Pleasanton Rotary Club continues clean water projects overseas

Apr 14, 2024

The Rotary Club of Pleasanton is set to begin three new Water and Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) projects in foreign communities through partnerships with the Rotary clubs of Umungasi in Aba, Nigeria, Santa Cruz and San Juan West in Kalayaan Laguna, Philippines.

The local club began conducting WASH projects through contributed partnerships with international Rotary clubs in West Africa in 2021. Pleasanton Rotarians have already completed seven WASH projects with services such as renovating toilet facilities and introducing fresh water to overseas communities.

"We know that bringing clean water, toilet facilities with sinks for handwashing and WASH training on the importance of clean hands, is saving and changing lives," Nancy Harrington, co-chair of the WASH committee, told the Weekly. "Children are able to survive their early years due to the elimination of water-borne diseases."

"Girls stay in school after puberty because they feel safe and are given privacy in the bathrooms. Boys stay in school because they don't have to go home when they run out of drinking water which they brought to school in a gourd," Harrington added. "Both boys and girls have improved school attendance."

A recent WASH project with the Rotary Club of Onigbongbo, Lagos, Nigeria in May resulted in an $8,504 project renovating toilet facilities, sinks and WASH training at the Estate Primary School in Nigeria. The Pleasanton Rotary Club also put in $4,400 to the Rotary Club of Owerri, Nigeria where they constructed and installed water storage tanks, boreholes and pumps to introduce fresh water to the Umodu Mbieri Community within two weeks.

The process of these projects involves their partnership with Rotary International Clubs where the Pleasanton Rotarians install items within their budget. Pleasanton's club will monitor each completed project with documentations and photos every six months for three years, which according to Rotary International, is a "very good indicator" that their funds have been greatly appreciated and maintained by those local communities.

"Obviously we're not over in Nigeria helping with the construction, but the photos and the communication between the two clubs help develop a bond," Harrington said. "The other aspect of working with Rotarians in another country is the relationship we build with one another over time. We always spend a little time socializing while online so we get to know one another."

The Pleasanton Rotary Club will soon begin three new WASH projects. With the Rotary Club of Umungasi in Aba, Nigeria, they'll renovate a toilet facility at the Umuika Community School.

The club will also work on a project with the Rotary Club of Santa Cruz and San Juan West in Kalayaan Laguna, Philippines, installing a borehole with a solar pump and a water filtration system for the Sitio Pulot community.

"We're saving and changing lives," Harrington said. "Water, toilets/sinks and using soap to wash hands is so basic it is unbelievable that so many people in the world do not have access to them. We know that most of our club members also feel the same way."

The Rotary Club knows that the need for clean water and sanitation is the single issue that can impact health, education, equality and progress of all people, officials said. For more information, visit pleasantonrotary.org.