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- Start of the ride …
With the success of Water Centric’s first ever bike-a-thon last year, enthusiasm was high among the organizers and participants. The bike-a-thon 2011 did more than live up to the expectations!
On a beautiful Saturday morning on July 30, just under 100 enthusiastic participants arrived at the Great Brook Farm in Carlisle, MA geared up to ride, walk or volunteer for Water Centric. The scenic 54 mile “Apple Pi” route, was not for the faint of heart, as it wound its way up and down through the towns of Carlisle, Concord, Littleton and Harvard, MA. The shorter 18 mile ride was closer to the venue and a walk along the beautiful park trails was yet another option.
After a light breakfast of fruit, donuts and munchkins provided by Dunkin Donuts and coffee from Starbucks, the bicyclists headed out on their ride. Rest-
- Registration and Breakfast
stops had been arranged for them to freshen up, stretch and fuel up with water and fruits, some of which was donated by Verrill Farms. The Carlson Orchards in Harvard, MA, one of the designated rest stops, was a gem of a spot with several trees, picnic tables and a cool breeze thoroughly enjoyed by the bicyclists and volunteers alike.
- And then they’re off…
All bicyclists and walkers accomplished their respective challenges and arrived in high spirits at the barn of Great Brook Farm where a barbecue cookout awaited them. Pulled pork and pulled chicken from Redbones, salads from Bertucci’s and veggie burgers were just some of the items on the lunch menu. A raffle of items from ATA cycles, Bikeway Source , Belmont Wheelworks and Dunkin Donuts added to the day’s fun and activities. During lunch, the event further spread awareness about the lack of clean water and sanitation in the developing world by projecting a video about Water Centric’s activities addressing the situation.
- Some of our smiling volunteers
We are grateful to all of you for your participation in supporting this important cause and we hope that you will continue to support us in our endeavors. We look forward to seeing you at our next annual Bike-a-thon!
If you have not already registered for Water Centric’s “Bike-A-Thon and Cookout” here are several more reasons to do so. Water Centric is pleased to announce that it will be raffling off several valuable items that were generously donated by its sponsors. You need to be there at the Bike-a-thon for a chance to win one of these fabulous gifts worth $$s.
Here are some of the wonderful raffle prizes
A bike repair kit valued at $80 from The Bikeway Source of Bedford
Two Bicycle Helmets from Pietzo Electric Bikes
Citizens Bank
From Citizens Bank:
- 14 Tickets to the Aquarium valued at $18 each
- 4 Tickets to the Museum of Science
- 4 Tickets to the Museum of Fine Arts
- 4 Tickets to the Boston Children’s Museum
A 1 lb bag of coffee From Peet's Coffee and Tea
A $25 gift certificate from Shaw’s Supermarket
A $25 gift certificate from Verrill Farm
Water Centric is very pleased that five schools in the United States through the organizing efforts of H2O for Life have partially sponsored five of our Delhi schools.
This spring students from Brooklin, Maine’s second and third grades started writing letters to its partner school in India.
The kids were very excited to make a connection with the school and children they were supporting.
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In Delhi the school children were equally excited to get these notes and to learn that kids their age had helped provide the funds to improve their school. They responded with heartwarming letters of gratitude.
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My name is Saiba. I am studying in Class Vth. I am 10 years old. I like to do cleanness. Before this programme our school was very unclean but now the condition is changed. Now everyone have neat and clean. You have done a great help for our school, very-very thanks. |
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My name is Hazra. I am 8 years old. I am in class IVth. I am thankful to you. Before your support my school’s condition was not clean and now condition is going better. I will again write letter to you. Thanking you. |
We hope this intercontinental dialog will continue to build bridges between these kids and enable them to better understand the international challenges of water, sanitation, health and hygiene.
Water Centric believes that better hygiene education is at the core of reducing water borne diseases in school children thereby increasing their performance and attendance in school. A Hygiene Education program also helps change behavior, such as making washing of hands before eating and after going to the toilet routine. Children carry many of the key messages home, slowly improving the quality of lives in their homes and communities.
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Working closely with our partner NGO, Sakshi, Water Centric has formed hygiene clubs in all 10 Municipal Corporation of Delhi schools that it has been involved in so far. At each school, Sakshi met with teachers and instructed them on how to organize and involve school kids in these clubs. |
| The children in the hygiene clubs are learning fundamentals of hygiene and the importance of following good hygiene practices. The children in the club have roles and responsibilities for keeping their peers informed and their school clean. |  |
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Recently teachers from five of our schools published a joint newsletter with contributions and articles written by the children. |
| We view these clubs as an effective way to involve the children and to teach them responsibility for their hygiene and the maintenance of the facilities. |  |
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Most high school students don’t think twice when they quench their thirst on a hot afternoon with a cool drink of water. However, this spring when a group of Chelsea High School students attending an informational session realized that half the schools in the developing world do not have access to clean water, they decided to do something about it. The Asian Club of Chelsea High determined to raise $2500 during the school year for a non-profit, Water Centric. The goal of Water Centric is to bring clean water and sanitation to students and schools in Africa and Asia, as well as to teach these students about hygiene. The Asian Club is one of the most active clubs at Chelsea High School with around 30 members who are involved in a wide range of activities. In the past they have been involved in community service projects such as running the annual CHS canned food drive. This time through various fundraisers at school and the club’s annual event, Asian Night, the students successfully raised $2300. With an additional donation of $200 from the CHS Multicultural Club, the students were able to hand over a check for the promised amount to Lotika Paintal, Founder and Executive Director of Water Centric. Lotika thanked the Asian Club President, Michael Chung, and CHS advisor, Jennifer Gulko, for their commitment and for being able to raise such a large amount in such a short time. The money would be used to build functional toilets and water stations at one of 10 public schools in Delhi India serving over 10,000 children. She hoped the students would continue to track the impact of their donations by following the school projects on the Water Centric blog at www.watercentric.org
Students and teachers from six schools in Thimphu, Bhutan attended the inauguration of a five-day workshop on school sanitation and hygiene education. Now the students have an additional responsibility – to be agents of change in creating awareness on sanitation and hygiene in schools and communities.
World renowned Sanitation proponent, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, addressed the students, “Mere provision of sanitation facilities is not enough. It’s the use of latrines and hygiene behaviour of people that provides health benefits.
Read more about the Bhutanese student efforts in this article here.
Look out for news about Water Centric as well as interesting articles, profiles and organizations doing great things in helping bring Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education to Schools in Need
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