Stories from the field – living with dirty water

Jane Bond is volunteer Project Officer for Wherever the Need India. She has been living and volunteering in India since November 2011, based in Tamil Nadu since February 2013. Read her stories from the field...   Yesterday it rained heavily and unexpectedly in Tamil Nadu. For some areas it was the first rain in over a year, so I’m going to talk about the realities of living with India’s water supply. You’d think the rain would be a good thing, but it came at the wrong time and many farmers had seedlings damaged. Water here is a health risk we are lucky enough not to be familiar with in the west. When I first came to live in India water became a mild obsession as I adjusted – every drop I needed had to be pumped and was available only at certain times. For cooking and drinking my water had to be filtered and sometimes boiled - all of this took a lot of planning and time. At the time I lived in Calcutta which has terrible sanitation and water issues. Despite my care I was sick with water related illness regularly – sometimes as often as once a month. I ...

Emergency Cyclone Appeal

India Cyclone - Emergency Appeal You may have heard on the news about the cyclone that recently devastated south-east India. Tamil Nadu, the region in which many of Wherever the Need's projects are based, has been badly hit - the cyclone has devastated the lives of the people and communities with whom we work so closely. Infrastructure, services and facilities are severely impaired and damaged; towns and villages are without electricity and clean water; many people have been left homeless. Water supplies are polluted and there is a genuine concern that there will be an outbreak of diseases such as diarrhoea or cholera We want to use our expertise and knowledge of the region to get sanitation and water facilities to where they are most needed and we need your help. Please donate now. Please donate... Yes No Would you like to receive our occasional newsletter?

Summer Newsletter 2011

Read our Summer Newsletter for a run-down on our recent work in India.Click the newsletter to enlarge Read the full newsletter here (PDF 1.4mb)

The US takes notice

US senators speak up in support of access to clean water and sanitation for all. It's encouraging to hear respected members of the US government make very clear statements about the importance of clean water and sanitation in the world, such as 2 minutes 50 into the film: "If there’s one thing that we have learnt over the last 5 to 10 years it’s that clean water, if put into a community, ultimately leads to a degree of economic stability; a degree of hope; a degree of productivity that you otherwise would not have" (Senator William Frist)

So much still to be done…

World Toilet Day, November 19th

November 19th is World Toilet Day. Join the Big Squat! A day to celebrate the importance of sanitation and raise awareness for the 2.6 billion people (nearly half of the world's population) who don't have access to toilets and proper sanitation. Where there are no toilets: 2.6 billion people worldwide are without access to proper sanitation, which risks their health, strips their dignity, and kills 1.8 million people, mostly children, a year. Diarrhoeal diseases kill five times as many children in the developing world as HIV/AIDS. That's 5,000 children DYING EVERY SINGLE DAY. Not only that, but the disease kills more children than either malaria or AIDS, stunts growth, and forces millions - adults and children alike - to spend weeks at a time off work or school, which hits both a country's economy and its citizens' chances of a better future. The majority of the illness in the world is caused by faecal matter. Lack of sanitation is the world's biggest cause of infection. One gram of faeces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs. Safe disposal of children's faeces leads to a reduction of nearly 40% in childhood diarrhoea. Wherever the ...

Haiti: hygiene promotion is key

Haiti: hygiene promotion is key to preventing nationwide cholera epidemic, says Save the Children as death toll passes 900 As the death toll from Haiti’s cholera epidemic reached 917 on 12 November 2010, Save the Children says the best way to reduce the disease’s spread is to arm people with information and supplies to improve hygienic practices. Cholera has reached the capital Port-au-Prince, where 27 deaths have been recorded and over 1.3 million earthquake survivors living in tent camps are at risk. Throughout the country 14,600 cholera victims have been hospitalised. The United Nations forecasts up to 200,000 Haitians could contract cholera as the outbreak extends across the country of nearly 10 million, and says $163.9 million in aid is needed over the next year to combat the epidemic. In Gaston Margron, a camp where Save the Children works, the first suspected case of cholera has been identified. With a large number of deaths happening in the community, Save the Children fears that people may not be able to access health facilities when illness strikes. Also of concern is that people may not recognize the importance of seeking heath care immediately when they have any signs of symptoms – namely, acute watery diarrhea. Nick Ireland, ...

One success leads to another in Sierra Leone

Providing sanitation, water and livelihoods to 11,000 people in Sierra Leone. The success of our work in Gbongay has secured us funding for a further 19 villages in the Pejeh Chiefdom, allowing us to help forever change the lives of thousands... In the early part of 2006, we were approached by the village community of Gbongay in south-eastern Sierra Leone asking for help in the provision of water and livelihoods. When we assessed the village we discovered an area ravaged by the eleven year civil war (which ended in 2002), exploited by outsiders and politicians alike, and with a minimal level of infrastructure. From an initial survey and village meetings, we discovered that in a community of 750 people, on average one child under the age of five died every six weeks because of non-existent sanitation and polluted water. Since we introduced new ecosan and wells in Gbongay, not one child has died from intestinal illness. From this success, we have been able to secure funding to expand the project throughout Pejeh Chiefdom. By the time the works are completed ...

Kenya project photos

The first photos for our project in Narok South, Kenya are ready for all to see. This is an exciting project 140 kilometres west of Nairobi in which we are helping the community with ecosan toilets, a large rainwater reservoir, a small livelihood opportunity and a tree nursery. These facilities will work in tandem with the pastoralist nature of the local population. See the photos and project details here: http://www.wherevertheneed.org/projects/kenya-projects/narok-south/

Water map shows billions at risk

About 80% of the world's population lives in areas where the fresh water supply is not secure, according to a new global analysis. Researchers compiled a composite index of "water threats" that includes issues such as scarcity and pollution. The most severe threat category encompasses 3.4 billion people. Writing in the journal Nature, they say that in western countries, conserving water for people through reservoirs and dams works for people, but not nature. They urge developing countries not to follow the same path. Read the rest of the BBC news story and see the map here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11435522