With the approval of Rotary International our organization is now going to be called "
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Rotary Action Group" or "
WASH Rotary Action Group" to reflect the emphasis Rotarians are placing on hygiene as an important component of projects.
Our new logo, has WASH in a font to represent water pipes. The water spurt is in the many colors used in the Rotary logos. "Rotary Action Group" is spelled out at the bottom in blue to complete the logo.
A downloadable logo, revamping of the website, and more will be coming in the upcoming months . There is lots to look forward to.
|
|
|
|
Rotarians from around the world attended World Water Summit 12, which was held virtually and captured on
video.
In this video, you will hear Barry Rassin, Past President RI, provide an update on the collaboration to bring clean water to all the people of Haiti. There also was an excellent panel on "Sanitation & Hygiene in the Era of COVID-19".
|
|
Our first virtual Annual Meeting was well attended. You can read that
Annual Report of President Mike Webb to learn about the many activities and accomplishments over the past year.
During the Annual Meeting, the five goals of the Operations Team for the upcoming year are:
> Restructure the Operations Team
> Diversify and increase fundraising
> Increase visibility
> Increase membership
> Expand programs
Learn more about the three people who were elected to serve a three-year term on the WASH Rotary Action Group Board of Directors:
The Board made special recognition of Ginny Ryan, Secretary to the Board and Ambassador coordinator.
|
|
|
|
|
This was the first year for the People of WASH competition. We received 83 photographs and seven videos from around the world covering a variety of WASH projects.The photos and videos will soon be on the website for Rotary clubs to use to promote their projects or to present on WASH topics.
Visit the People of WASH page to see this year's winners. We awarded $1,700 in prize money. Next year's competition is now open, contact
PeopleofWASH@wasrag.org to submit your photos and videos.
|
|
Need HCF Before and After Photos & Videos
|
The
People of WASH photograph and video competition is looking for all types of WASH projects. We are particularly interested in building up our library of photographs and videos of Rotary involvement with health care facilities (HCF).
Rotarians are becoming acutely aware that we have a role in focusing on WASH in health care facilities.
|
|
|
WASH Failures - Virtual RI Convention
|
Rotarians love to talk proudly about their WASH projects. However, they don't discuss the failures. Projects which no longer function or benefit the community.
Ron Denham will moderate a panel of Rotarians from Kenya, Ghana, India and North America. They will talk about what failed and more importantly the lessons learned.
Learning from WASH Failures
Breakout Session - Virtual RI Convention
Tue July 14, 2020- 3 pm UTC/GMT (11 am EDT)
|
|
|
The Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Committee of Rotary District 5450 are providing student awards for attendance to a WASH-related Conference or Applied Field Research project. The awards are up to $1,000.
|
|
|
The "Godfather" of WASRAG
|
In May, Frank J. Devlyn, a former Rotary International president passed away. Devlyn initiated the idea of developing a Rotary Action Group to address the issues of water and sanitation. It was in Houston, after hearing Ron Denham speak on the issue of clean water that he proposed the concept.
During Devlyn's year as president, which was 2000-01, the theme was "Create Awareness - Take Action", which very well could be the on-going theme for the WASH Rotary Action Group.
|
|
|
|
|
Snippets of videos from Menstrual Hygiene Day events held around the world have been combined into a video.
It takes many months to plan a successful awareness campaign. Start now on a program for May 28, 2021. Visit the
MenstrualHygieneday.org site for many resources.
|
|
Rotary members have expressed the value of the WASH Rotary Action Group to maintain a current and pending project list to enable Rotary Clubs to partner, collaborate and learn from sharing project knowledge. Rotary Clubs are often seeking expert help and frequently are seeking financial support for major project grants. Future newsletters will include a featured project and a few additional projects from the
WASRAG Project page
.
|
|
Centre of Hope Community Based Organization (CBO)
The people living in the Kimilili area of Kenya are often affected by flooding in the rainy season. The goal of this project is to construct evacuation structure which will include a kitchen, four pit latrines, four bathrooms and playground.An emphasis will be placed on hygiene and sanitation education. To learn more go
here
on the projects page or contact
Francis Wafula
with the Rotary Club in Kimilili, Kenya
|
|
To get your project listed on the WASRAG Projects page and/or to get highlighted in a future newsletter contact
Omar K Helferich at
okeithhelferich@msn.com
who manages the Projects page
|
|
Upcoming and previous E-Club Speakers
|
On the first and third Thursdays of each month at 8 pm EDT and the second and fourth Tuesdays at 12 pm EDT. All Rotarians are welcome to join the
Rotary E-Club of WASH online meetings that are focused on global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene issues. All their presentations are on-line for viewing at a later time.
|
|
|
Oct 15, 2020 - GLOBAL HANDWASHING DAY
Nov 19, 2020 - WORLD TOILET DAY
Mar 22, 2021 - WORLD WATER DAY
May 5, 2020 - HAND HYGIENE DAY
May 28, 2020 - MENSTRUAL HYGIENE DAY
|
|
To submit stories, videos, and pictures for the WASRAG Newsletter send an email to
info@wasrag.org
.
|
|
The Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG) is pleased to consider partnerships with any corporate supporter. Due to the unique attributes of water sources and water provision, acceptance of corporate support does not imply an endorsement of any particular water technology. Rotarians, Rotary clubs, and Rotary partners must evaluate any technology to determine if it is the best solution for the conditions where the program will be implemented. WASRAG can provide guidance about where different technologies work best, but Rotarians and Rotary clubs must make the final decision about how to implement their programs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
