Dear friends of the SODIS Foundation,
Probably most of you are looking forward for a cold and snowy holiday season. In the meantime, summer vacations started in Bolivian schools, and children will start the new classes only at the end of January. At the SODIS Foundation, we are busy documenting the project with more than 200 schools, which you supported in the past. Our goal is to share this successful and innovative experience with other organizations and schools. We will keep you update on this activity over the next few months.
If you are still looking for a meaningful present, you may want to consider making a dedicated donation to our project in the name of someone. Giving such a Tribute Card is fast and easy, just proceed like with a normal donation (www.globalgiving.org/1905) and check the box "Make this Donation in Honor of Someone?" at checkout. You will be prompted to indicate how you would like the card sent (e-mail or postal mail), the card design, and all recipient details. You also can enter a personal message to the recipient.
We hope you enjoy a relaxing holiday season.
Best regards from the whole project team in Bolivia,
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Dear friends of the SODIS Foundation,
The year 2010 is coming close to its end, and so is our project to bring safe drinking water to more than 80,000 children in Bolivia, which you generously supported in the past. This is probably a good moment for you to relax for a moment and think of all the smiles that can be seen when children drink a glass of safe water. That’s more than 80,000 smiles, and more than 80,000 lives protected. We send you the picture of just of one of the kids reached by our project – you will have to imagine the rest of the smiles. In this way, we would like to thank you for your continuing support.
However, it’s not all smiles these days. Water is in the headlines again, but in a negative context. Almost one year after an earthquake devastated large parts of the capital of Haiti, the effects of lacking adequate water and sanitation services caused an outbreak of cholera. This tragic event spiked fears of a regional epidemic and called the Ministries of Health of several countries on the plan. In Bolivia, in a first step the SODIS Foundation is providing and translating the scientific evidence available to date that the SODIS method is a very effective protection against the disease (88% risk reduction documented). Additional steps are being discussed at the moment with Ministries of Health in other countries as well, indicating an increased awareness of the importance of the quality of our drinking water.
The field activities of the project in Bolivia are now closed. Throughout the year, the SODIS Foundation and its project partner Save the Children worked hard to bring safe water and improved hygiene to schools. Just to mention a few facts:
The final report is available in Spanish and soon will be ready for download in English on our website (www.fundacionsodis.org). We are now in the very important phase where we inform others about this project and make the experience available to a wider audience. For this task, we continue to receive donations throughout the rest of the year – please consider the project in your personal plans to contribute to those most in need.
Finally, the whole team of the SODIS Foundation wishes you all the best for the holiday season. If you are still looking for a meaningful present, why not make a dedicated donation to the project in the name of someone? In order to give such a Tribute Card, just proceed like with a normal donation (www.globalgiving.org/1905) and check the box "Make this Donation in Honor of Someone?" at checkout. You will be prompted to indicate how you would like the card sent (e-mail or postal mail), the card design, and all recipient details. You also can enter a personal message to the recipient.
We thank you for your continuing support and wish you a happy holidays season.
For the SODIS Foundation,
Links:
Dear supporters,
October 15 was global hand washing day. The ones of you who have heard or read about this global initiative are aware of how big an impact can be achieved by something as simple as washing your hands (see www.globalhandwashingday.org). Of course, hand washing is also part of our project in Bolivia, which you supported in the past and many of you keep generously supporting. A recent visit to some of the schools showed that hand washing not only is a well-established habit at these institutions but actually a lot of fun. For example, Miriam (12, picture below) from a small village in the department of Oruro showed us how old plastic bottles can be used for washing your hands if you do not have a tap with running water – it all is a matter of know-how and creativity.
The field activities of our project are now coming to an end. In September, the SODIS Foundation participated in official closing ceremonies at several schools, all of which demonstrated the great success the project achieved in a short time. Safe drinking water is now available at these institutions, and both teachers and pupils can tell that this makes a big difference. Moreover, the project also inspired parents to re-consider the way they consume water – they now know that water always needs to be disinfected before drinking, either by boiling, by adding chlorine products, by using ceramic filters or by applying the innovative SODIS method (www.sodis.ch).
In spite of the fact that activities in the field are coming to an end, the project has not finished yet. In fact, a really important part just about started: telling other people and organizations about this positive experience and showing them how they can do the same. The project already sparked a lot of interest, and among other things the SODIS Foundation was invited by UNICEF to present this experience at an international workshop in Nicaragua. We want to continue to spread the message and thus kindly ask all our supporters to consider a donation to the project – any amount is welcome. Even with a small donation of 20 dollars we can hand out an information package to a partner organization and thus help more schools and children to get access to safe drinking water and to implement healthy habits.
Donations received between October 12 and 20 are completed by at least 30% by matching grants from the Global Giving Foundation, so please consider donating as soon as possible as matching grants are limited.
We also would like to encourage you to send us your feedback or questions you may have regarding the project. We are always on the search for improving the way we work and communicate – and also feel free to check out the new design of our website (www.fundacionsodis.org).
Looking forward to hearing back from you,
Best regards from the whole project team,
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