Meghan Markle Connects Water's Dots From Natural Resource To Life Source

Actress Meghan Markle says her passion for helping the poor began in childhood and was nurtured by both of her parents.

Now, as World Vision Canada's global ambassador, her trips to far flung places such as villages in Rwanda have shown her the knock-on effects that water scarcity has on individuals’ future potential.

Take, for example, little Florence, whom Markle met in a village outside of Kigali. The 13-year-old girl walks hours every day to fetch water for her family.

“I walked with her to her only viable water source (which was riddled with germs and pesticides),” Markle writes in her blog. “She can’t go to class because she spends close to four hours a day walking to get water from the nearest river. That lack of education hinders her from maximizing her full potential. It takes her out of school, it robs her of an education and it stifles her future. The lack of access to clean water does that.”

Markle, however, found inspiration when she visited Gashoro, another village in Rwanda, which was already supplied by a World Vision well. According to World Vision’s website worldwide in 2015 World Vision improved water access to 2.3 million people, and reached four new schools every day with clean water, sanitation and hygiene.

“It’s not just a glass of water,” says Markle. “It’s a glass of hope. It’s the most obvious basic necessity for health and wellness. Just like air, we need water. We simply can’t live without it.”