The Clean Water School

In the blog, First in Time, First in Right, I talked about the inequalities
of access to clean water around the world, and about how little we really
appreciate being able to flush a toilet and fill a glass with clean water
from a faucet. That last phrase is a big deal in Southern India where Rotary
International has made an impact at the Maktha School. 400 students now have
clean water to drink in the City of Hyderabad.

Quoting the article in the Rotarian titled “Raise a glass to clean water for
schools”, “Hyderabad’s many universities have made the city a hub for high
tech enterprises, but basic education remains and elusive goal for the
children in its slums. Jackie Carnevali, of the Rotary Club of Yarmouth,
Mass., USA runs a nonprofit that aims to improve educational facilities “[in
Hyderabad].

In this Southern India city where there are 1.5 million residents living in
slums, only two out of three can read and write. Quoting the article, “With
help from a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant, the Rotary Clubs of Yarmouth
and Bourne-Sandwich, Mass., and Greater Hyderabad provided a reverse osmosis
water system.”

For all practical purposes, this is a direct potable recycling (DPR)
facility at the school. Rotary is “Doing Good in the World” elsewhere also.
“Over 70% of Lima’s drinking water comes from the Rimac River which is
polluted with high levels of cadmium, copper, lead, zinc and arsenic. The
Rotary Foundation and its partners supplied water filters to 5,000 families
living along the river.”

You can help Rotary International in its effort to bring clean water around
the globe. Muhammad Ali is credited with the saying “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” Consider donating to Rotary International, and the next time you fill a glass of water, think about how lucky you are!

While Southern California residents struggle with the political and legal
realities of finding new sources of water to replace imported water, there
are millions who do not have a choice. Their daily problem is how to get a
drink of clean water, and where to bathe without picking up infectious
disease. Yes, the inequalities are stark.

Milt Burgess