UN Year of Water Cooperation
Curriculum links
PDHPE: Students learn that health is multidimensional and
influenced by everyday actions and environments.
Geography: Students as informed, responsible and active citizens
who can contribute to the development of an environmentally and
economically sustainable, and socially just world.
Maths: Students appreciate the impact of mathematical
information on daily life. Students use mathematical tools to
explore social justice issues
Cross-curriculum priorities-Sustainability: will allow all young
Australians to develop an appreciation of the need for more
sustainable patterns of living, and to build the capacities for
thinking and acting that are necessary to create a more
sustainable future
Sustainability will allow all young Australians to develop an
appreciation of the need for more sustainable patterns of living,
and to build the capacities for thinking and acting that are
necessary to create a more sustainable future
The UN Year of Water Cooperation
2013 is the United Nations International year of water cooperation.
The aim of dedicating this year to water cooperation is for people around the world to become more
aware of:

 the increased demand for water access
 the challenges facing water management and services
great ways people have cooperated to secure and maintain access to safe water.
Halving the number of people without access to water by the year 2015 is one of the Millennium
Development goals. Many nations have come together to achieve this goal, and between 1990 and
2010, over two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources, such as piped supplies
and protected wells. This means the target has already been met! That is an excellent cooperative
achievement. Now, there are still 783 million people needing access to safe drinking water; the aim is to
continue to reduce this number through further global cooperation.
Caritas Australia works with local partner, Caritas Chokwe, in Matuba, Mozambique. Together they work
in cooperation with communities to develop and secure sustainable access to safe water. This cooperation has resulted in ten water points, safe sanitary facilities - including 25 latrines -, and education
about safe hygiene for 6,500 families in Matuba. People in these communities work together to learn
about how to use and manage their water supply, and how to keep it safe for everyone. In turn, these
improvements benefit agriculture, health, and educational opportunities.
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UN Year of Water Cooperation
Watch the Project Compassion 2013 Education clip ‘Water’ (2’ 27”)
The clip Ditosa’s story (4’51’’) may also be useful.
***Pause Points***
In each film clip, there are ‘pause points’ where you can pause the film and either follow the activities below, or just open the question up for a class
discussion. It should work just as well to keep the activities below to the end of the film clip.
(Each pause point lasts 5 seconds once the voiceover ends)
1. Activity 1 – How many times do you use water every day? (Lower/Upper
primary)
Play the ‘Water Quiz’, and then carry out a Water Audit: use the worksheet and ‘how to’ instructions.
2. Activity 2 – How do toilets help prevent disease? (Lower/Upper Primary)
Starter question: Why are toilets important?
As a class ask why do we need toilets? Make a list of why toilets are important for healthy living, e.g. preventing
disease, stopping the spread of germs etc.
Teaching about toilets
Watch the film ‘Splish Splash Flush’ on YouTube until 8:22, about the importance of toilets for healthy living. You
can explain to the class that, although the film is about what Water Aid is doing, it gives a good example of the
type of toilet built in Ditosa’s community by Caritas Australia too. As you watch the film, add any more reasons
the film gives about staying healthy to your list.
As a class, share your views and think of different ways that you could explain hygiene to others.
(adapted from Water Aid)
3. Activity 3 (additional activity not related to a pause point) – Maths: Fetching
Water (Upper Primary)
Ditosa walks 500m from her house to collect 25 litres of water, and then walks 500m back. It takes her 30
minutes.
Questions: (NB: these are just examples, and can be adapted to suit various levels)
1. How far in total does Ditosa walk to fetch water?
[500 + 500 = 1000m. Could discuss how many centimetres are in a metre, metres are in a kilometre, etc.]
2. 1 litre of water weighs 1kilogram. This means Ditosa carries 25 kilograms of weight on the walk back
home (not including the weight of the container she carries the water in!). Can you find out how heavy
this it? How far can you carry that weight?
3. The average 12 year old can walk 5km/hour. How many metres should Ditosa be able to walk in one
minute? How long should it take Ditosa to walk 500m?
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UN Year of Water Cooperation
[5000/60 = 83m/min]
[1 hour = 60 minutes. Divide by 5km = 12 minutes/km. Divide by 2 = 6 minutes/500m]
4. It takes Ditosa 30 minutes to collect water every day. How much time has Ditosa got left to pour the
water and walk back home after she walks to the tap? Why do you think it takes longer to walk home
than to walk to the tap?
[30 mins – 6 mins = 24 mins]
[weight of water to carry]
5. It would take about 1 minute of non-stop pouring to pour all the water Ditosa collects into her container.
Let’s say Ditosa spends four minutes at the tap (time to wait for someone else in line, talk with friends,
pour the water, etc.). Add your answer from question 3 to those four minutes Ditosa spends at the tap.
How many minutes has she got left to walk home with the 25 litres of water? What is her average speed
when carrying water? How much has it dropped because she is carrying water?]
[6 mins + 4 mins = 10mins; 30 mins – 10 mins = 20 mins left to walk home]
[500m divided by 20 mins = 25m/min]
[83 – 25 = she is walking 58m/min slower]
6. Before the tap was installed with support from Caritas Australia 500m from Ditosa’s home, she had to
walk 2km to get 25 litres of water for her family. Before that she had to travel 14km. Can you work out
how long it used to take her to walk to collect water? Remember to use the different speeds on the way
there and on the way back!
[If Ditosa walks 1km in 12 mins, then she walks 2km in 24 minutes. Add 4 mins for time spent at the tap =
28mins. Time to walk back @ 25m/min: 2,000m divided by 25 = 80mins, or 1 hour 20 mins. Therefore
total time to collect water is: 1 hour 48 mins]
[If Ditosa walks 1km in 12 mins, then she walks 14km in 168 minutes, or 2 hours 48 mins. Add 4 mins for time spent
at the tap = 2 hours 52 mins. Time to walk back @ 25m/min: 14,000m divided by 25 = 560mins, or 9 hours 20 mins.
Therefore total time to collect water is: 12 hours 8 mins]
4. Tippy Tap (Upper Primary)
Learn how a water pump works
Activity – Water Management
Once a pump is installed, like the one in Ditosa’s village, it still needs to be managed effectively for it to be longlasting. Everyone needs to have access to the pump, the community needs to know what they might do if a part of
the pump broke (i.e. who would fix it), and also who maintains the pump to prevent it from breaking in the first
place. This activity is designed to demonstrate the importance of sustainable development: whilst the pump is
important, it won’t work or do any good in the long-term if these other issues are not addressed.
Split the class into groups, and get them to discuss the following questions:
1. Who do you think would build a water pump like the one in Ditosa’s village?
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UN Year of Water Cooperation
The community is always involved in
the construction of the water pump.
They work with the engineer to find a
suitable location, they provide some
of the labour and even some of the
materials such as stones and sand.
2. What do you think they would use
the water for?
Drinking, cooking, washing, cleaning
clothes/dishes, growing vegetables.
The community often build a
community vegetable garden near
the pump.
3. What do you think the community
would do if a part of the water pump
broke?
Water Facts
97.5% of the earth's water is
saltwater. If the world's water fit into
a bucket, only one teaspoonful
would be drinkable. (HDR)
The average person in the
developing world uses 10 litres of
water every day for their drinking,
washing and cooking. (WSSCC)
Can you find out how many litres of
water the average Mozambican and
Australian use in one day?
The community elects a water
management committee to help
maintain the pump. If a part of the
pump breaks the committee will use
the money raised from selling the
produce from their community
garden to fix the pump. The water
management committee is vital for the sustainability of the water project.
5. Mozambique Water Photo Gallery (Lower / Upper Primary)
View the Water Powerpoint with your students, using the photographs as points of
stimulus for discussion.
a.
b.
c.
You could use the SEE THINK WONDER routine for a class discussion.

What do you see?

What do you think about that?

What does it make you wonder?
As a class or in pairs, students could generate a list of questions they have from
the photographs.
With a partner/as a class, students can discuss the differences and similarities between the uses of water in
Mozambique and Australia- what it is used for and it is accessed.
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UN Year of Water Cooperation
6. Case study- Mozambique (Upper Primary)
Mozambique’s economy has grown strongly after a fifteen-year civil war ended in 1992. But Mozambique is still one
of the poorest countries in the world. Less than half the population (around 49%) in Mozambique has access to
clean, safe water. This means that infection rates from food and water-borne diseases are high. Over 9,000 children
die every year from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. Poor access to water and sanitation also
has an impact on education and people’s ability to work.
The majority of Mozambicans work in agriculture, and farmers rely heavily on rainfall. Mozambiqueoften has severe
weather: drought, cyclones and flooding that often destroy crops and farmers’ incomes.
In early 2000, there were huge floods that washed away many of the townships along the Save River, including
Matuba- where Ditosa lives. Communities had to move their homes between five and eight kilometres from their
traditional villages. In late January 2013, there were severe floods again in Matuba. The Matuba Children’s Centre
survived the floods but sadly the mud brick homes where most people live were destroyed. The floods have affected
150,000 people. Ditosa, her family and her community had to move to safety 30km away in a camp. Living far away
from the towns makes access to water much more difficult. Local women and children spend many hours every day
walking to and from the nearest supply of fresh water.
Increasing and securing access to water is a focus for projects in Mozambique. In the Chokwe district, development
projects have dramatically improved access to clean water and safe sanitary facilities for more than 2,000 people. In
2011/12, ten water points were fixed, 25 latrines constructed and 6,500 families taught about safe hygiene
practices. In the six communities throughout the districts of Massanena, Mabalane and Guija, groups of farmers
have also come together to make sure that they can keep up their access to water. These groups are trained in
installing and maintaining the water pumps and developing appropriation ways to deliver water to the people who
live in the area.
This case study can be accompanied by discussion, sharing of interesting points, generation of questions or the use of a range
of comprehension questions.
Students could also practise their questioning skills by creating literal and inferential questions for a partner. (Upper
Primary)
Examples of comprehension questions:
Comprehension/Thinking questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How much of the population does not have access to clean water? (You could compare this percentage to your
class, dividing half of your class as those with access to water, and those without) 49%
Name one illness that is caused by unsafe water? (diarrhoea)
In what years were there major floods?
Name some of the effects that floods and extreme weather can have on communities?
What are some of the things that Caritas Chokwe and Caritas Australia do to help with improving and securing
access to water in Mozambique?
PMI
Think of one PLUS (A Positive aspect of the case study)
Think of one MINUS (A negative aspect of the case study)
Think of one INTERESTING (Something considered interesting in the case study)
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