Water Fountains for our primary schools
Villages in four regions of Ghana are being equipped with ventilated pit latrines, showers, and boreholes featuring hand pumps and mechanized pipes through the efforts of dozens of Rotary clubs in Latin America, North America, and Ghana.
The effort is part of the International H2O Collaboration, an alliance between Rotary International and USAID. Launched in 2009, it works to implement long-term, sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in the developing world. The first phase of the partnership has focused on three countries: Ghana, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic.
Rotarians are engaged in many water and sanitation projects year-round. Examples are:
A $64,566 contribution from the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund is supporting a project of the Rotary Club of Mirebalais, Centre, Haiti, to construct 80 rainwater collection tanks with built-in filters, each with a 2,500-gallon capacity. The tanks will provide clean water for about 3,000 people.
Rotarians in Utah, USA are working with Rotarians in Colombia and Ecuador on a series of global grant projects to build bathrooms for schools, provide clean drinking water, and teach students better hygiene practices. They also have reached out to the general public through billboard, radio, and television public service announcements.
Rotarians in Belarus; Poland; Ukraine are helping to build a modern septic treatment system and renovate toilets and showers in an orphanage in Krasne, Chernihivs’ka, Ukraine.
And here on St. Maarten the situation may not call for basic provisions for which we are grateful, however the Rotary Club of St. Maarten has recognized the need for clean cool drinking water in our public schools. This project was not on the list of goals of our club for the 2010-2011 Rotary year. In fact it was during another Rotary project, the distribution of dictionaries to third grade students, which is now an annual event, that our international director Manoj Alwani observed a need for clean cool water at several of our primary schools. It is based on this observation that the Rotary Club of St. Maarten decided to act and contacted the management of Ace/Liteline as partners in this clean water project for St. Maarten.
While we did not make it for March 22 Work Water Day, we did make it for April 13th.
"There are sixteen public/subsidized primary schools on St. Maarten, but today we kick off the distribution of the water fountains with the help of Ace/Liteline and present to the Oranje School, Ruby Labega School, Charles Leopold Bell School and the Prins Willem Alexander school, each a water fountain and filters.
We start today with four, we hope that Ace/Liteline will continue with their generosity and that other citizens corporate or otherwise will join the Rotary Club of St. Maarten in bringing more cool clean drinking water to our children. As we obtain more water fountains the primary schools will be contacted" says community service director of Maria Buncamper-Molanus.
Mr. Sami Yousef, representing Ace/Liteline confirmed his commitment to supporting projects beneficial to the community of St. Maarten. Mrs Glenderlin Davis Holiday, head of the Public Education Services, spoke on behalf of the schools expressing her appreciation for the much needed donation of the water fountains by Ace/Liteline and Rotary.
International Director Manoj Alwani and Treasurer Fred Fleming were thanked for there important role in making this project a reality. There is so much more to be done says the community service director Maria Buncamper-Molanus and the Rotary Club of St. Maarten under the 2010-2011 slogan "Building Communities Bridges Continents" is committed to the community to doing its part.