Pure Water, Living Water: Water Education Program

January 10, 2014
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| Center of Development, Education, Health & Wellness, Natural Resource Management, Water for Life

Water 7Water is life giving. It is an amazing molecule that makes life as we know it possible. Clean water means a healthier planet and a better quality of life for us all. Working alongside the Center for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) from Calicut, the Headmistress and staff of the Edathana School, and engineering students from both the Government Engineering College (GEC) of Wayanad and Villanova Engineers Without Borders (EWB), Profugo hosted two collaborative water education events entitled, “Pure Water, Living Water,” on January 4, 2014, to start the new year off with a commitment to protecting water as a life giving resource!

The first event was held at the Edathana School, where many children from the Prashanthagiri community attend school. The program began with games led by the Villanova Engineers Without Borders students. After an hour of music, laughter, and fun games that incorporated facts about water as a precious natural resource, the CWRDM staff was introduced to the students and began an interactive presentation on water education. The session focused on the importance of water, conservation, quality, and sanitation. After the presentation, the children were led by the students from GEC and Villanova EWB to the Mobile Water Testing Laboratory brought by the CWRDM. The Mobile Water Testing Laboratory is a traveller van converted into a water quality laboratory and the children were given a tour of it and the science equipment inside to conclude the program.

In the afternoon, the second water education program was held at the Profugo House. As the engineering students from GEC and Villanova EWB worked to collect water samples to give to the CWRDM for in-depth testing in Calicut, the CWRDM staff gave a water education presentation to the adults in the Prashanthagiri community. The program focused on protecting, maintaining, and monitoring the water quality from wells, water conservation, and the innovative ecosan toilet, which focuses on human waste composting. The CWRDM emphasized the importance of altering our mindsets to focus not only on protecting water for ourselves but for our children, and our children’s children as well. At the conclusion of the session, Profugo introduced the beginning of communal water testing opportunities. Generous donations from the Villanova EWB team included water testing supplies and an incubator for bacteriological analysis. All community members were welcomed to request training in water quality testing of their own wells. Community members can use the incubator to test their samples and monitor their water’s quality throughout the year.

Overall, the water education events were a great success and marked the beginning of what will be beneficial collaborations with the CWRDM, GEC, and Villanova EWB. The programs laid a foundation for awareness about the need to protect the community’s water quality and provided support in developing future natural resource management projects with help from our collaborators from CWRDM, GEC, and Villanova EWB. Our health is directly connected to the health of the water and environment around us. Through a holistic lens, we can see that how we treat our water now affects our own health and the health of our future generations. Pure water is living water, and we here at Profugo are happy to be working with the Prashanthagiri community to protect water and to protect life!

Water Combo 2