Pure Water for the World Plans Project in Haiti
Posted by Tony Gilmore
Pure Water for the World (PWW), a non-profit headquartered in the Rutland home of its executive director and member of Trinity, Rutland, Carolyn Crowley Meub, is partnering with the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti in an ambitious project to bring clean water to the communities in which the diocese operates some 140 schools as well as orphanages and health facilities.
Potable water is an essential element in efforts to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly the goals of reducing child mor-tality (4), improving maternal health (5), combating disease (6), and environmental sustainability (7), a major target of which is to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The lack of clean water is a principal cause of death and disease in Haiti, especially among children. According to PWW, half the beds in Haiti's health facilities are occupied by patients with water-borne diseases.
PWW partners with local organiza-tions, initially local Rotary clubs but now also with other humanitarian and religious organizations. They begin by identifying communities in which the need is great and the local organization is strong enough to ensure sustainability. The next step is com-munity socialization and education about protecting clean, safe drinking water. PWW then installs inexpensive bio-sand filters in homes, schools and other public facilities. Monitoring follows to be sure the systems and protection measures are continuing to be used.
The simple filters, which do not require electricity and have no moving parts, can remove worms, parasites and nearly all bacteria and toxins. The organization has worked extensively in Central America, and a recent partnership with the the U.S. Agency for International Development in Cité Soleil, a shanty town in Port-au-Prince, has provided fi lters to 250 schools. Meub says PWW is the second largest non-governmental organization working in the area, one in which most of the population lives in extreme poverty.
The project with the Diocese of Haiti will also target schools, as well as orphan-ages and health care facilities. Why work with schools? Meub says that providing safe drinking water to schoolchildren, along with instruction about hygiene and clean water, quickly raises interest among their families and communities. When people discern the value of clean water and want the benefit, Meub said, then a project can be sustainable. Education and behav-ior change are key to success in combating disease. For a successful project, these must precede the investment in technology.
Excerpted from the Mountain Echo
by Anne Clarke Brown
PWW partners with local organiza-tions, initially local Rotary clubs but now also with other humanitarian and religious organizations. They begin by identifying communities in which the need is great and the local organization is strong enough to ensure sustainability. The next step is com-munity socialization and education about protecting clean, safe drinking water. PWW then installs inexpensive bio-sand filters in homes, schools and other public facilities. Monitoring follows to be sure the systems and protection measures are continuing to be used.
The simple filters, which do not require electricity and have no moving parts, can remove worms, parasites and nearly all bacteria and toxins. The organization has worked extensively in Central America, and a recent partnership with the the U.S. Agency for International Development in Cité Soleil, a shanty town in Port-au-Prince, has provided fi lters to 250 schools. Meub says PWW is the second largest non-governmental organization working in the area, one in which most of the population lives in extreme poverty.
The project with the Diocese of Haiti will also target schools, as well as orphan-ages and health care facilities. Why work with schools? Meub says that providing safe drinking water to schoolchildren, along with instruction about hygiene and clean water, quickly raises interest among their families and communities. When people discern the value of clean water and want the benefit, Meub said, then a project can be sustainable. Education and behav-ior change are key to success in combating disease. For a successful project, these must precede the investment in technology.
Excerpted from the Mountain Echo
by Anne Clarke Brown