Garbage Collection. Our Matching Grant application, submitted by Rotary Club of Guntur Aadarsh and Rotary Club of North Sydney for funding to provide 150 tricycle carts for transporting garbage in Andhra Pradesh, India has been was approved. The total grant budget for the project is US$24,900.00.
The City of Guntur has a problem in that many of streets are too narrow for the traditional garbage trucks and they rely on 3-wheeler cycles with trays to pick up the rubbish. The collector takes the rubbish from the house, puts it in his trailer and then takes it to the tip. There are 52 wards in the city and 5 collectors per ward which is totally inadequate. Rotary wants to work in conjunction with the city to provide an additional 5 collectors per ward and that means another 260 cycles. The benefits of this program are additional employment for the tricycle manufacturer and the collector (the council pays him), and cleaner, healthier streets and homes.
Shelter Boxes
Members of the club continued to donate to Shelter Box’s which experienced a very busy year with crisis’s happening in many spots around the world including Victoria Australia. Each Shelter Box contains up to two 10-person dome tents, thermal blankets, water purification tablets, a multi-fuel stove, tools and other essential equipment. The cost of a Shelter Box is $1,200.
For latest update on where shelterbox's are being deployed go to link below.
http://www.shelterboxaustralia.com.au/
QINGHAI SOLAR COOKER PROJECT
Jiji Lee has been working with the club throughout the year in an extremely interesting project to provide 70 Solar Cooker’s to the Qinghai province in China via Solar energy.
* Farmers in the Qinghai province are chopping down trees and digging out grass roots for fuel to cook, diminishing the major sink for Greenhouse gases- trees. This situation is unsustainable and also contributes significantly to soil erosion and instability. The solar cooker will reduce and hopefully eliminate this situation.
* The solar cooker is low-tech and simple to manufacture, use, and maintain.
* It takes only ~20 minutes for 20 cup kettle to boil (more than 2x normal household kettle). It can be used for any cooking involving boiling or stewing (so far).
* Saves farmers time and labor from harvesting other sources of fuel.
* Saves farmers approx. 1000RMB/year (AU$200) that would otherwise be used for coal (for those who can afford it). For some, this is their annual income.
* The handicapped and elderly can contribute to the community by boiling water/cooking for other villagers while they work in the fields etc.
How much does it cost to manufacture?
§ AU$60 per dish - includes delivery to the poorest families in Qinghai.
Clean Water....... Hand Wells Project : 40 Hand Wells for India.
International focuses on a few projects each year including an extension of the Madagascar Clean Water project at the request of Elspeth McNair .
The late P.P. Ian McNair initiated a plan to provide clean water to the village of Ankarana in Madagascar. That original project, comprising a solar pump to supply water over 1 km from a dam to a newly constructed storage tank in the village was completed during the year. The availability of further funding has now enabled us to consider undertaking additional works.
Hand wells/Open wells.
The need for good safe drinking water is permanent and sometimes I wonder if the problem will ever be solved. A hand well costs about A$650 and will service 250 people for up to 15 years. An open well is a bit more expensive but necessary when water table levels are not suitable for hand wells. This will enable us to have 40 Hand Wells.
Fluorosis -
The disease and how it affects people.
Ingestion of excess fluoride, most commonly in drinking-water, can cause fluorosis which affects the teeth and bones.
Chronic high-level exposure to fluoride can lead to skeletal fluorosis. In skeletal fluorosis, fluoride accumulates in the bone progressively over many years. The early symptoms of skeletal fluorosis include stiffness and pain in the joints. In severe cases, the bone structure may change and ligaments may calcify, with resulting impairment of muscles and pain.
Acute high-level exposure to fluoride causes immediate effects of abdominal pain, excessive saliva nausea and vomiting. Seizures and muscle spasms may also occur.
Skeletal fluorosis is a bone disease caused by excessive consumption of fluoride. In India, the most common cause of fluorosis is fluoride-laden water derived from borewells dug deep into the earth.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/fluorosis-india.htm
Wells that bring nothing but ills.
Boreholes sunk to bring 'safe' drinking water to India's millions have merely caused misery.
http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert/India/Wells-that-bring-nothing-but-ills
Along with the Hand Wells project we are funding the solution to this Fluorosis problem with the installation of Reverse Osmosis Plants. Apart from effectively rooting out the Flurosis problem, RO plants can work towards the removal of 150 water bourne microbes which can lead to many other diseases..
