"We were fortunate hearing a wonderful presentation on Water, Sanitation and Hand washing (WASH) project, by Ms Leopoldina (Leo) who is the Local Project Coordinator and lives in Baguia in Timor Leste. Leo has been assisting in the implementation of three projects including a Global Grant project since 2017, and ably assisting our John Walmsley and Vijay Susarla, our Project Coordinators from RC Camberwell and RC Caroline Springs respectively.
Many thanks to Leo for presenting the projects on Timor Leste Zoom to our club with Bob Glindemann and Martin Farrugia on dialing in from Timor Leste.
On the update via zoom were Ms Leo, Bob Glindemann (DIK) and Marting Farrugia (Melton RC)
Baguia is about 3 to 4 hrs drive from Dili - Timore Leste to Baguia - Timore Leste.
The Timor Leste project has been running since 2017 when Ms Leo gave a presentation to assist in the provision of water tanks for Baguia villages. Children and villages walk about 1 km to retrive water in a very hilly area. Leaving children less time to attend school. The below slide summarises the situation.
What was needed was water tanks to catch rain during the rainy season which is from Nov to April. Which would ensure that students could be at Primary school more often. A global grant was initiated by six Rotary clubs after six villages identified a need for water tanks and toilets.
The project scope involved:
- 32 Water tanks with roof guttering and springs
- 3 toilet cubicles with wash basins
- WASH Training (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) to teach students, teachers and parents how to wash hands correctly.
Planning and funding began in July 2017 to May 2018 with project implementation from June 2018 to June 2020. This was completed in June 2020 for 14 schools and with 33 water tanks and 12 toilets installed.
However more is needed and a "2020 Timor Rotary Consortium" plans to install 20 water tanks and 3 more toilets. Project planning began in July 2020, with implementation from May 2021 to Dec 2023.
17 communities have since benefitted with 3 Local schools, these are at 75% completion. More Rotary support is thus needed.
Below please find some photos of the project to date.
Thank you Ms Leo and Vijay for the presentation. Water is such a precious commodity that we who have it on tap tend to take for granted.
Rotary Caroline Springs
Ronald Moss
President 2022-2023