Summer 2013 - Public Documents - NC AWWA-WEA

Outreach/Water For PeopleFriends of Water:Excerpts from a World Water Corps ®Monitoring Assignment in IndiaLisa Edwards, Division of Water Resources/Public Water Supply SectionThe charity of choice for the AmericanWater Works Association (AWWA) isWater For People. Water For Peopleis an international, non-governmental organizationwith the vision of a world where noone suffers or dies from a water or sanitationrelated disease. Currently, Water For Peopleis working in ten countries including India.In 2007, Water For People established theWorld Water Corps ® (WWC), which allowsvolunteers to assist in short term assignmentsincluding work in the field.The North Carolina Water For People committeehas been very active supporting the visionand mission of Water For People throughfund raising and participating in assignmentsin the field. Since 1993, at least 25 NC committeemembers have traveled internationallyto assist with Water For People-requestedassignments in Bolivia, Malawi and now India.Water For People-India maintains acountry office in New Delhi as well as twocoordination offices in the states of WestBengal and Bihar. The country staff includesover 20 talented locals that share Water ForPeople’s vision. In December 2012, I wasfortunate enough to travel to West Bengal andparticipate in a WWC monitoring assignment.The purpose of a monitoring assignment is toreview a portion of the country program. TheWater For People goal is to provide sustainableprojects so that Water For People canexit an area – after the community is ready tosupport the project… forever.Many agencies, charities, churches andwell-intended individuals have provided fundingand limited support to provide safe drinkingwater or sanitation facilities to those lackingbasic needs. However, if the community is notvested in or capable of supporting the facilitieslong term, the project is not sustainable. Someof these communities that were unable tosustain the facilities would have been betteroff not receiving the assistance at all.Figure 1: Water For People volunteers meet with water committee members on Sagar Island.The WWC monitoring project entailed visitingthe country coordination office in Kolkata(formerly Calcutta), visiting several communitiesin the field, visiting supporting offices(such as health departments) as well aspublic institutions like schools to evaluate theability of the entities supporting safe drinkingwater and sanitations projects so that WaterFor People could, one day, exit the area.After a day of acclimation to the chaotictraffic, loud honking horns and extremelybusy streets, a team of four volunteersmet at the Water For People-India Kolkataoffice to begin the project. Past baselineneeds assignments have utilized WaterFor People’s Field Level Operations Watch(FLOW) program, which involves gatheringsurvey data, GPS coordinates and picturesin “Droid” phones from each point to beimmediately uploaded and presented inGoogle Maps. Now, country programsas well as some partners are trained inusing FLOW, freeing up much time fromvolunteers and Water For People-Indiastaff. FLOW hardware, data collection andmethods were reviewed for this project.Upon completion of the meetings at thehome office, the team moved into the morerural area of the South 24 Parganas district,where Water For People projects are located.We prepared for several fieldwork daysthat were in the villages near the mouth of46 NC Currents Summer 2013Click Hereto return to Table of Contents