Caroline's Story

Caroline is just 10 years old. She lives with her Mum and her younger brothers and sister in a small village in Uganda, surrounded by beautiful crater lakes. Her family used to rely on the lakes for fish and water. But the lakes are very dangerous – they contain bilharzia, a waterborne parasite, which if left untreated can lead to life-threatening illnesses.

Caroline is suffering from bilharzia for the second time. She gets painful stomach aches, has diarrhoea, and her stomach is bloated because of the illness. She feels sorry for her siblings when they get bilharzia too. “I feel bad when I see my brothers and sister are sick.”

Around one in six children in poorer countries does not have access to clean water. Even more children lack access to basic sanitation facilities like toilets. Many of us take these things for granted, but every day, over 4,000 children die from diseases caused by poor water and sanitation.

Every child has the right to clean water and sanitation so they can be as healthy as possible. UNICEF has provided rainwater tanks for Caroline’s school and is working to provide alternative safe water sources for her community.

Caroline’s family now has less need to go to the lake every day, so the chances of her and her siblings catching the disease again are much smaller. UNICEF works in more than 190 countries around the world to ensure that children have clean water and toilets.

UNICEF also supports hygiene education in Caroline’s school and the wider community. “They taught us that if we play in the lake we get bilharzia.” Caroline is ambitious and has plans for when she grows up. “I want to be a nurse because they give injections and make people well.”

Caroline no longer has to collect water from the lake. But millions of children are still in danger of life-threatening illnesses due to poor water and sanitation. UNICEF is funded entirely by voluntary contributions. We need your support to protect every child's right to be healthy. Denying a child's right to be healthy is wrong. Please help us put it right for children like Caroline.

UNICEF UK/Uganda09/Sue Parkhill

Put it Right: Caroline's story

11/11/2010