Welcome to WASH Equals!

You made it! Welcome to WASH Equals, a community for those who want to share, read and discuss stories about the importance of clean water, sanitation (toilets) and hygiene.

Let’s be real, in America having access to safe water isn’t something most of us think about every day. In fact, it may barely cross our minds thanks to luxuries like rainfall shower heads and shopping aisles dedicated to bottled water brands. Even though this is our reality, there’s a very different reality occurring for millions around the world.  Actually, it’s a reality for 663-million people, because that’s the number of people living without access to clean water.

In this community, you’ll see stories from people like yourself, as well as from villagers in marginalized communities and other developing countries with limited access to a safe and sustainable water supply. You’ll notice that many of the stories will focus on the experiences of girls and women, and that’s because it’s their lives that are most negatively affected due to this unmet need. Take ninth-grader Tsehay for example, who, along with her classmates, would sometimes miss school when on their menstrual cycles. Because her school building only had one water tap for the 1,000 teachers and students, sanitation and hygiene fell by the wayside.

Now that may not be your story, or anywhere near it. But, this community is about self-reflection and perspective. It is our hope that by you sharing your own stories and experiences about being without, or having very limited access to water or a toilet, you’ll be able to better connect to those living daily with this issue. No scenario is too small.

Be open. Be honest. We know the best stories are made that way!

Thanks for joining us as we take a step towards connecting with others across the globe in order to encourage a little good from home. Story by story, we’ll help America recognize the importance of this issue.