The Rotary Club of Umina Beach has been visited by members from the Rotary Club of Nairobi-Lavington to discuss the Beyond Water campaign.
Mr and Ms Peter and Sharon Crean spoke about the campaign, the living conditions of the communities in East Africa and the ultimate goal of Beyond Water. “The main objective they strive for is to raise the living standards and reduce the mortality rates for communities’ in East Africa, through the provision of safe, clean and sustainable drinking water and sanitation facilities,” Ms Crean said.
Umina club publicity officer Mr Geoff Melville said: “Sharon also pointed out that villagers will walk for four hours to collect water each day and that 783 million people did not have access to clean safe water worldwide. “The number of children who die from waterborne diseases are 4500 daily or 1,620,000 annually. “No wonder the Creans and other Beyond Water volunteers are motivated to do what they do,” he said. “A deep bore well will cater for about 600 villagers and can cost up to $25,000 to install,” Ms Crean said. “At age two, a child will walk for hours to collect water.
“By age four, they are carrying 10 litres. “By age 10, it’s 20 litres,” she said. “More than 2.4 billion people still do not have basic sanitation facilities such as toilets and latrines. “A pit latrine, or long-drop toilet can service 600 villagers and will cost $2500 to install,” Ms Crean said. The Creans also spoke about the Girl Project, a project designed to deliver sanitary pads to African girls.
SOURCE: Newsletter, 7 May 2018 Geoff Melville, Umina Beach Rotary