at least supporting them with school supplies…”

Papua ​New ​Guinea: Maigao Nigo, WASH Program Quality Officer, using a tap recently installed in the hamlet. Prior to the tap installation, the community had to walk hours every day to fetch water. Photo: Aimee Han/Oxfam

Maigao

“Now, because they have water right at their doorsteps, some of them have done some small gardens around their houses, and they use the water to water their gardens to make extra money for their family.”

Papua New Guinea: Lavin of Nogorunte community in Papua New Guinea (PNG), is pictured walking past her neighbours as she makes her way to her house and the newly built tap outside of it. Photo: Jeshua Hope/Oxfam

Lanvin

Before Oxfam’s work bringing clean water, Lanvin would spend 2-3 hours a day collecting water to drink.

“We just walk outside our house, and we can get a cup of water to drink.”

“Since the water came, our lives have changed.” 

These water taps haven’t just helped individual families; they’ve helped supply water to the health clinic, the primary school, and the secondary school. Many families have also been able to grow enough vegetables to sell, providing valuable income. 

Since clean water has become more accessible, he’s been able to increase the size of his garden and sell his produce at the market. 

“Now that we have a water supply, our lifestyle has changed, and the water can support us — for example, buying clothes for our children or soap, or at least supporting them with school supplies like pens and books,” says Somano. 

Somano is proof that removing the barriers caused by inequality can get us closer to an equal future without poverty. You can help make this possible. 

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Papua New Guinea: The installation of three water taps in Somano's hamlet has allowed him to grow an abundant garden. The garden harvest contributes to feeding his family, fellow hamlet members, and gaining some household income through sales at the local market. Photo: Aimee Han/Oxfam

Why Donate to Oxfam Australia?

For over 70 years, Oxfam has been working to create an equal world without the inequalities that keep people in poverty. We do this by working alongside local partners and communities to deliver life-saving humanitarian relief, long-term anti-poverty projects, and powerful campaigns to dismantle the structures that uphold inequality.

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Your donation will be used in support of Oxfam’s efforts in Australia and overseas.

We work to deliver humanitarian aid, long-term development projects, and to advocate for a world where everyone is equal, free from poverty and injustice.