Columbia Project Approved

We are happy to report that the Rotary Foundation has approved $20,000 in matching funds for the Columbia Water project which our club is a partner.  We raised $6,000 to support this project during the recent Good & Lucky Fundraiser.  456 families living in rural hamlets in Puerto Escondido & San Pelayo will benefit from this project.  Assess to clean water and proper hygiene are essential to good health.  Some 1.8 million people die every year of diarrheal diseases like cholera.  You are making a difference in the world!  Thanks for your support :) 

Project Summary: A typical family size is 5 persons. They are generally poor and with sporadic employment and when employed will earned about $14. per day. Some will have small plots of land where they grow crops to sell and also raise small livestock (goats, pigs) and fowl. Transportation to town is costly and roads can be impassable in rainy season. They presently do not have safe water for drinking, cooking or bathing and mostly have poor hygiene practices.  Open defecation is common.  This project will address these gaps in water quality and hygiene practices.The project focuses on using local materials and local labour.  The only item that may be needed in 5 years is a small amount of filter media which will be pre-purchased and left with the village action committee.  Families have to sign an agreement to continue use of the filter system over the long term.  If not, the system is removed and donated to another family. Selected volunteers(promoters) in each community will receive extra training and materials so they can assist their neighbours with problems or questions.  The key metric is the percentage of long term users and these promoters play a key role in keeping families engaged. The project has a coordinator who organizes the promoters and family and teacher training, delivery, followup, monitoring and record keeping.