The fluctuation in weather patterns and yearly flood in Abuja community especially flood-prone settlement areas has seen the land plunged into a serious environmental concern and made the community unbearable, thereby impacting on the local livelihoods of the indigenous people of Gwagwalada. Water is a basic human right, and yet millions don’t have access to it. The devastating effect of water crisis in my community, open defecation and inadequate access to dignified clean drinking water create fertile ground for the spread of deadly water related illnesses like Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery and diarrhea as a result of poor WASH intervention programs. The inadequate water system and indiscriminate solid waste disposal in proximity to household has led to presence of contaminated water in stagnant water bodies water collections in hollow containers such as tins, polythene bags and used sachet water packs which has led to environmental damages and a breeding sites for mosquito vectors. If present trend continues, my communities as a whole may yet witness an extraordinary climate/environmental impacts with serious consequences for all to bear. Many communities on a daily basis are becoming vulnerable to lack of environmental awareness, the older generation have not been able to do anything about it, the people are not even aware of the negative impacts of their daily unsustainable activities and lifestyles. But the good news is that F.C.T Abuja can rise up to this global challenge. The incentive of educating and providing Sawyer water filters for clean water across Gwagwalada local government of Abuja via clean water and sanitation program has the power to transform Gwagwalada community into a lower risk of water contamination and a climate resilient future in the present and the future. We need to empower the generation most threatened by climate crises to be front and centre in solving it.
Here is link to my work: www.instagram.com/stepupgreen, stepupgreen.medium.com.