| Voices From our Schools: |
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| The kids use creative ways to make learning about hygiene fun. One example is singing a hygiene related song written by their music and dance teacher, Mrs. Bhattacharya. Click on the link below to see the video and hear the song in Hindi. Water Centric - Vikas Club kids singing hygiene education song |
| How You Can Help... |
| We have made significant progress in our goals in the past 18 months. Please consider helping us continue our efforts. You can help in any of three ways: Donate Money Volunteer your time Spread the word To learn more about how you can help and/or to contribute online click below Get involved... |
| Did You Know... |
50% of schools in the developing world currently do not have access to clean water, while 75% do not have access to adequate sanitation
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| Link to us: We now have an active blog, twitter and facebook sites with ongoing discussions about issues relevant to water, sanitation and hygiene in 3rd world countries. Check us out and join in the on-line discussions. Water Centric Blog |
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Greetings from Boston!
I recently got back from visiting our schools in Delhi, India. While there, I admit I toggled between being overwhelmed by the desperate need in some of our large urban slum schools and experiencing a renewed zeal to tackle what we have set out to do at Water Centric. I reminded myself that to make any difference, given the 2.5 billion people in the world lacking access to basic sanitation, you always have to start with a first small step in the right direction!
In the case of Water Centric, this first step is building a replicable and scalable model for needy schools to get access to clean water, functional toilets and hygiene education for all students. We are currently working hard to build this model in our cluster of ten Municipal schools that serve over 10000 disenfranchised children!
I hope you will also find a way to take a first step to join us in our efforts. The rewards are innumerable. Like the faces of 1000 confident young girls with a zest for life – who have a new-found dignity that comes from no longer being forced to squat in the school compound to relieve themselves – now that their four toilets are usable, for the first time ever, thanks to the septic tank built by Water Centric. Or the grateful principal who urgently asked us to build two additional toilets (…currently near completion) as he recognized the immediate benefit and saw that four toilets are too few for a 1000 girls. Or for the satisfaction that comes from just doing your little bit for a big global problem.
2009 has been a challenging year around the world. However, hardship has a way of giving us perspective. We have so much to be grateful for – including being able to take our clean, flushable toilets at home and work for granted!
Best wishes,
Lotika S. Paintal
Founder and Executive Director
Lotika@watercentric.org
| Our Progress in the past three months. Our recent work includes: In India:
Our sincerest thanks to Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak from Sulabh International who has graciously offered to motivate and offer a one day training to our school hygiene educators in India on teaching sanitation to children and strategies to help keep school toilets clean. |
Water Centric (WC) is a social entrepreneurship organization that is focused on systematically bringing water/sanitation and hygiene education to needy schools in India and around the world by leveraging the power of its social and professional networks to find effective local partners, appropriate technical assistance, diverse funding sources and a cadre of high quality volunteers of concerned global citizens to work together on addressing this global challenge.
