E-Ray Huang :

Introduction of Sanitation & Water衛生與水關係

Sanitation and Water

Dirty Water and Poor Sanitatation kills over 50,000 children every day----March 19,2004, pls visite the below site:
全球每天平均5萬個小孩以上,因髒水&欠缺衛生致死亡---3.19.2004聯合國統計,詳細請看以下資訊:
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_19974.html

Water-related diseases kill a child every eight seconds

"Water-related diseases kill a child every eight seconds, and are responsible for 80% of all illnesses and deaths in the developing world - a situation made all the more tragic by our long-standing knowledge that these diseases are easily preventable."

- United Nations

April 2004
Greetings to you all,

Thank you for your interest in helping the native community in Huacaria.
This is the first update on the progress that the House of the Children (HOTC) is making with the indigenous children and families of Santa Rosa de Huacaria in Southeastern Peru. The multicultural pilot project in Huacaria that is being directed by HOTC continues to advance beautifully, at a gradual pace determined by the villagers. Here is a summary of what has happened recently:

1. Water Purification-Renovation of the Gravity Flow Water System

US and Peru engineering teams hired by HOTC have completed their evaluations of the water and sanitation systems as well as the redesign of Huacaria's Gravity Flow Water System. Construction of the first double-sided utility sinks made of stones from the Huacaria River, with stainless steel basins and faucets was completed in January 2004 (see slide show). HOTC has been monitoring the community's use of the sink over the last three months to better understand how the villagers are integrating the structure into their daily life. So far so good! Now that rainy season has ended the construction of an additional 18 sinks with under-ground drainage trenches is due to begin this month.

2. Hygienic Center Bathrooms and Showers with Septic System

Designs for the hygienic center for the village school house have been completed and are currently being discussed in detail with community leaders and villagers. At the same time, onsite environmental engineering evaluations are taking place to develop a septic system that will work with the dense clay terrain in Huacaria.

3. Multilingual Indigenous Health and Hygiene Project

HOTC hired a full-time Health Director in December of 2003 who is a compassionate and highly knowledgeable health professional. The new Health Director worked with the community of Huacaria for three years as a nurse for the health ministry before being hired in this new role. The children and community just adore her! HOTC has completed plans for a health and hygiene programme for Huacaria in partnership with a tropical disease and indigenous health care specialist and the doctors of a local medical clinic in Pilcopata. Baseline heath examinations of the children will begin in July of 2004, with follow up examinations 1 time per year over a over a 3 year period, so that HOTC can measure the health benefits our water and sanitation project is having upon the health of the community.

HOTC's dentistry programme is scheduled to begin in May 2004 as well. There are 60 children in Huacaria that are in need of immediate treatment, with an average of 8 - 12 cavities per child.

4. Secondary Scholarships

In 2003, nine village teens participated in an HOTC secondary educational programme with after-school tutoring and lunch. Each student in the programme will advance to their next grade.

Finally, schools in Australia, United States, Taiwan, Singapore, Iran, Pakistan, Italy, Mexico, Latvia, Switzerland and Argentina have registered to help the community of Huacaria. More schools are expected to register over time. We are working on setting up an online forum so you can talk to each other. In the meantime, drop a note tocyberschoolbus@un.org to let us know what you are doing.

Best wishes,

From The United Nations Cyberschoolbus