The girls are out of school for hours at a time.
Kids in Owensboro will soon have a chance to change the lives of kids like these by raising money to drill a clean water well in a Tanzanian village.
A new organization called Kids for Kids is kicking off a fundraising campaign with a gathering at 6 p.m. on Nov. 8 in the chapel at Heritage Baptist Church.
Started by Jodi Ekbundit, an Owensboro mom with five children, Kids For Kids aims to “inspire and empower kids to advocate for other kids so they can make change,” she said.
While she wants to raise enough to cover the cost of one well – about $4,000 – her larger goal is teach kids how to advocate for other kids who need their help.
“I want this to be kid-driven, not just parents taking a form to work.” Ekbundit is working with Phillip Crabtree of Owensboro, who spent five weeks last year drilling wells in Tanzania with an organization called Go Drill.
Crabtree plans to tell the kids at the gathering about the four wells he helped install.
Placke said she has walked with villagers anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours one way to fetch water.
Wells bring clean water.
“You’re investing in people.” Kids for Kids will kick off with a gathering at 6 p.m. on Nov. 8 in the chapel at Heritage Baptist Church at 3585 Thruston-Dermont Road.

"You have a million people dying a year, just completely needlessly, because they lack access to clean water," says Damon, speaking to CNBC on Thursday, the 25th annual World Water Day, which serves to call attention to the problem.
Further, 4.5 billion people around the world lack access to safely managed sanitation, according to the same report.
Around the world, many people have to walk long distances to find a water source and others have to wait in long lines and pay large percentages of their income to secure any water at all, explain Damon and Gary White, who, along with Damon, co-founded the non-profit organization Water.org and the non-profit impact investment fund manager WaterEquity.
"Today, 200 million hours will be spent by women and girls walking to collect water," says White, speaking to CNBC.
Less time getting water means more time for work, school, play, family and life.
To work to solve this crisis, Damon and White came together in 2009 to launch Water.org, a non-profit that works to provide access to clean drinking water in 13 countries around the world: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Asia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Brazil, Honduras and Peru.
So if you could front them the money for a connection to the system that exists, you are buying their time back.
With small loans, women are empowered to give their families water at home.
"We take those funds and invest them in enterprises that serve the poor in terms of their water and sanitation needs," says White.
"The basic math on it is that every million that comes into the fund, over the seven-year life, 100,000 people get access to water or sanitation….

The traditional model of water governance through state or public water utilities, and the market based privatisation of water supplies that gained momentum in the early twentieth century, have failed to effectively address growing urban water demand.
And so other institutional and management systems have emerged in some urban and peri-urban areas.
Community based water supply models have been common in rural areas for some time.
Community public partnerships typically involve a community – or an elected body within that community – working with a public or state owned water utility.
Technical and financial management have improved.
Questions have been raised about the extent to which improvements in management, accountability, and the number of water points has led to better water access at the household level.
But they are gradually emerging in some of sub-Saharan Africa’s urban spaces.
These arrangements, also known as community-based self-provision, allow communities to form their own institutions for water delivery without formal connections or partnerships with utility operators or municipal governments.
Successful communities were able to get both local and international donors on board to provide them financial support.
But communities cannot do it all alone.

Authorities say that despite huge efforts that have been taken by the government to improve water supply, still there is a shortage of more than 234 million litres of water to meet the daily demand in Unguja and Pemba.
In the Urban-West region, the water availability is 63 percent of the daily demand, in Unguja North region is 48 percent and 50 percent in Unguja South region while in Pemba, the availability of water has reached 83 percent in north region and 87 percent in South Region.
A statement from the government says "All these ongoing operations undertaken by STECOL Company from China will be completed by April 2019, and upon its completion it will increase the availability of water in the urban west region from 67 million litres to 81 litres per day, an increase of 20.9 percent."
The minister responsible for water Ms Salama Aboud Talib said in addition, a big water project that was undertaken by the ‘China First Highway Engineering Company (CFHEC)’ geared to improve water supply in North and South Regions of Unguja was successfully completed last month (December, 2017).
The news about government’s efforts to overcome water crisis in its urban and rural areas comes at the time when complains against water shortage continues including call for water desalination.
It is thought that by the year 2025, the situation may become worse when two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages, and that the problems needs to be highlighted and re-emphasized over and over again so that everyone takes role.
Water scarcity or lack of safe drinking water is one of the World’s leading problems affecting more than 1.1 billion people globally, meaning that one in every six people lacks access to safe drinking water.
World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is about focusing attention on the importance of water.
Environmentalists and activists also link water shortage to excessive and unsustainable human consumption, and overuse of water across the board and in all forms of industrial processes such as Non-sustainable domestic practices such as leaving taps running when water is not needed.
Effects and Severe Consequences of Water Shortages are many including spending less time on other development activities for women, and Gender Based Violence (GBV) including being abused by rapists while children and women walk long distance or wake-up very early in search for water.

The village of Oldonywas, in northern Tanzania, lies on the slopes of Mount Meru and is about 35km from the city of Arusha and although it had access to water, this had a very high fluoride content and was not suitable for drinking.
Market Harborough Rotary Club worked with its twin club in Bjerringbro, Denmark, and the Rotary Club of Arusha Mount Meru in Tanzania, to raise money and apply for a grant from Rotary International which paid for 32km of pipes, three water tanks and the digging of an 18km trench which keeps elephants away from the new water supply.
The project cost about $88,325 (about £66,000) in total.
At the opening celebration ceremony for the new water system, in Oldonywas, councillors, school pupils and residents thanked the Rotary clubs involved, the project supervisors and volunteers.
A troupe of Maasai people performed a welcome dance at the ceremony.
The Rotary clubs of Market Harborough and Bjerringbro have been twinned for more than 45 years.
A memorial has now been painted on one of the water tanks which shows the names of the three Rotary clubs who took part including Harborough’s.
A spokesman for the Harborough Rotary Club said: “Rotarians in Market Harborough are proud and delighted that the project has been successful.
“This is just one of many projects which Rotarians all over the world accomplish by working together.
“The Market Harborough club also has its name on memorial plaques in four other places: classrooms in Qua Zulu Natal, a solar powered water pump in Malawi, dormitories in Gil Gil orphanage, Kenya ,and a girls’ residential school in Chennai, India.” To find out more about how to join Rotary phone the Market Harborough club secretary on 01858 432370.

Access to basic and safely managed water services in Tanzania has improved, according to a new report released on Thursday this week by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.
According to the report, in Tanzania, 1 in 2 people, or 27 Million Tanzanians have access to basic water services – that are within a 30-minute round trip collection time including queuing.
However, progress on sanitation and hygiene has been slow as 63% of Tanzanians still have no access to improved sanitation.
Worldwide some 3 in 10 people or 2.1 billion, lack access to safe, readily available water at home and 6 in 10, or 4.4 billion, lack safely managed sanitation.
Globally, the report shows that billions of people have gained access to basic drinking water and sanitation services since 2000, but these services do not necessarily provide safe water and sanitation.
In Tanzania 8% of deaths of children under 5 is caused by preventable diarrhea.
“Not only are poor hygiene, open defecation, and lack of access to safe water and sanitation systems leading causes of child illness and death, they contribute to undernutrition and stunting, and act as barriers to education for girls and to economic opportunity for the poor” said Maniza Zaman, UNICEF Representative in Tanzania.
“This new data is a reality check and shows stark inequities, including in Tanzania, in terms of who benefit from safe water and sanitation services.
It is a call to spark a truly national movement for water, sanitation and hygiene so that everyone is reached especially the under-served areas, poorest communities and the most vulnerable children, including children with disabilities,” she added.
It’s a noble plea to ascertain that no one is left behind as an important principal for achieving each of the SDGs”.

Tanzania: 3 Villages to Benefit From Water Project.
Babati — Three villages in Babati District, Manyara Region, will finally be relieved of water scarcity under a multi-billion shilling water supply projects to be implemented by the district council.
These are Malangi village where some Sh649 million has been budgeted, Imbilili (Sh487 million) and Haraa in which some Sh594 million will be spent to supply water to the villagers.
This was announced here by the chairman of the council Mohamed Kibiki who said contractors for the three projects have been picked and that they would ensure they are implemented without any delay.
"We will revoke any contract if we are not satisfied with the implementation," he said, adding that civil works have to start immediately because the funds have been allocated.
According to him, all the three projects are expected to be completed in the next six months, relieving the villagers of water scarcity at the height of the dry season later in the year.
Elias Bura from Malangi village said it would be a great relief to be supplied with the precious liquid because they had been subjected to empty promises by the district administrators for many years.

TANZANIA: New Water Project Brings Clean Water to More Than 3,000 Poor and Homeless Youth.
(MissionNewswire) Through donor support, Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the international Salesians of Don Bosco, was able to assist Salesian missionaries at the Kinyerezi Children’s Center in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to provide youth access to clean water.
Nearly one-third of the country is arid to semi-arid and people not living near one of the three major lakes that border the country have difficulty accessing water.
According to UNICEF, more than 250,000 children are orphaned yearly by the disease.
Many children who have lost one or both of their parents turn to the streets for survival.
Salesian missionaries operate four Salesian centers in Dar es Salaam that provide education, workforce development programs, health services and assistance to street children.
Many of the center’s structures and programs are still in development, and this clean water project will ensure youth have access to clean water they need.
Once it was completed, youth in the program, as well as those living in the surrounding communities, were able to enjoy clean, fresh water.
This water project in Tanzania and others around the globe ensure communities have the water they need, and children can remain in school focused on their studies.” Almost one third of people in Tanzania live in poverty, according to UNICEF.
While the country has seen some economic growth in tourism, mining, trade and communication, the number of Tanzanians living below the poverty line has marginally increased due to rapid population growth.

Tanzania: Authorities Pledge to Address Water Shortage in Rombo.
Rombo — Some residents of Rombo District, Kilimanjaro Region have complained that water from Rongai forests on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro benefited villagers in neighbouring Kenya than them.
They have called on the regional authorities to ensure that they get their share of the increasingly diminishing water supplies from streams originating from the mountain.
Martin Kavishe, the technical manager with Kiliwater, a private company contracted to supply water in Rombo district, said there was enough water at the source but wondered why a large share goes to Kenya.
He said there were three main sources of water from the Rongai forests alone and that with proper distribution network it can suffice the needs of consumers in three divisions for 24 hours each day.
He added, however, that water rationing has become common in Rombo District because of poor water supply network, noting that a new pipeline network to cost about one billion shillings is planned.
A villager who identified himself as Abdallah Mbogo said water scarcity in some areas of Rombo had become so acute that some villagers are forced to go to Kenya to fetch the precious liquid though most of the streams originate from their area.

Access to clean water improves health in Tanzania.
The Canadians are members of a PWRDF delegation that has come to the diocese of Masasi to learn more about All Mothers and Children Count (AMCC), a larger project that builds off work done during CHIP.
“Now, because water is here, it is easier for us now to educate people about [medical] treatment.” But having accessible water isn’t just about having water that is safe to drink.
Girls whose time might otherwise have been spent carrying water can stay in school longer, and mothers have more time to take their children to the clinic for a checkup, he notes.
Setting up a borehole is no small task.
Once the Canadian and Tanzanian governments sign off on it, the drilling can begin.
Once the borehole has been drilled, water samples are sent to a laboratory in Mtwara for testing.
If the water is deemed safe, the pump can be installed.
“You may find that work is going to take place, maybe in July or in August, but the process started last year!” says Monjesa.
“Especially for a hungry person, for a thirsty person, waiting that long period is very difficult for them.” Fortunately, according to Monjesa, all 30 of the boreholes dug as part of the CHIP program hit safe drinking water on the first try.