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Priscilla and her family are forced to drink contaminated water. Clean water and sanitation can help families in Zambia protect themselves from cholera.

When dirty water is your only option

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Many parents worry about the health and wellbeing of their precious children. But parents like Priscilla, have extra reason to worry — she has only dirty water to give to her children. But together, we can help change this. Read more »
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Sammy J in PNG

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Oxfam Ambassador and all-round good guy, Sammy J, recently traveled to Papua New Guinea with us to see our work firsthand. Read about the people he met, the projects he saw, and the trouble he got himself into! Read more »
Mukuru Kenya Africa

When I grow up: a story of hope from the slums of Nairobi

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Victor wants to be a pilot, but without access to a clean toilet, he may never realise his ambition. This is the photo story of how one clever toilet is protecting children from disease, keeping kids in school, and changing the lives the people in the Mukuru slum in Kenya. Read more »

What would you do if you were President for a day?

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Urban developments, otherwise known as slums, are quickly spreading across Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. With them comes a huge threat of disease and poverty for the hundreds of thousands of people who call the slums home. Read the stories of 10 kids from the Mukuru slum and their dreams for the future. Read more »
Yusra dressed as a doctor in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa. Photo: Sam Tarling/Oxfam

Good sanitation means more girls in school

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On her way to school, Yusra negotiates the toxic human waste that lines the streets. The sanitation crisis in her home — the Mukuru slum in Kenya — means residents are forced to use pit latrines and plastic bags as their toilet. The threat of disease lingers every where, but the implications of poor sanitation for young women and girls are particularly complex. Read more »
Photo: Perou/Oxfam

A life-changing, life-saving toilet

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In Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, almost two million people live in informal settlements or ‘slums’. Water and sanitation facilities are completely inadequate, disease rates are high and poverty is rife. Amy Christian travelled to the Mukuru slum in Kenya and discovered how one innovative toilet is saving lives and changing them for the better. Read more »
Typhoon Washi victims who are made homeless after their houses were swept away by flash floods rest at an evacuation center in Cagayan de Oro in the southern Philippines December 18, 2011. Rescuers searched for more than 100 people still missing in the southern Philippines on Sunday after flash floods and landslides swept houses into rivers and out to sea, killing almost 500 people in areas ill-prepared to cope with deadly storms. The cities of Cagayan de Oro and nearby Iligan on Mindanao island were worst hit when Typhoon Washi slammed ashore while people slept late on Friday and early Saturday, sending torrents of water and mud through villages and stripping mountainsides bare. REUTERS/Erik De Castro (PHILIPPINES - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY)

Oxfam sends experts to Philippines in wake of typhoon Washi

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As the death toll passes 1,000 from the devastating tropical storm that hit the southern Philippines on Sunday, Oxfam has sent in emergency responders to determine the region’s humanitarian needs. A team of ten experts are on the ground in Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City to assess the water and sanitation conditions, after […] Read more »
Photo: John Sones/OxfamAUS

Clean water saves lives: Maree’s story

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It’s easy to get caught up in the material anxieties of the holiday season. For a bit of perspective we bring you the story of Maree, a 23-year-old Cambodian woman living with her mother in the Takeo district of Cambodia. Maree doesn’t own any land, so she travels 90 km to Phnom Penh to work […] Read more »
Photo: John Jones/OxfamAUS

Clean water saves lives: Bhoomy’s story

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Running water is one of those little things in life that we depend on without really considering. But stop and think for a minute: If you couldn’t turn the on tap, would you even know the location of your nearest water source? For Bhoomy Deungmarny the answer is the KaPanh River, about 400 metres from […] Read more »
Photo: John Sones/OxfamAUS

Clean water saves lives: Oeun’s story

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Kut Oeun, a 35-year-old mother of four in rural Cambodia, is the face of our 2011 Water Appeal. But she’s more than just a face on a campaign. Oeun and her family spoke to Oxfam Australia at length about life in their village, particularly the struggles that come from having limited access to clean water. Read more »