Appreciating Clean Water
Posted by Lisa Griffin
I opened up my Rotarian magazine this month and saw the kind of project I want to carry out with my club. I saw Rotarians providing for the basic needs of people who want little more than potable water and the health benefits that come with it.
The article I focused on was about a project providing bio-sand filters to people in the Dominican Republic. These people were plagued by illnesses that came from their contaminated water sources. Many of them were buying bottled water to drink and cook with, which was still sometimes fetid, and bathing in the "free" contaminated water. They had sores on their skin, parasites in their bodies and illnesses that were brought on by the polluted water.
It's such a simple thing that we take for granted every time we turn on the tap. Clean water to drink, to cook with, to bathe in. Can you even imagine life without it? Imagine if you had to make bottles for your baby with water that might make her fatally ill. Or your older children spending months in the hospital with chronic diarrhea from the amoebic water they drink. Imagine your aging parents having sores on their bodies that will not heal because they are constantly contaminated with the dirty water they must use to bathe. It's heat-breaking isn't it?
Rotarians from District 6290 (Canada and USA) partnered with District 4060 (Dominican Republic) to provide 1,250 bio-sand filters along with the hope they bring to homes in the Dominican Republic.
As Rotarians, we have the ability to stop this suffering. We too can provide bio-sand filters, resources for wells, rain water collection systems and training through our vast network of Rotary and our collective resources. This is what being a Rotarian is all about! This is the kind of project I want to do. What about you?
It's such a simple thing that we take for granted every time we turn on the tap. Clean water to drink, to cook with, to bathe in. Can you even imagine life without it? Imagine if you had to make bottles for your baby with water that might make her fatally ill. Or your older children spending months in the hospital with chronic diarrhea from the amoebic water they drink. Imagine your aging parents having sores on their bodies that will not heal because they are constantly contaminated with the dirty water they must use to bathe. It's heat-breaking isn't it?
Rotarians from District 6290 (Canada and USA) partnered with District 4060 (Dominican Republic) to provide 1,250 bio-sand filters along with the hope they bring to homes in the Dominican Republic.
As Rotarians, we have the ability to stop this suffering. We too can provide bio-sand filters, resources for wells, rain water collection systems and training through our vast network of Rotary and our collective resources. This is what being a Rotarian is all about! This is the kind of project I want to do. What about you?