Every morning, I walk for four hours to fetch water from the nearby river.
- 2 mins read time
- Published: 23rd March 2026
URGENT WATER CRISIS
Nobody should risk their life for water
Nothing is more vital to life than water. But access to clean water isn’t guaranteed for everyone. In fact, globally, 1 in 4 people do not have access to safe drinking water.
In Somalia, that reality is putting lives at risk.
This World Water Day, we asked our supporters to assist local Water Engineers and community volunteers in Somalia to install water points.
At the Beledweyne camp, flooding destroyed wells and contaminated local water sources. Mothers like Saada Yusuf are now forced to walk for hours each day to collect water for their children.
Saada makes a four-hour journey to a nearby river every morning. The journey is exhausting, isolated and dangerous. She has even narrowly escaped an attack by two crocodiles while fetching water.
And still, she has no choice but to go back.
Every morning, I walk for four hours to fetch water from the nearby river. I fear for my life.
I get very tired. At times I had to go for water when I was pregnant, or I had just delivered.
Sometimes I have no one to care for my children while I am away. As mothers, these are some of the challenges we face.— Saada Abdulahi
Even after making that journey, the water she brings home may still not be safe. The water available to families in the camp is contaminated, putting children and whole communities at risk of deadly disease.
This is what makes the crisis in Somalia so devastating, and so preventable.
No one should have to choose between drinking dirty water and having no water at all. No mother should have to risk her life just to meet her children’s most basic need.
With support, local water engineers can repair damaged water points, restore safer access to water, and help prevent more lives being lost to unsafe drinking water. Longer-term solutions can also help communities rebuild and better withstand the growing impact of the climate crisis.
Contaminated water should not still be claiming innocent lives. But right now, it is.
That is why urgent action matters.
By supporting Oxfam’s work, you can help protect families from waterborne disease, support long-term water solutions, and stand with communities facing the worst effects of climate change.
Saada’s story is a stark reminder that access to clean water is not a given for everyone. On World Water Day, and every day after it, we must keep acting to change that.
If you can spare two minutes, take the time to hear Saada’s story in her own words.
