Carolina Public Health | Features & News School Project Grows Into Acclaimed Waterpartners International
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features & news SCHOOL PROJECT GROWS INTO ACCLAIMED WATERPARTNERS INTERNATIONAL School projeCt Grows iNto acclaimed Waterpartners international BY CHRIS PERRY AL N ATIO N TER IN S ER uring a trip to N Guatemala in EY, WATERPART EY, N D R A the 1980s, Gary White ER H took a side trip to a HEAT Y B OTO OTO H slum in Guatemala city. P “I was shocked at what I saw — sewage in the for Life fundraising dinners in cities across the city of Honduras. He had convinced them it took to fill them, how many people came streets and highly contaminated, commu- United States. The dinners, started by White to spend their own money for travel costs. for water, and how many waited in line. Stu- nity water barrels,” says White, who was an in 1990, laid the foundation for the organi- When I learned of it, I was enormously dents collected these data from early morn- undergraduate at the University of Missouri- zation and earned White the support of his impressed.” ing to late at night in a part of the city where Rolla at the time. Chapel Hill classmates and teachers. White had planned to let Catholic Relief the urban landscape changes quickly to The experience changed his life — and he “In Gary’s first year (at Carolina’s School Services determine the students’ activities in rural. White later analyzed the data, which has changed the lives of others throughout of Public Health), it quickly became ap- the slums of Tegucigalpa. But when Lauria formed the basis for his master’s thesis. the world. parent that he had tremendous leadership heard about the trip, he suggested the stu- White and Smith-Nilson tapped expertise In 1993, while earning a master’s degree at skills,” says Dr. Donald Lauria, professor dents collect data on the rate people arrived at the School to help guide WaterPartners UNC’s School of Public Health, White and of environmental sciences and engineering at public water points called standposts. International. The first advisory board fellow student Marla Smith-Nilson founded at Carolina and White’s academic adviser. Lauria, who studies community water included Lauria and other UNC faculty AL WaterPartners International, a charitable N “During one of the school breaks, Gary led supply and sanitation in developing coun- renowned worldwide for their water exper- organization dedicated to improving water ATIO a group of graduate students to the capital N tries, knew that water flowed from these tise, including environmental sciences and supply and sanitation conditions of people TER outdoor faucets intermittently and that the engineering professors Drs. Daniel Okun, IN living in developing countries. S ER users — poor people with no other water Francis DiGiano, Dale Whittington, Philip N Today, WaterPartners International col- An Ethiopian girl (left) pauses for a drink while source — often had to wait hours for the Singer and David Moreau. laborates with local, non-governmental collecting water from a new hand pump in Tigray, water to come on. “Sometimes the water “Our role was to challenge Gary, Marla organizations (NGOs) in Africa, Asia and a region in northern Ethiopia bordering Sudan would come on in the middle of the night, and other students to think about what was and Eritrea. Central America to help water-poor com- and people would jump out of bed to go col- unique about their organization compared munities build cost-effective, sustainable WATERPART BRAMLEY, Rashana and Maizabeen of Vinayakngar, H lect it in buckets,” he says. to other NGOs,” says Lauria. Hyderabad, India (above), are two beneficiaries of a water systems. Lauria recommended the students track Other organizations gave communi- Y SARAY WaterPartners International project in their commu- B Funded primarily by grants and private nity. Here, they demonstrate how they carried water the kinds of containers people brought to the ties new water systems — often poorly de- OTO OTO donations, WaterPartners holds annual Water H P before their community had a water connection. standposts, size of the containers, how long signed — as gifts, preventing the communities | FALL 2007 CAROLINA PUBLIC HEALTH | features & news SCHOOL PROJECT GROWS INTO ACCLAIMED WATERPARTNERS INTERNATIONAL School projeCt Grows iNto acclaimed Waterpartners international BY CHRIS PERRY AL N ATIO N TER IN S ER uring a trip to N Guatemala in EY, WATERPART EY, N D R A the 1980s, Gary White ER H took a side trip to a HEAT Y B OTO OTO H slum in Guatemala city. P “I was shocked at what I saw — sewage in the for Life fundraising dinners in cities across the city of Honduras. He had convinced them it took to fill them, how many people came streets and highly contaminated, commu- United States. The dinners, started by White to spend their own money for travel costs. for water, and how many waited in line. Stu- nity water barrels,” says White, who was an in 1990, laid the foundation for the organi- When I learned of it, I was enormously dents collected these data from early morn- undergraduate at the University of Missouri- zation and earned White the support of his impressed.” ing to late at night in a part of the city where Rolla at the time. Chapel Hill classmates and teachers. White had planned to let Catholic Relief the urban landscape changes quickly to The experience changed his life — and he “In Gary’s first year (at Carolina’s School Services determine the students’ activities in rural. White later analyzed the data, which has changed the lives of others throughout of Public Health), it quickly became ap- the slums of Tegucigalpa. But when Lauria formed the basis for his master’s thesis. the world. parent that he had tremendous leadership heard about the trip, he suggested the stu- White and Smith-Nilson tapped expertise In 1993, while earning a master’s degree at skills,” says Dr. Donald Lauria, professor dents collect data on the rate people arrived at the School to help guide WaterPartners UNC’s School of Public Health, White and of environmental sciences and engineering at public water points called standposts. International. The first advisory board fellow student Marla Smith-Nilson founded at Carolina and White’s academic adviser. Lauria, who studies community water included Lauria and other UNC faculty AL WaterPartners International, a charitable N “During one of the school breaks, Gary led supply and sanitation in developing coun- renowned worldwide for their water exper- organization dedicated to improving water ATIO a group of graduate students to the capital N tries, knew that water flowed from these tise, including environmental sciences and supply and sanitation conditions of people TER outdoor faucets intermittently and that the engineering professors Drs. Daniel Okun, IN living in developing countries. S ER users — poor people with no other water Francis DiGiano, Dale Whittington, Philip N Today, WaterPartners International col- An Ethiopian girl (left) pauses for a drink while source — often had to wait hours for the Singer and David Moreau. laborates with local, non-governmental collecting water from a new hand pump in Tigray, water to come on. “Sometimes the water “Our role was to challenge Gary, Marla organizations (NGOs) in Africa, Asia and a region in northern Ethiopia bordering Sudan would come on in the middle of the night, and other students to think about what was and Eritrea. Central America to help water-poor com- and people would jump out of bed to go col- unique about their organization compared munities build cost-effective, sustainable WATERPART BRAMLEY, Rashana and Maizabeen of Vinayakngar, H lect it in buckets,” he says. to other NGOs,” says Lauria. Hyderabad, India (above), are two beneficiaries of a water systems. Lauria recommended the students track Other organizations gave communi- Y SARAY WaterPartners International project in their commu- B Funded primarily by grants and private nity. Here, they demonstrate how they carried water the kinds of containers people brought to the ties new water systems — often poorly de- OTO OTO donations, WaterPartners holds annual Water H P before their community had a water connection. standposts, size of the containers, how long signed — as gifts, preventing the communities | FALL 2007 CAROLINA PUBLIC HEALTH | features & news FOR WORLD BANK’S BRISCOE, STUDY OF WATER IS VITAL, MOVING AL from becoming self-sufficient. “Many parts of N finance. There is always another angle from the world are littered with hundreds of thou- ATIO which to look at the topic.” N sands of water systems that don’t work,” Lauria TER Briscoe was principal author of the World IN says. “What needs to be done is to help local S Bank’s 2003 water strategy, which reversed ER N For World communities become more self-sufficient.” a Bank trend toward withdrawing from WaterPartners helps communities im- large water projects. It can be found on- prove their own water resources by locating line at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ EL, WATERPART EL, and certifying partner organizations in ck INTINFNETWORK/Resources/water.pdf. E M Bank’s Briscoe, developing countries — mostly NGOs — that “Developing countries need infrastructure manage water projects with community- AELA or they can’t grow and people can’t rise out of ch I M member involvement. Partner organizations Y poverty,” he says. “The Bank is now investing B mobilize the community, organizing local a lot in large water infrastructure. They are OTO OTO Study of water H water committees that oversee the construc- P working to ensure that the poor can get ben- tion and ongoing maintenance of water efits and the environment is protected.” projects. Few organizations — about one in is vital, moving He has advice for students now studying twenty that apply — meet WaterPartners’ for careers in water management.