Veronica Roberts, a mother of A 2-year-old in West Point, Liberia, knows firsthand the difficulties of a lack of access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation and hygiene education. Today she relies on household water treatment to provide safe drinking water for her family. <\/p>\n
VERONICA’S STORY<\/h3>\n
Just a stone\u2019s throw away from downtown Monrovia, in Liberia, sprawled against the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean, lies the slum community of West Point \u2013 home to more than 75,000 people.<\/p>\n
Known as a cholera hotspot, West Point\u2019s crowded pathways are strewn with garbage and debris, while residents here continue to lack access to even the most basic of infrastructure. Water points and private latrines are scarce, and in order to use one of the four public toilet houses available, a small fee must be paid. Instead, many choose to defecate openly, squatting in alleyways or amongst the piles of garbage lining the local beach \u2013 an area also used for fishing, and as a playground for neighborhood children.<\/p>\n
Children, like two-year-old Princess Toe.<\/p>\n
Less than a hundred meters away from the beach, deep in the heart of the community, stands the small house that Princess\u2019 mother, Veronica Roberts, shares with her extended family. A single mother, 28-year-old Veronica knows all too well the dangers of her environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sickness, the diarrhea in the community,\u201d she explains, \u201cit\u2019s too much. Because here people toilet everywhere, throw [garbage] everywhere. There\u2019s flies, dirt \u2013 and this is where the children play. All the time, they get sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Princess was born,\u201d she continues on, softly, \u201cI had another child. A daughter. One night, when I was sleeping, she had diarrhea. But I didn\u2019t know. The whole night, she was toileting, before I woke up… Then, before we could reach the nearby clinic, she died.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked the child\u2019s name, Victoria hesitates, then laughs \u2013 a sad, small laugh. \u201cEver since she died,\u201d she says, \u201cI do not like to say her name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Veronica\u2019s story is extremely difficult for her to recount, she says it\u2019s not uncommon in her community. Many of her friends and neighbors have also lost family members to diarrhea, and in fact, according to a 2010 report released by the Liberia WASH Consortium, diarrhea alone accounts for almost 20% of Liberia\u2019s high child mortality rates.<\/p>\n
Since her daughter\u2019s death, however, Veronica has found a way to help protect her family \u2013 and herself \u2013 from water-related illness.<\/p>\n
Through the work of PSI, in partnership with UNICEF and Liberia\u2019s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Veronica and her neighbors learned about a new product called WaterGuard<\/em>. Along with receiving free samples of the product, they were also given training about how to use it, and learned about additional ways to help prevent diarrhea, including frequent hand washing and safe toilet practices. Some individuals, like Veronica, were even chosen to become ambassadors in their community \u2013 helping to share the information with others, and encourage long term behavior change.<\/p>\n Introduced to Liberia in September of 2009, WaterGuard<\/em> is now available free through government health teams (for emergency situations), as well as sold in shops around the country. And at roughly US $0.60 per bottle, Veronica agrees that \u201cit\u2019s a good price \u2013 we can afford to buy it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow, everyone wants WaterGuard<\/em>,\u201d she says proudly. \u201cSo much it\u2019s sometimes hard to find it in the shops! Everyone wants it to stop diarrhea [from happening]. WaterGuard<\/em> saves us.\u201d<\/p>\n Although this may sound like high praise, Veronica truly believes in the difference WaterGuard<\/em> has made in her own life, and in that of her daughter\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cSince we started using WaterGuard<\/em>,\u201d she says, \u201cPrincess doesn\u2019t get sick. Even myself, I don\u2019t hardly have to go to the hospital.\u201d This is an important benefit for individuals like Veronica, who already struggles financially to support her daughter, as Princess\u2019 father also passed away just one month after she was born.<\/p>\n \u201cFor long,\u201d Veronica says, \u201cnobody knew how to keep the community clean, how to prepare water before we drink it. Nobody was treating it. Especially little children, who just run to the wells or buckets around and drink anything \u2013 they did not know any better,\u201d she says, shaking her head before adding determinedly: \u201cIt cannot go back to how it was before.\u201d<\/p>\n She smiles at Princess, who is now playing with some other children just outside the door.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so happy to see her like this. If the people had not come to work with us, if we didn\u2019t know about WaterGuard<\/em>, then I am sure Princess would not be as healthy as she is. Now, I make sure that any water she drinks is clean.\u201d<\/p>\n Click the photos below for a slideshow about Princess and Veronica.<\/p>\n
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