Chris Wiorek of the Niwot Rotary Club provided an update on the WASH program of Rotary District 5450. "Clean water, sanitation and hygiene education (WASH) are the basic necessities for a healthy environment and a productive life." Chris reminded us that half of the schools in our world do not have hand washing facilities. Some may have toilets, but no where to wash your hands. And many health care facilities in our world do not have access to clean water. Can you imagine your doctor not being able to wash his/her hands after each patient?
Chris reviewed three district projects:
1) An island off of Honduras did not have clean water. After first building an access road (no vehicles on the island), Rotary and their partners dug a well to find fresh water and then piped water to homes. The community was heavily invested in this project, providing labor and promoting the needed sustainability elements. A project of the Evergreen Rotary Club.
2) Niwot Rotary sponsored a project to provide clean water to two rural schools in China. Their spring had dried up and they were getting water from a contaminated pond. A new spring was established and clean water was piped to the schools. Rotary also provided hygiene kits and training.
3) It's hard to believe that anyone in the USA would not have access to clean water, however, that was the case for a remote area of South Dakota. The Oglala Lakota Sioux people live basically "off the grid", and were drawing water from a stream contaminated with arsenic and uranium. Local Rotary clubs joined forces with the Boulder Rotary Club to pipe clean water to the village and homes of that area. This project is ongoing.