Tag Archive for 'Earth Day'

CARRY 5 Korea raises 6 million! (Korean Won, that is.)

Posted on June 3, 2009 Marla
Thank you poster annoucing the total funds raised: 6,002,570 Korean Won!

Thank you poster announcing the total funds raised: 6,002,570 Korean Won!

In either currency, it’s an amazing accomplishment. On May 22nd, 200 fourth and sixth grade students at the Korea International School walked for water along Seoul’s Tancheon River, raising over $5,000 dollars and making CARRY 5 an international event!

Teacher Christine Martin with 4th and 6th grade students preparing to start walk.

Teacher Christine Martin with 4th and 6th grade students preparing to start their 5k walk along Seoul's Tancheon River.

Fourth grade teacher Christine Martin says that the interest in CARRY 5 came when she was doing some research about water consumption as part of their school’s Earth Day curriculum on conservation, consumption, waste and recycling. She found Water 1st’s website and a video made by a young supporter, Stella, who participated in our Seattle CARRY 5 Walk for Water last year. “The YouTube video just resonated with me,” wrote Christine in an email to Water 1st in April.

Christine’s husband, also a teacher at the school, was inspired too, and decided to get his sixth graders involved in the walk.

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The students set a goal of $750, to provide enough for construction of a public water point serving 500 people in Ethiopia.   They worked hard and surpassed their goal easily, raising over $5,000 in cash they collected in water bottles.

“The most rewarding part of this so far is the genuine interest in the students to contribute, educate and act,” said Christine after the walk was completed.

Walking the 5k along the Tancheon River in Seoul.

200 KIS 4th and 6th grade students and their teachers walking the 5k along the Tancheon River in Seoul.

We couldn’t agree more.  We often hear about the big gifts given to charities by wealthy foundations and corporations.  However, the truth is, over 80% of charitable donations come from individuals.  We are the ones with the power to transform lives, and the students of Korea International School have proven this with their collective fundraising efforts on behalf of the world’s poorest citizens.  $5 collected from an aunt or $10 collected from a neighbor.  All those gifts add up to change the lives of people who lack life’s basics - water and toilets.

Please join me in thanking the students of KIS for their great work and a very successful walk for water! 

Want to do a CARRY 5 Walk for Water in your area?  Please contact us at info@water1st.org o4 206-297-3024, and we can help you get started.

Students counting, and re-counting, the money they collected.

Students counting, and re-counting, the money they collected.

posted by Marla Smith-Nilson, Executive Director

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The Washington Post: The Politics of Toilets

Posted on April 24, 2009 Marla
A community toilet in Dhaka, Bangladesh. 100% of the capital costs of building this toilet were paid by the beneficiaries through a loan fund created by Water 1st.

A community toilet in Dhaka, Bangladesh. 100% of the capital costs of building this toilet were paid by the beneficiaries through a loan fund created by Water 1st.

A great post by Rose George, author of The Big Necessity, in the Washington Post on Earth Day:

On Earth Day, let’s not forget the dirt. The planet is soiled with sewage, on land and sea. Our waste is the biggest marine pollutant there is, according to the United Nations Environment Program. In the developing world, ninety percent of sewage is discharged untreated into oceans and rivers, where its high nutrient content can suffocate the life out of seas, contributing to dead zones (405 worldwide and counting).

She goes on to say:

That’s the gloom. The good news is that it’s solvable. And solving the world’s sewage mess would be such a bargain that it should appeal to politicians holding the purse strings even in these straitened times. Investing $1 in sanitation reaps $8 in health costs averted and labor days saved. Look at it another way: not investing $1 in sanitation loses you $7.

We just posted on own blog on this topic a couple of days ago.  Our beneficiaries understand that investing in sanitation pays off, and they are taking out loans from our local partners in order to build proper toilets. 

Sanitation may be an embarrassing word. Something we don’t like to talk about. Something people in the communities we try to help are also embarrassed to talk about. But access to water and sanitation is the foundation of development.

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CARRY5 Update - April 22

Posted on April 22, 2009 Chris

Happy Earth Day everyone. Tomorrow is our 1st CARRY5 event of the season (April 23) at Whittier Elementary School in Boulder, Colorado. This is our first-ever event in Colorado, so we’re very excited to see a good turnout. Thanks Whittier!

Lots of individuals and teams have registered and signed up for fundraising pages on firstgiving.com/water1st. Here’s a quick rundown on some of our top fundraisers.

Team Bat Cave and Team Mighty are off to great starts. Together they have raised over $1000 for safe water and sanitation projects. Check out their team pages for ideas and inspiration.

Individual Fundraising kudos go to Martha Brockenbrough, Juliann Everett, and Kristin Brandt. You can join the fun by creating your own page now.

Help us make CARRY 5 go nationwide! It’s easy to do your own CARRY 5 event. Just contact us at info@water1st.org or call 206-297-3024 and we’ll help you get started.

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Earth Day is every day for our project beneficiaries

Posted on April 22, 2009 Marla
Ethiopian children collecting water at a brand new public water point. The water source serving this project in Oromia has been protected and the watershed reforested.

Ethiopian children collecting water at a brand new public water point. The water source serving this project in Oromia has been protected and the watershed reforested.

We often use the term “subsistence” to describe our rural project beneficiaries.  They live off their lands.  They are entirely dependent upon access to natural resources in order to survive.  They also have less real control over these same resources, and are more severely affected by poor environmental conditions—such as pollution and poor water quality—than the rest of us.

A few years ago I read Collapse, a fantastic book by Jared Diamond.  In it he discusses the role of the environment in determining whether or not societies succeed or fail.  He cites five factors that often contribute to a collapse, but shows how the one factor that all had in common was mismanagement of natural resources.

Water meters are installed in our piped water systems. Water meters enable the communities to accurately track spring production over time and season - indirectly giving them feedback of watershed activities. The combination of meters at various locations in the systems are used to determine if the water system has leaks and to discourage waste.

Water meters installed in our piped water systems enable the communities to accurately track the volume of water in their springs over time and season - indirectly giving them feedback of watershed activities. The combination of meters at various locations in the systems are used to determine if the water system has leaks and to discourage waste.

Unfortunately, our project beneficiaries don’t have the luxury of reading books like Collapse and thinking about the long term.  They are focused on getting through the day or getting through the next harvest.  Thus poverty often leads to environmental degradation through the over-use of resources for short-term survival.  I’ve seen that many times in Honduras – forests on steep slopes that are cut down to grow corn and beans, only to turn to rock in a few years because the trees are no longer there to keep the soil in place.

This hydraulically-sealed toilet funded by Water 1st in West Bengal, India, prevents human feces from contaminating water supplies used for growing rice and fish.

This hydraulically-sealed toilet funded by Water 1st in West Bengal, India, prevents human feces from contaminating water supplies used for growing rice and fish.

A central part of our projects is natural resource protection, to make sure that the projects we support will continue to bring safe water to our project beneficiaries into the future.  A key concept in this work is that everyone lives downstream, conveying the idea that problems in one part of a watershed can affect people great distances away.  Our project beneficiaries understand that building and using toilets is not just good for their families, it’s good for everyone.  Toilets prevent contamination of water supplies for the communities we are supporting, and their downstream neighbors, by stopping human feces from entering the watershed.

The benefits of this component of our projects go beyond the water project itself. Our project beneficiaries learn the relationship between their water resources and the trees, soil, and their agricultural practices.  They learn ways that they can improve their environment and water management, including pollution control, reforestation activities, sustainable fuel projects, sustainable agriculture, and sustainable levels of water use. These are key factors in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystems that our project beneficiaries depend on for their livelihoods.

The approach we take in our projects relies heavily on community involvement. Community members are involved in every step of the planning, implementing and financing of their projects. A sound organizational structure in the community is created to support our projects through the formation of an elected, representative water committee. We have found that communities organized around water supply projects often take on other development projects in a community, and are better-placed to advocate for their needs, such as protecting and improving their natural environment.
We have seen that once communities take that first step out of poverty, starting with a water and sanitation project, they can start to focus on longer-term goals such as protecting the natural environmental on which they depend for their survival.
“”]\”"]1,200 Hondurans in the department of Lempira gather for a World Water Day celebration. The speakers all advocated protection of the watershed. The sign in the background says, "United for the Protection of Congolon [the major watershed serving this zone]"

1,200 Hondurans in the department of Lempira gather for a World Water Day celebration organized by Water 1st's local partner organization. The speakers all advocated protection of the watershed, and the sign in the background says, "United for the Protection of Congolon [the watershed serving this zone

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