Exciting news! Photographer Jenn Warren just finished a new photo documentary with PSI/Sudan, titled “Life Is Water,” which focuses on Sudan’s child survival and safe water programs. This moving video displays how necessary and life-saving this work can be for families in Juba, Southern Sudan.

In the documentary, Mary Wilson, a local mother of four, shares her story:

My name is Mary Wilson. I am a mother of four children in Juba. I gave birth to my first born in 1996 and the youngest child I have now is 1 1/2 years old.

We’ve used WaterGuard for one year, but before that we were just drinking water without any purification. Our neighbor works for PSI, so I went to an outreach session one day and learned about WaterGuard. WaterGuard chlorine tablet is good because it makes the water clean, pure, and safe for drinking.

The children used to be sick and have frequent diarrhea before I used WaterGuard. Especially my third child, I had to admit her in the hospital many times because she had diarrhea frequently and became very dehydrated. But my youngest child rarely gets diarrhea because since he was born we have been using WaterGuard consistently in the house.

Before I knew about WaterGuard, there were times when I knew the water that we used to drink was really dirty, so I chose to boil it. But in most situations I ran short of money to buy fuel and charcoal to boil my drinking water. So when I didn’t have money we just took the water as it is. But now that WaterGuard is available and it is cheap, instead of boiling and buying fuel, making it a long process, we just buy WaterGuard and use it. I am convinced that once I treat my water using WaterGuard, even though the color is not changed, I am sure that the germs are all dead in the water.

I know that WaterGuard is good because since it was introduced into our family, diarrhea cases have been reduced among the children and once we drop it in the water, we are sure that our water is clean, all germs are dead and it is safe to drink. Before that it used to be difficult. We appreciate that WaterGuard has been introduced and we are using it in our family.

Population Services International (PSI), a ONE partner, promotes healthy behaviors by educating individuals about purifying drinking water in the home, practicing improved hygiene and offering treatment for diarrheal disease if a child falls ill. PSI’s programs combine education to motivate healthy behavior with the provision of needed health products and services, which are attractively packaged and marketed in the local context. In Sudan, PSI’s water treatment products include WaterGuard chlorine tablets, and PUR Purifier of Water, which enable families to purify water at the household level. The availability of these products, along with effective communications, empowers individuals to understand the burden that contaminated drinking water has on their health and allows them take solutions into their own hands.

-Marcie Cook, Country Representative, PSI/Sudan