Posted on
June 18, 2010 Marla
With the late arrival of the monsoons, Water 1st’s June visit to our projects in the Sundarbans of West Bengal, India went more smoothly than we expected. In between brief, intense cloud bursts, we were able to check up on the 2009 projects and see two of the more distant project sites in Uttarkashiabad, all of which were operating smoothly.
Why are these older projects operating smoothly? Because the water committees which received training from our in-country partner are performing proactive greasing of the pump chain and bolts and collecting monthy user fees to pay for maintenace or replacement parts. Click here to see the water committee at the 2006 Gangadarpur, India pump perform routine maintenance.
- Here’s a photo from our June 2010 visit to the Uttarkasiabad pump, installed in 2006. It is still working great, thanks to the water committee’s diligent and consistent efforts to collect monthly user fees and perform routine maintenance.
On the third day, we visited with the committees representing the groups who will be receiving wells and toilets in 2010. Giripara and Halderpara are the names of the 2010 communities. Both groups were very animated and talkative as we asked them questions about how they would manage the pump and select the first round of 20 toilet recipients. Community members are equally excited about the wells and the toilets.
The water committee for the new Halderpara, India project. This committee is responsible for collecting funds from water users and maintaining the community's new water pump.
We were pleased to see that they were working through important issues, such as how much each family would pay each month to use the well and who would be allowed to collect water from the wells. The Giripara group decided that they would charge 10 Rupees (about 25 cents) per month to use the well and only the 20 families who were making a monthly payment could use the well.
The Halderpara group had 50 families signed up to make monthly payments of 5 Rupees and they decided that they would allow others to use the well if their water source was not operating. They felt that gave them the ability to obtain water elsewhere if their system was ever out of service. The fact that they are working through these questions beforehand is a good indicator that our partner organization is providing the training they need to keep their water source functioning.
The rain became more intense and frequent each day. We returned to Kolkata on the final day, dragging with us a dark wall of cloud and rainfall. The monsoon season has arrived, and field visit season is definitely over. We look forward to our return in December.
Posted on
June 11, 2010 Marla
Construction on the large Las Minas, Honduras project is well underway. This large water system will benefit four communities and 700 people. When we visited in April, construction of the spring cap and sand trap was nearly complete. The community members had also extended extended the 4.5 mile long transmission pipeline from the mountain spring water source within a quarter mile of the first community’s storage tank.
Macana Carcamo, a grandmother from the community of Valle de la Cruz, is participating in the construction work for her community's new water project.
Macana Carcamo, a grandmother pictured above, is proud of her contribution to the construction of the Las Minas project. So far she has worked 37 days on the project, watering the concrete pylons that support the transmission pipeline while they are curing.
Read more about our visit to Las Minas and see some of our photos here.
You can give the life-changing gift of water and support more projects like this one by donating online today.
Posted on
June 8, 2010 Marla
More than 350 Seattleites of all ages gathered at Seward Park on June 5 for Water 1st’s 3rd annual CARRY 5 Walk for Water. Individual and team participants filled their containers with water from Lake Washington and tried to carry 5 gallons of water for 5 kilometers, the average walk made by people in poor countries who lack access to safe, convenient water supplies.
350 people carried water for 5 km along Lake Washington on Saturday, June 5th, simulating the walk for water made daily by 1 billion people worldwide
More than $35,000 has been raised for projects in India, Bangladesh, Honduras, and Ethiopia, bringing safe water to 700 people for life. Thank you for your support, Seattle!
CARRY 5 Photo Gallery #1
CARRY 5 Photo Gallery #2
CARRY 5 Photo Gallery #3
Congratulations to the Top Individual Fundraisers:
1. Melissa Snyder, of the Ever Graceful Water Buffaloes team (representing one of our sponsors, Jet Parts Engineering), raised $1,265!
2. Nancy Carroll, of Meridian School Friends team
3. Elli Lingappa, of Team TOPS
4. Kiran Lingappa, also of Team TOPS
5. We had a tie – Eli Bayuk, of Meridian School Friends team and Maggi Bennett of the Tony Danza team (another Jet Parts Engineering team)
Congratulations to the Top Team Fundraisers:
1. Meridian School Friends raised $3,300!
2. Team TOPS
3. Ever Graceful Water Buffaloes (Jet Parts Engineering)
4. Northwest School 8th Graders
5. Madrona Girl Scouts/Softball
And Congratulations to Epiphany School and Meridian School for having the teams with the Most Walkers!
Seattle's 2010 CARRY 5 top fundraising team: Meridian School Friends
Posted on
June 3, 2010 Marla
On May 9, 150 guests of all ages filled the Kirkland Performance Center,
singing along to the classic movie, The Sound of Music. In lieu of tickets,
attendees made a donation to Water 1st.
The event, complete with a Sound of Music costume contest, raised more
than $2,500 toward the Valle de la Cruz water project in Lempira,
Honduras.
Given the Mother’s Day connection to the kind of work supported by Water 1st, we were happy to be part of this event!
Special thanks to the volunteers who organized this fun evening and to all
those who donated.
Posted on
June 3, 2010 Marla
In April of 2010, we visited the communities of Tierra Colorada and Plan de Gallinero, whose water, sanitation and hygiene education projects were just completed. Thanks to your support, the walk for water has now ended for every single household in these two villages. In fact, the concrete on the new “pilas” (sink and washboard) was still curing. Each household also has a toilet.
The long walk for water has ended for this family in Tierra Colorada, Honduras.
And, if you missed it,
during the same trip we visited completed projects in Agua Caliente and San Gabriel. These projects are over two years old and still working very well. Because our local partner organization has spent more than a year working with Tierra Colorada and Plan de Gallinero on developing a strong community organizational structure, we expect the same kind of long-term success from the new projects in those communities too.
Posted on
June 1, 2010 Kirk
Huge Kudos to Dig Deep! Dig Deep is essentially two high school students, Madeline and Grace, who decided that they wanted to do something about the world water crisis. As they were entering the ninth grade, they decided to set a goal of raising $10,000 and applying it to a water project in Ethiopia. Over the past two years, they have been selling t-shirts, water bottles, holding raffles, organizing fundraising walks, etc.
Dig Deep's founders, Grace and Madeline, presenting Kirk Anderson of Water 1st with a check for $10,000 at their 2nd annual Walk for Water
As of May 21st, they reported that they had exceeded their goal of $10,000. Once all their latest contributions have been tallied, they think they will be able to send Water 1st a check large enough to fund a public water tap in Kelecho Gerbi, Ethiopia, AND a water point in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Grace and Madeline are the perfect example of two individuals who decided they could make a tangible difference in the lives of the poor. Thanks to their hard work, more than 130 people will have access to safe water, a toilet, and hygiene education.
Congratulations, Madeline and Grace! You’ve made a huge impact on the life of many people and you have demonstrated to all of us that we do have the power to change the world.