Established on August 2010, Westminster College Making Lives Better is a student run organization at Westminster College, MO committed to serving those in dire need. Our mission is to help ease the suffering of those shackled in poverty and despair. To start with our objective this year has been to solve the water crisis in Eastern Nepal where more than 80% of the population does not have access to clean drinking water. A major proportion of our budget this year has been funded by the Davis foundation in the form of Projects for Peace grant. The subsequent postings will mainly consist of a description about the wonderful effort of the Kathryn W. Davis and a description of our past events as an attempt to raise additional funds for the project. The following is a detailed description of our project and we will continue to post any updates in regards to our activities.
Background Information
Almost one third of the Nepalese population has been deprived of the basic comfort of access to clean drinking water. Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD), an office under the Nepal Ministry of Health reports that around 60,000 were affected by water borne diseases in the year 2010. Of those, a large proportion were school going children. Access to clean drinking water is fundamental to good health, growth and development. Nevertheless, a large number of people in Nepal live without access to these services. One such underprivileged group of children resides within the district of Okhaldhunga. Occupying an area of around 1074 km2 of the Sagarmatha Zone, Okhaldhunga is one of the most rural and least developed districts in the eastern hills of Nepal. It has around 364 schools in total, among which only twenty are equipped with electricity and proper water pipes.
Statement of Need
The water obtained for daily chores directly comes from the stream, rivers and springs. A large amount of those natural sources of water are contaminated. As a result, a large percentage of people in the eastern Nepal are victimized by water borne diseases. In addition, the lack of proper healthcare facilities makes the situation even worse. The case in Okhaldhunga is not much different. We believe that there exists a significant correlation between clean drinking water and healthier and more productive children. Children in good health today can become productive citizens of the society, and help build peace and prosperity in future. Our project focuses on providing clean drinking water to 8000 school going children of ten schools surrounding the district’s headquarters. The selected schools have the largest number of students as reported by a local contact person to the area.
Objectives
- To provide a sustainable source of clean drinking water to the children in the district of Okhaldhunga.
- To be able to educate the children and adults alike about the importance of clean drinking water.
- To donate books and pamphlets about clean drinking water.
Course of Action
In order to provide access to clean drinking water, we will install ten water purifiers to ten different schools and provide replacement filters. We will work in collaboration with two other organizations, namely Sagarmatha Integrated Development Centre and Janasewa Samaj Nepal. Both groups have sustainable history of working with similar development projects in rural Nepal including water projects. At the end of the installation of the purifiers, we will in hold a training program that will focus on the importance of clean drinking water under the guidance of the health professionals from our partner organizations. In addition to the school representatives being in attendance, we also plan to invite the local members of the Village Development Committee. We will distribute pamphlets and educational materials that promote use of safe drinking water so that the children have access to clean drinking water even when they are at home.
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