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Water Centric is coming close to completing work in its initial ten schools, steadily delivering water, sanitation, and hygiene education to more and more school children in need. To take a look at our latest accomplishments…
Water Centric Found Lotika Paintal talks with Delhi school girls
The Gatehouse News Service and The Lexington Minuteman recently covered Water Centric’s work of delivering water, sanitation, and hygiene education to the neediest schools in India. Please take a look and follow the link to read the complete story!
Startup looks to battle issues of hygiene, water
By Michael Phillis/Staff Writer
Posted Aug 20, 2010 @ 12:20 PM
Lexington — The problem is massive. More than a billion people live without access to clean water and more than 2.5 billion don’t have access to sanitation facilities.
Lexington resident Lotika Paintal recognized the urgency behind the need of so many for accessible sanitation, personal hygiene, and clean water. For a year, when she worked for the Clinton Foundation, Paintal toured eight countries to see the extent of the problem.
To help change the problem and build a model for cultures to have better access to clean water and toilets, Paintal founded Water Centric, and opened an office in Lexington.
“We just started in 2008,” said Paintal who has focused her initial energy on helping schools. “It is an amazing amount of people who die and get sick from water born disease every day and every year. We started thinking about if someone was to make a difference, where would they start. Children in many countries come to school, theses schools don’t have water available. We thought that would be a good place to provide facilities and then teach them hygiene education.”
Paintal decided to develop a model in 10 schools in one of the worst parts of Delhi, India. Paintal said she toured one school, which taught about 1,000 girls. When she asked the school’s male principal what problems were facing the school, he took her outside and showed her.
“These girls are squatting outside, on the ground and I see four toilets that are locked up and that’s it. I asked him why these four toilets were locked up, he said, ‘they were built four years ago, they promised that the city sewer would be built but … it hasn’t,’” said Paintal.
To address the school’s problem, Paintal helped install a septic tank so the four toilets could function. She also built two additional toilets for the school. Which, according to Paintal, still wasn’t enough but was still much better than what was previously available.
The issue is especially important for girls. According to Paintal, in many countries, girls teach hygiene to their families and are also responsible for supplying water. The situation girls face when they don’t have basic facilities is harsh, intimidating, and can cause girls to drop out prematurely from school, according to Paintal.
“As far as school goes, if you squat outdoors, you can get rocks thrown at you from the males. When girls get older and they hit puberty, [the situation] is almost impossible … they don’t go to school for five days at a time, then they drop out.”
Sanitation, apart from being a source for human dignity, is a serious health issue. According to Water Centric’s website, diarrhea and other illnesses spread from contaminated water account for 1.8 million deaths per year. The vast majority of these deaths take the lives of children under five.
In many cases, basic equipment upgrades and education are better solutions than waiting for a large infrastructure project to be approved and completed, said Paintal.
“Rather than leaning towards some fantastic technology … or some big infrastructure projects, just the simple basics of water [are needed],” said Paintal. “Getting toilets to them, making it a priority in these developing nations.”
Water Centric works as a bridge organization between fundraising efforts in the United States and local NGOs on the ground in India. Paintal goes to India to oversee development and assist with the organization’s work three or four times a year.
“We work with a small NGO in India … they insure construction is done and they monitor hygiene. We have some collaboration with government officials who are in charge with the schools,” said Paintal. “We do training with the principals, we train teachers.”
Paintal has a Master’s in Education in international development from Harvard and another Master’s degree in intercultural relations from Leslie University. She has worked for Oxfam – one of the world’s larges NGOs – and was one of five people tasked with learning about the issue of sanitation for the William J. Clinton Foundation. She has worked in the non-profit field for 10 years.
“This problem really got to me,” said Paintal. “I couldn’t believe that systematically things weren’t being done.”
After talking to experts and traveling around the world to look into the problem, Paintal concluded that the best way to help impact the problem was to start her own NGO.
“It never really struck me how big an issue it is and how basic it is,” said Paintal. “Lets just get them water and toilets and a clean life.”
Pedal for a great cause by joining Water Centric’s first annual bike-a-thon on July 31, 2010 at beautiful Great Brook Farm in Carlisle, MA! There will be a 50 mile ride, leaving at 8am; and a 15-20 mile ride, leaving at 10am. Plus, Great Brook Farm has 1,000 acres of walking, hiking, and biking trails, if you prefer. There are also farm animals, homemade ice cream, ancient historic Native American and settler sites, and lots of beautiful countryside.
We’re also pleased to announce that Red Bones Barbeque of Somerville will be providing delicious pulled pork as part of the after bike/hike cookout at noon, and Whole Foods will be providing Goody Bags for all.
To get more information and to register please click here: http://www.watercentric.org/bike-a-thon.html
Please spread the word about Water Centric’s bike-a-thon among your family, friends, and colleagues and help support this great cause! All proceeds will go directly to Water Centric’s ten-school project, which supplies clean water, toilets, and hygiene education to needy schools in the developing world, and helps young children get the right start!
Save the Date for a Great Time and A Great Cause!
Network with new people, reconnect with friends and benefit a great cause!
NETSAP-Boston is holding a happy hour and fundraiser to benefit Water Centric schools at Pazzo Resturant and Bar on Newbury Street in Boston, on June 24, from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
Part of the proceeds will go directly to Water Centric’s ten-school project in Delhi, India, which is delivering clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education to the 10,000 school children there. For more information on Water Centric, click on the following link: http://www.watercentric.org/
For more information on the happy hour venue, click on the following link: http://www.pazzoboston.com/
For more information on NETSAP-Boston, click on the following link: http://www.netsapboston.org/
We have been making steady progress at Water Centric with just over 2 years under our belt! Here is a look at what we have accomplished in the past few months…
Don’t forget to right click to print and carry!
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!
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.
Greetings!
I recently got back from visiting our schools in Delhi, India. While there, I admit I toggled between being overwhelmed by the desperate need in some of our large urban slum schools and experiencing a renewed zeal to tackle what we have set out to do at Water Centric. I reminded myself that to make any difference, given the 2.5 billion people in the world lacking access to basic sanitation, you always have to start with a first small step in the right direction!
The good news is that we have made significant progress in our goals these past 18 months. Take a look at our new December newsletter which highlights this progress and touches on some ways you can get involved. We hope you enjoy the video clip where young girls sing in their colorful scarves about hygiene education: yes, washing their hands is important. Enjoy!
Warm wishes for this holiday season,
Lotika
Link to newsletter
“I would get permission to lock all but one of our school toilets and then charge kids at school 10 cents every time they had to use it, so they would realize how important toilets are to kids who don’t have them,” said one creative middle schooler. “Then I’d donate the money to Water Centric to build a toilet for kids in slum schools in India.”
Kids from all over Metrowest Boston learned about “flying toilets” * and water stations during three presentations by Water Centric, as part of the Education and Leadership for a Nonviolent Age (ELNA)’s Annual Leadership Conference of middle schoolers on October 9, 2009. The kids then brainstormed creative ways to organize fundraising events from pumpkin festivals to tag sales so that kids in other parts of the world could have clean drinking water and toilets.
ELNA member middle and high schools are in Natick, Lincoln, Maynard, Shrewsbury, Hudson, Harvard, Westborough, and Lunenburg, Massachusetts in an initiative to encourage children to demonstrate leadership skills, social awareness, and civic responsibility. To learn more about ELNA, click on http://www.elnacollaborative.org/ELNA/Welcome.html
* A ‘flying toilet’ is a plastic bag that gets used as a toilet and is then thrown out the window into the street!
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