Friday 22 March 2024 is World Water Day. This year, the Trócaire Lenten campaign focuses on the issue of water justice in Malawi.
According Jane Mellett, Trócaire’s Church Manager, “in a just world, everyone will have access to sufficient supplies of safe and acceptable water, that is fully accessible and affordable for all. However, for two billion people around the world, this does not happen.”
Ms Mellett continued, “The average Irish person uses 129 litres of water per day; in rural Malawi the average is 36 litres. Malawi is experiencing considerable water stress which means it is particularly vulnerable to drought and extreme weather events particularly floods and cyclones, which are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change. In the last 36 years, Malawi has experienced eight major droughts, affecting over 24 million people. ‘Cyclone Freddy’ hit southern Malawi on 12 March 2023 bringing 300 – 400mm of rainfall in the first 48 hours alone. This brought sudden, violent and destructive flash floods and landslides. 1 in 3 people in Malawi don’t have access to clean water. This totals 5.7 million people. Throughout our Lenten 2024 Campaign, Trócaire has been working with our local partners in Malawi to ensure that communities like Malita’s have access to safe, clean drinking water.”
Trócaire’s call to action is to encourage everyone interested in celebrating World Water Day in parishes, schools, youth and community groups, to engage in the following activities:
- A Pledge Waterfall: Create a waterfall of pledges in a public area. Each water droplet coming down the waterfall can be an individual pledge to help safeguard water.
- Watch an animation for children and young people on Water Justice which focuses on Malawi and Palestine here
- Watch a documentary on Water justice here
- Organise an outdoor prayer service, near a stream, river or beach using this River Ritual resource found here
- Reflect on how important water is for our liturgical celebrations, especially baptism and during Holy Week.
Ms Mellett concluded, “It is that time of year when we remind the generous people of Ireland to return your Trócaire Boxes or Lent donations to us so that we can continue helping families to adapt to the devastating effects of climate change in Malawi and all over the world. You can return your Trócaire box to your local parish or donation online at www.trocaire.org Thank you as ever for your support.”
ENDS
