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Hey Boston area residents -
This May Day, Saturday, May 1, 2010, eat at Uno Chicago Grill in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and you will provide direct aid to over 1000 school girls who need clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education in their slum school in Delhi, India.
Here’s how it works:
- Print out the tickets above and give them to your friends/family/anyone.
- On May 1st, when anyone eats lunch, dinner, drinks @ bar,or does take-out and presents the ticket (during bill payment), WaterCentric will be given up to 20% of the sale amount.
Uno’s is at 22 JFK Street in Harvard Square in Cambridge.
Water Centric’s goal is to raise $6000 to improve the lives of over 1000 schoolgirls studying in a municipal school in Sri Niwas Puri area by renovating and building functional toilets and water stations in their school plus training the teachers and kids to participate in maintaining these new facilities via active student-run hygiene education clubs.
Enjoy your pizza – a tasty way to raise dough.
A thousand little girls will thank you!
Brand New Water Station
Over 1000 little girls now have a brand new water station at the Jasola Village Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) school in Delhi, India. The water station replaces a decades’ old station made of cement. It had only three faucets and no sink to stop the running water from splashing on the children, leaving puddles where mosquitoes breed.
The new station triples the number of water faucets, provides a sink shelf to catch the running water so that it doesn’t fall on the childrens’ clothes and shoes, and is lined with beautiful tile which dries more quickly and stays cleaner than cement.
The water station is used daily by the children for drinking water, to wash their hands, and clean their lunch dishes and cups.
Construction began on February 4, 2010, and was completed on February 26. Congratulations to our local partner Sakshi and to all the young users at the school!
Old, Dirty Water Station
Diwali, also known as “Festival of Lights,” is a time of celebration and thanksgiving in India, for victory of good over evil. This year, in honor of Diwali, on November 5 2010, Water Centric is hosting a six-month Twitter Diwali campaign – “Twiwali” - so that people can express their gratitude for the essentials of clean water and sanitation - while helping others to have the same - by making a simple donation and creating awareness through social sites like Twitter. What follows is one Water Centric volunteer’s account of why he is grateful for toilets. We encourage you to submit your stories on why you are grateful for toilets to our blog as well
A surreal bathroom experience!
By Bhaskar Koukuntla
On a cold November evening, my wife and I decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary by having dinner with a few of our family friends at the Mantra restaurant in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Mantra is very close to our respective work places and is conveniently nestled on a side street between the Theatre district and Downtown Crossing. We had heard a lot about this place as the only restaurant in Boston serving Indo-French cuisine, and that it is located in a building that was previously a bank constructed in the 1800’s. Their décor is unique and in fact their bar is a former “Teller’s cage.” Details of the décor include marble walls and floors, silk drapery, and exotic mirrors with beautiful lighting.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, I paid a visit to the Men’s Room. It was stunningly beautiful with elegant mirrors, very clean and exotic sinks, and elegant glass stalls. The doors to the individual stalls were made of what looked like translucent glass and looked beautiful. Once I stepped in, I was shocked that I could see the outside! My friend was at the sink washing his hands and he suddenly turned around, looked towards my stall and pointed his finger towards me and started laughing. I was shocked!!! I felt embarrassed and wondered how the restaurant could have not thought about this. I suddenly felt very vulnerable and awkward for such lack of privacy.
When I emerged, pretending that I had not noticed anything, my friend explained that you cannot look in from the outside, however the user can see out from inside the stall. This was trick décor with no compromise to privacy at all!! But just the illusion that my privacy was compromised had made me sick to my stomach.
Putting this surreal bathroom experience in perspective, millions of underprivileged families and kids around the world do not have access to the most basic sanitation facilities. They sit outdoors every day exposed to prying eyes and the elements! Water Centric is currently working towards constructing functional toilets for a school for 1433 girls in India. With a small contribution from all of us who are privileged and take such necessities for granted, we can make a change in the lives of all these kids! So this Diwali, spread some light by making a contribution at www.watercentric.org/Twiwali.html
Come join in the conversation, get involved, and this Diwali help us to bring about change that really matters in the lives of 1433 school-children.
Visit Water Centric’s Twiwali Campaign
Today’s blog post is a perspective from one of our volunteers working on launching the Water Centric’s Diwali/Twiwali campaign. We encourage you to support the campaign and also consider submitting your stories and experiences related to the lack of clean water and/or functional toilets to our blog.
By Saurabh Saksena
It was a sunny afternoon in Yichang, China when we International Leadership Laureate Scholars ate a traditional Chinese meal that soon had an effect on our stomachs. As the bus started its journey through the rich, green scenery of Yichang, a few of us felt the urge to use the rest room. After consulting with the tour guide and the bus driver, we were told that the next rest room was a half hour away.
Just then, an American girl shouted, “It is urgent!” The bus stopped, people rushed to the green pastures, and relieved themselves. Luckily people had toilet rolls and drinking water. That was my first tryst without a functional toilet. Embarrassing! And as a boy, I thought, what about the girls?
How many of us have ever been thankful that we can actually access functional toilets when we need to? It is funny that something which is a necessity in the western world is still a privilege in the eastern world. While toilets are still a luxury in many parts of rural India, even more unsettling is the fact that 17% of city residents in India, or nearly 55 million people, do not have functional toilets. Fewer than 10% of Indian cities have a proper sewage system. And most of us are also found wanting in the hygiene education department.
Friends, it is all linked: lack of functional toilets, proper sewage system, and hygiene. And we cannot blame the government for anything and everything. We have to shoulder some responsibility.
How many of us in the developing world allow our maids and servants to use our toilets if they have an urgent need? The common answer is: “They will leave it dirty.” OK. So is it that difficult to teach them some basic hygiene?
Think a moment about those poor school kids who are seen sitting under the open sky to attend to nature’s call. Surprised? Go to an area near a municipal school locality in Delhi and chances are you will see a similar story. When I saw that, my first reaction was: can’t these school kids use the toilets in schools? It turns out that many of these municipal schools do not have functional toilets.
Kids have to use the school’s backyard if need be or hold it till they reach home. And girls not only have to face the agony and indignity of leering men, they also have to take time off from school during their menstrual cycles.
Fortunately, we have people and organizations who are addressing the issue of sanitation in India. And luckily I, through my Harvard program, have found one such organization – Water Centric - that is helping to bring functional toilets, clean drinking water facilities, and hygiene education to a number of municipal schools in Delhi with a vision of expanding similar efforts in other parts of the country as well.
Recently, Water Centric has selected a municipal school in the Sri Niwas Puri area to help 1433 school girls by renovating and building functional toilets and water stations in their school plus training the teachers and kids to participate in maintaining these new facilities via active student-run hygiene education clubs.
I, with a few other Harvard colleagues, have joined this noble cause. We have launched a campaign Twiwali to raise funds for this school by Diwali this year. I urge you all to visit the campaign link and help us. It is not only about donating dollars, though that will most certainly help (Water Centric is a registered non-profit in US)! For my friends living in India, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, join our newsletter email list, and most importantly spread awareness of this cause by word of mouth.
Diwali is still six months away but we all know time flies and we may miss the opportunity to bring change in these girls’ lives. So act now.
This Diwali let us all spread some light and give the gift of health, and a little privacy, to these 1433 girls. Let us show them that we care!
Vande Mataram.
We are grateful to Apsara Iyer of JusticeNOW at Phillips Andover Academy for organizing a successful fundraiser on behalf of Water Centric. Thank you also to all the students of PA who attended the event and supported school children in need of clean water and sanitation in our schools in India.
By Apsara Iyer
Cara Daly ‘13 and Avery Stone ‘10 sang “Heavily Broke” by The Veronicas (Photo by Y. Watanabe/The Phillipian)
“The lure of free food and a worthy cause drew crowds to the JusticeNOW Coffeehouse Fundraiser on January 29th, for an evening of great music and fun. Phillips Academy students packed into the “Den” crowding in booths and around tables, vying for a good view of the stage. Featuring Andover favorites, like the Yorkies (an all-boys acapella group) and Azure (an all-girls acapella group) along with slam poets, soloists, and other talented musicians, the show wowed the audience.”
“Looking back on the night, the element that tied the different acts and performances together was the overarching goal of the fundraiser, a hope to make a difference by supporting Water Centric. Between acts, hilarious emcees gave shout-outs to Water Centric’s commendable work, helping young school children in India, and urged students towards plastic containers for donations. Students also watched a video that highlighted sanitation issues and Water Centric’s efforts to improve conditions. As change tinkled into the buckets, student acts continued and the number of baked goods and pizza reduced. The coffeehouse wrapped-up right before sign-in, and students left happy to have participated in a night of community service and fun.”
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