Newsletter
| December 1, 2010
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| Friends,
As we approach the shortest or longest day of the year, depending on your location, it reminds us of the importance of light in our lives. Too much or too little affects us - as the old adage says: Moderation in everything! The same is true of water. As we deplore the effect of floods, and fear for those facing drought, we are reminded how delicate is the balance that fosters life.
Recent weeks have brought new balance into our work at Wasrag. The Rotary International Board has approved a very positive role for Rotarian Action Groups. Click to view the Board decisions, and the draft proposal. Looking forward we have a major role to play supporting Rotary Clubs in their sustainable and effective water and sanitation work.
Now is the time to encourage fellow Rotarians to join Wasrag! Click here for membership information. Your support and involvement will directly impact the quantity and quality of Rotary Club WASH work.
Warm Rotary regards,
F. Ronald Denham,
Chair, Wasrag
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First Project Planning Team heading out - January 2011 our first team heads to Remba Island, Kenya
 The six member Wasrag: Start with Water Team, largely Rotarians travelling at their own expense, is scheduled to arrive in Nairobi on Jan. 3rd, fly to Kisumu on the 4th, then on the 5th take a one hour ferry ride to Mbita town. Still not at their destination, starting on Jan. 6th they will travel by rented boat to Remba Island daily, a 30 - 90 minute trip, to gather data and meet with local community leaders and families. Read more...
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 Rotarians working in Ndandini, Kenya, find it really does "Start with Water"
Getting involved with this village was serendipitous. In Canadian Rotarian Terry Umbach's words: "We are travel consultants. We took a group to Kenya in 2007 and a couple of ladies wanted to take gifts to a school. A substitute Purolator courier visited our office on a day when we were in the throes of planning the trip and he was from Kenya. We chatted, and he gave us a contact who was helping Ndandini village. So we ended up there. After seeing their desperate plight (drought, famine, poverty and no potable water) we vowed to try to get them water." "Three years later with lots of hard work fundraising, planning and monitoring we have succeeded. .." Read More... |
News from World Toilet Summit - Philadelphia, US
|  Wasrag Technical Team member Bill Chapman attended the World Toilet Summit, Nov. 3 - 5 and provides this report. Considering 2.6 billion people do NOT have access to basic sanitation, and the resulting 5,000 preventable deaths per day from diseases such as diarrhea, toilets are something we need to be paying attention to. An interesting emphasis is the need to look at micro-economic reform as a way of enticing poor people in Africa, Asia and South America to help them to take ownership of sanitary facilities which are acceptable to them rather than the older methods of many charitable organisations. Read more...
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Water Institute, UNC & Wasrag announce Strategic Agreement...
|  The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina and Wasrag
have agreed to work together to plan, develop and field test a program to monitor and evaluate the sustainability of Rotary Club WASH projects. This alliance brings cutting edge thinking together with readily accessible technology to both gather data and coach those in the field working on the front line of program delivery. Read more...
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Barry & Liz Davidson's wedding raises almost $9,000 CAD for Zimbabwe project! |
 When Barry Davidson proposed to Liz Brown a year or so ago, they decided the last thing they needed was more "stuff" for wedding presents. Barry and Liz felt they had accumulated more than enough furniture, appliances, etc. to last a lifetime!
They decided they would like to share their happiness with those less fortunate than themselves and so had a unique idea. Many of their friends and family would be attending their wedding and wished to send gifts. Why not ask them to donate to a water project instead? Read More...
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 WWS IV Friday May 20, 2011
New Orleans, USA
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Thanks to important feedback received from last years' attendees, this year's Summit will feature some key improvements. Workshops: There will be four workshops to choose from in the morning and four in the afternoon, each two hours long. This will allow for useful, hands on learning opportunities. In between, we have wonderful key note speakers including Dr. Jamie Bartram, formerly head of water with WHO, and now heading up the Water Institute at the University of North Carolina who presented last year to great acclaim. Registration for WWS IV is now open! Simply click here: WWSIV Enrollment Site
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We'd like your input!
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 Part of our new website: www.startwithwater.org is a Forum - a place for you, our members and others interested in water, sanitation, health & hygiene, to come together to discuss issues.
We are looking for your input to a document listed under the Health & Hygiene section - it's a listing of topics under that heading, that will be used in our Learn section, to list resources and links. What are we missing? Please, go to the Forum section of the site (click here), sign up (you will need a user name to identify yourself) and join in the discussion under the heading Health & Hygiene. Your input is much appreciated!
And while you are there, feel free to start a new discussion or participate in an existing one!
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Upcoming Dates to Remember:
| April 15, 2011 - The International Summit on Water in Developing Countries, 2011. The conference is a joint project of the Rotary Club of Washington, DC and the Rotary Club Paris Academies in conjunction with more than 120 Rotary Clubs in Rotary District 7620 (United States) and 1660 (France). More information: www.watersummit.org
May 20, 2011 - World Water Summit IV, New Orleans, USA (immediately preceding the Rotary International convention) Registration.
If you have an event you'd like to add here or to the Calendar on our website, please email details to info@wasrag.org
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Keep in touch with others interested in water, sanitation, health & hygiene...
  
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