We're very excited to partner with Water School to implement a safe water, hygiene, and sanitation (WASH) program at Buwembe Primary School in Uganda. Through this $10,000 matching grant, 1,049 children including 600 households will gain access to clean water and proper hygiene and sanitation instruction.
The impact of of this clean water project with Water School will have a dramatic impact on the community's long term development and empowerment.
Who is Water School?
Since 2007 Water School has aimed to provide a simple, practical, and affordable method of improving the quality of water and sanitation practices in the developing world. Through a 3-step program, Water School empowers communities by integrating sanitation and hygiene education with a simple and sustainable water treatment technology. Water School's work is currently spreading rapidly throughout East Africa. Essentially, Water School believes that clean water and increased sanitation will enhance the lives of everyone involved.
The Need:
People in rural areas like in Busia District draw their drinking water mainly from surface sources, such as ponds, rivers, and lakes. These same sources are used by cattle and other livestock, as well as for bathing, washing clothes, and other domestic uses. These water sources also serve as breeding grounds for bacteria and diseases. There is also limited awareness and education of proper sanitation and hygiene techniques, which compounds the issues around the lack of clean water.
ODW + Water School:
One Day's Wages will be partnering with Water School in order to implement a safe water, hygiene, and sanitation program at Buwembe Primary School in the Busia District of North-Eastern Uganda, the project will reach 1,049 school children including 600 households in the surrounding communities.
The project will begin with students and teachers being thoroughly trained by Water School field staff in a three-step program which integrates sanitation and hygiene education with a water treatment technology called Solar Disinfection (SODIS). Once trained, the school will be equipped with SODIS tables and PET bottles, while key messages and practices are reinforced in the classroom. There will also be community trainings for parents to increase the visibility of the program and reinforce the principles with adults.
The program is simple, sustainable and affordable. Users require no formal education to understand how it works and the 3-step approach is clear and concise making it easy to remember and repeat in every day application by both children and adults. The low costs associated with SODIS also contribute to the sustainability of the Water School program
The overall impact of Water School projects is the improvement of health and sanitation standards for entire communities. With increased consumption of SODIS treated water, and good sanitation behaviours there is significant reduction in cases of waterborne diseases such as cholera typhoid, and dysentery. School performance levels also drastically improve among children as a result of less absenteeism-related waterborne diseases. As an additional impact, the program encourages children to use their experience as change agents to identify and apply more local solutions to global problems.
How You Can Help.
- Calculate and donate your day's wages. Simply, donate any amount.
- Give up your birthday and start a campaign.
- Become a Partnering Group (business, nonprofit, school, etc.)
- What's your idea? Start an Idea For A Cause campaign.
- Help spread the word. Share ODW with your friends & family through email, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
