While Rotary Clubs such as ours have been working on helping to bring fresh water to undeveloped areas of the world, few have shown interest in dealing with one of the most serious sources of poor health and hygiene in these same areas: the lack of proper toilet facilities.
Past District Governor Bob Newlon began traveling to Central America years ago to help with drilling and construction of new water wells; but he also saw a need in many communities for an alternative to poorly-maintained latrines. These can help spread a variety of diseases, and preventing the spread of communicable diseases is also one of Rotary International's primary goals.
So with the help of the Sycamore and Rockford Rotary Clubs, among others, he has ventured to Costa Rica to help with the installation of urine-diverting dry toilets (UDDT) in communities which have a clear need.
The towns that he's been to have open-pit toilets near schools that have gotten full with age; others are located perilously close to ground water, and in some cases botched drilling attempts have caused them to leak into the water table.
Bob recently returned from his most recent trip to Costa Rica, and plans to return in October in an effort to bring new facilities to other remote villages in need.