More than a week after flash floods struck the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli river basin in Nepal, at least 22,000 children are in desperate need of safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene support, UNICEF reported on Thursday. Because nothing says 'post-disaster recovery' like a cholera outbreak.

Water systems have been damaged across affected districts, while toilets and other sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed, raising the risk of waterborne and infectious diseases. In other words, the floodwaters have receded, but the germs are just getting started.

“Every parent in these districts is now making the same calculation several times a day,” said Alice Akunga, UNICEF Representative in Nepal. “Where can I get water, and is it safe to give to my child?” A question no parent should have to ask, yet here we are.

Affected families are now living with host communities or in holding centres - crowded spaces that make it difficult to maintain safe hygiene practices. Because nothing says 'hygiene' like 50 people sharing one bucket.

This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted how flooding, displacement, overcrowding, and stagnant water can increase the risk of communicable diseases such as dengue and scrub typhus. As if the flood wasn't enough, now we have dengue and scrub typhus to look forward to.

“The risk of waterborne disease increases rapidly in these conditions, but it is preventable,” Ms. Akunga insisted. Preventable, yes, but only if you have the supplies and the access to deliver them.

UNICEF has dispatched water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies for around 19,000 people in Rasuwa and Nuwakot, among the hardest-hit areas. The supply list reads like a shopping list for a very specific disaster: more than 3,800 hygiene kits, 3,300 collapsible 10-litre jerrycans, 3,500 buckets, 3,500 one-litre mugs, 4,000 bottles of water treatment solution, and more than 1,000 tarpaulin sheets. Because when your world is washed away, a 10-litre jerrycan is a lifeline.

Staff are also working with government counterparts and partners on disease surveillance, hygiene promotion, and outbreak prevention. Because it's not enough to hand out supplies; you also have to convince people to use them properly.

The flooding was triggered by a glacier collapse on the Nepal-China border on 27 August. The death toll has surpassed 1,100, according to international media reports. That's 1,100 people who won't be coming back, and countless more who are now homeless.

Infrastructure such as roads, bridges, telecommunications networks, as well as water systems, were damaged, complicating access to communities and delivery of aid. Because of course the roads to the hardest-hit areas are the ones that washed away.

UNICEF estimates that at least 19 schools have been damaged, including eight that were completely and eight partially destroyed, while more than 10,000 school-age children need immediate psychosocial support and access to safe learning spaces. Because nothing says 'back to school' like a collapsed roof.

“Before all this, I used to spend most of my time in school and hang out with friends when I was free,” Swostik Paudel, a 14-year-old from Nuwakot, recently told the agency. “Mostly we would play football.” Now he's living in a shelter with his parents and sister, trying to cling to some semblance of normality.

“Some children have brought a football here,” he said. “Even though it’s punctured, we’ve been passing it around. Some friends have also been playing matches.” Because even in the midst of disaster, kids will find a way to play - even with a deflated ball.

As access improves, UNICEF will scale up emergency water supply, household water treatment, water-quality monitoring, temporary sanitation and handwashing facilities, and essential hygiene and menstrual hygiene supplies in communities and holding centres. Because the relief effort is a marathon, not a sprint.

Ms. Akunga said restoring safe water and sanitation “is not a one-week job”. She stressed that damaged water systems, pipelines, pumps, toilets, and other sanitation infrastructure need to be repaired and rebuilt to withstand future floods. Because if we don't fix it properly, we'll be doing this all over again next year.

“We need to make communities safer and more resilient,” she said. “Otherwise, we will be having the same conversation again after the next disaster, and it will be children paying the price yet again.” And that's a conversation we'd all rather not have.