Every year, May 5 is
Hand Hygiene Day, which started in 2009 by WHO. This year, they aligned with the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife with the theme "
SAVE LIVES: Clean your hands"
|
|
|
Poor menstrual hygiene caused by a lack of education, persisting stigma, and limited access to menstrual products keeps millions of women from reaching their full potential. May 28 is
Menstrual Hygiene Day which provides a focused time to increase the awareness around menstrual hygiene issues. This year there will be a large social media campaign with the theme
and hashtag #ItsTimeForAction.
Go here for resources.
|
|
Rotary India Sanitation Mission
|
Around 4,000 clubs and 1.5 million Rotarians in India, under the guidance of Shekhar Mehta, Rotary International President (2021-22), have launched an ambitious project called
Rotary India Sanitation Mission (RISM).
A PDF with information on the project is
here
.
RISM has set the following challenging goals to be accomplished by 2025.
> 5,000 Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus villages
> 1,000 villages with household water tap connections
> 1,500 WASH in Schools projects
> 500 WASH in Healthcare Facilities projects
> 500 community toilet blocks and 500 public toilet blocks
|
|
|
Over the past few months, the world has become aware of the need to emphasize hand washing and how it is essential that health care facilities have clean water and adequate sanitation to combat disease. Organizations have met the need to provide resources in both these areas.
Handwashing
A number of organizations that are experts in the area of WASH have joined together to develop the
COVID-19 Hygiene Hub with:
> Answers to common questions – written format and video blogs
> Activity videos that can be shared on social media – Available in English, French, Spanish and soon to be released in Portuguese, Bangla, Arabic, Hindi and Amharic.
WASH in Health Care Facilities
Over the past few months, the world has become acutely aware of the importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in Health Care Facilities (HCF). The World Health Organization (WHO) & UNICEF have developed a
series of videos
based on recent webinars on WASH in HCF, with special emphasis on dealing with COVID-19. They have also recently
published guidance
on dealing with this virus in health care facilities
|
|
Water and Soap for Nakuru, Kenya
|
20 tanks, each able to hold 1,500 litres, and 400 litres of soap were provided by the
Rotary Club of Nakuru, Kenya,
to their local community to encourage hand-washing in low income areas.
Working with the Nakuru Water and Sanitation Services company, about 200,000 litres of water will be delivered to the 20,000 residents in densely populated, low income areas.
|
|
|
Wise Words from Ron and the Dalai Lama
|
Last month, Rotary International distributed in their
"Service in Action" blog
the letter from Ron Denham, WASRAG Chair Emeritus, that was published in the Special April issue of the WASRAG Newsletter.
The Dalai Lama, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day provided a special message that can be read in entirety
here.
His comments that would be of interest especially to WASRAG members were:
"I came to appreciate the importance of environmental concern only after escaping from Tibet in 1959, where we always considered the environment to be pure. Whenever we saw a stream of water, for instance, there was no worry about whether it was safe to drink. Sadly, the mere availability of clean drinking water is a major problem throughout the world today.
We must ensure that the sick and the valiant health-care providers throughout the world have access to the fundamental necessities of clean water and proper sanitation to prevent the uncontrolled spread of disease.”
|
|
|
|
|
The Rotarys Club of Bribie Island, Australia, established
Hand Hygiene for Health (HFHH) to develop hand-washing as a habit for the next generation of children.
They developed SPATAP that fits on any water container and transforms it into a simple controllable water system for hand washing. A 1.5 litre bottle can provide 60 hand washes with soap.
While they have been very successful with projects in Fiji, they are looking to partner with clubs to expand their hand washing solution in the South Pacific, South-East Asia and Africa.
|
|
Rotary members have expressed the value of WASRAG 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
.
|
|
Ongutoi Health Centre Water Collection for Sustainability
Since 2009, the Rotary Club of Newmarket has been supporting the Ongutoi Health Centre, located in North Eastern Uganda through a variety of projects. They have completed one phase of a water collection system, and now are embarking on a planned further expansion of this important water resource for this medical facility. Information on their project can be found
here
.
The
excellent video
they produced in conjunction with their partner
High Adventure
highlights the work they have completed and the work that is planned. They are looking for partners to help them with the next phase of the project. For more details and to get involved contact
Richard Mewhinney
.
|
|
Recently Created or Updated Projects
|
|
- Water and sanitation project in Mali, Africa with direct impact on 10,000 people
- Looking for International Partner and supporters
- Contact Rotary Club of Bamako Yelen for more details
- Develop five bore holes and install distribution system for up to 13,500 people
- Build five training spaces for community
- Contact Rotary Club of Pria Maria Pia for more details
|
|
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 Eastern and the second and fourth Tuesdays at 12 pm Eastern. 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.
Tania Vachon, Social Art for Behaviour Change
Tania Vachon, Social Art for Behaviour Change(Replay)
Emilie Sanmartin, CAWST
|
|
|
Newsletter Needs your Input and Help
|
We are coming up to our 50th issue of creating the WASRAG Newsletter. We would appreciate your suggestions on what would make it better.
We are also interested in finding Rotarians interested in editing the monthly newsletter, writing articles, or assisting in sourcing interesting items to include.
|
|
|
May 20, 2020 - Deadline for voting for WASRAG Director Elections
May 28, 2020 - MENSTRUAL HYGIENE DAY
Oct 15, 2020 - GLOBAL HANDWASHING DAY
Nov 19, 2020 - WORLD TOILET DAY
Mar 22, 2021 - WORLD WATER 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
