Water is one of the world’s most relentless killers

One year ago today we started to get the first harrowing reports about the massive earthquake in Haiti that claimed more than 200,000 lives.

But as awful as that crisis was (and still is, for many), it pales in comparison to the devastation caused by unsafe water.

More than 3.5 million people die each year from preventable water-related diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid, cholera, and dysentery. That’s more deaths caused by unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war.

And this is the worst: That total includes about 4,000 children under the age of five who die every day.

That means that every two months, the loss of young children alone equals the total death toll from the Haitian earthquake.

I don’t know about you, but I had no idea that a crisis this enormous existed.

I first found out about all this last year when a friend sent me information about an organization called “charity : water” which funds more than 3,800 freshwater projects in developing countries all over the world.

According to their website (charitywater.org) the organization’s operating costs are covered by private donors. So 100 percent of all public donations are devoted to water projects.

Charity : water administrators calculate that a single donation of just $20 provides one person with safe drinking water for 20 years.

I know a lot of us gear up our charitable giving at the end of the year and put our checkbooks away for a while. Hopefully, you have one more check you can spare for an astonishing return like that.