Water Warriors
Posted by Pamela Arnsberger on Oct 20, 2016
Announcements and Reminders
John Fisher reminded us of Foundation giving next month.
Sandra read us a thank you note from our Soquel High Interact club for our support for the RYLA fall leadership conference.
Dr. Art will have senior flu vaccines next week.
Keith announced our Christmas party will be December 4th at 4:00. Let him know if you are coming!
Our scholarship recipient from UCSC thanked us for our support. He is a cancer researcher at the molecular level. Later in the year he will make a presentation to the club on his research.
Jim Zenner and Jim Weisenstein, both past presidents from Santa Cruz Rotary, spoke to us today about the Water Warriors project whose motto is Service Explore Connect. It is a program to promote water, education and peace. Jim Zenner said his niece introduced him to John Kaufman who runs H2Open doors within Rotary International. This is a service and cultural exchange program that offers ‘volontourism’ trips especially created by Helping Hands USA for H2Open Doors, for members of Rotary and friends and family.
Jim spoke about the need for clean water. Rural areas are especially at risk. He mentioned what he called the 1% solution: if 1% of the clubs internationally agree to focus on one issue e.g. water, they can solve it. They have developed a new water purification system that would work in rural areas. For $25,000 they can provide 20,000 liters of pure water everyday for a small village. These are called SunSpring systems and several have been installed in Mexico as well as other areas. They were also involved in installing a water supply system in a Mayan village in Guatemala using a 10,000 gallon tank. It will be the first metered water community in Guatemala, which promotes sustainability. The filtration system is also very high tech and is installed with a ten year warranty by the company who also stays in touch with the community after installation.
Two trips are planned to support these projects. A second expedition to Nepal begins next February 15-24th,. It includes immersion in the art, music, food and warmth of the Namaste culture of Kathmandu. There will be installation of a water purification plant on the roof of a brand new hospital to serve 200,000 patients each year. You would trek the Annapurna mountain region with expert porters on easy to moderate trails. Deposits for this trip are due Nov 1.
In April 21-30th there is a trip to Cuba to the Granma province where another water system will be installed. You will see Havana and the colonial towns and beaches of Trinidad and Cienfuegos. Deposits are due for this trip by Dec 15th, 2016. For more information on either of these opportunities go to H20penDoors.org or phone 650-520-6873.