Access to clean safe drinking water is considered by many in the developed world to be a right. Today some people in the west are beginning to recognize the value of clean, potable drinking water and its shortage in much of the world. They are also recognizing the interrelationship between access to potable water and public health and economic development.
I am not surprised that there is a problem. When I served in Peru in the early years of the Peace Corps I encountered and observed a big contradictions in our USAID Alliance for Progress and the Food for Peace program. The former was designed to help develop the rural economy. The latter,The Food for Peace program, addressed the nutritional needs of children through support to school lunch programs in rural Peruvian villages. The program supplied dry milk, rice and other surplus agricultural products from the US. On the surface, this seemed to be a great idea for improving the health of the children. However, there was one big problem -- dirty and contaminated water.
The local water supply was limited in the villages I visited. The same stream or pool was used by humans for drinking, washing food and clothing, and by animals to drinking and in some cases to irrigate crops. From a public health perspective, These uncovered streams and cisterns carried water of very questionable quality.
The problem I noticed was at the schools where the dry milk was being mixed with the contaminated water. Mixing dry milk with contaminated water produces a nutritional rich environment for the waterborne diseases found in the local water supply.
Working with other Peace Corps volunteers and the Programa del Agua Potable, in the Peruvian Ministerio de Salud, we were able to obtain 8 army surplus water pumps to start a program of placing wells at the local schools. Villages were encouraged to dig the wells near the schools to make potable water available for the school lunch program. Village that did this, lined the wells and purchased the pipe for the pump were given a pump. We had more requests that we could supply. The program was such as success that the Peruvian authorities took over the program. They bought pumps available on the local market and made them available under the same conditions.That experience has stayed with me over the past 50 years.
Today water is an even more crucial resource in the developing world. When I came across this video of Charity Water I felt this is an excellent example of social entrepreneurship that can have a lasting impact on those served.
Scott Harrison and Charity Water in inspirational story.I hope you enjoy it
I am not surprised that there is a problem. When I served in Peru in the early years of the Peace Corps I encountered and observed a big contradictions in our USAID Alliance for Progress and the Food for Peace program. The former was designed to help develop the rural economy. The latter,The Food for Peace program, addressed the nutritional needs of children through support to school lunch programs in rural Peruvian villages. The program supplied dry milk, rice and other surplus agricultural products from the US. On the surface, this seemed to be a great idea for improving the health of the children. However, there was one big problem -- dirty and contaminated water.
The local water supply was limited in the villages I visited. The same stream or pool was used by humans for drinking, washing food and clothing, and by animals to drinking and in some cases to irrigate crops. From a public health perspective, These uncovered streams and cisterns carried water of very questionable quality.
The problem I noticed was at the schools where the dry milk was being mixed with the contaminated water. Mixing dry milk with contaminated water produces a nutritional rich environment for the waterborne diseases found in the local water supply.
Working with other Peace Corps volunteers and the Programa del Agua Potable, in the Peruvian Ministerio de Salud, we were able to obtain 8 army surplus water pumps to start a program of placing wells at the local schools. Villages were encouraged to dig the wells near the schools to make potable water available for the school lunch program. Village that did this, lined the wells and purchased the pipe for the pump were given a pump. We had more requests that we could supply. The program was such as success that the Peruvian authorities took over the program. They bought pumps available on the local market and made them available under the same conditions.That experience has stayed with me over the past 50 years.
Today water is an even more crucial resource in the developing world. When I came across this video of Charity Water I felt this is an excellent example of social entrepreneurship that can have a lasting impact on those served.
Scott Harrison and Charity Water in inspirational story.I hope you enjoy it
