FeedsRotary Clubs unite for clean water project
Rotary clubs in Wayne County will band together for a special cause this fall.
“We strongly believe that kids have two main rights and that is water and education,” said Jan Eisen, president of the Plymouth Rotary.
Such bare necessities are taken for granted here, but Eisen is helping to organize a fundraiser to provide water pumps and biofilters to countries in Central America, where access to clean drinking water is hard to come by.
Poverty, social unrest and natural disaster are constant threats to providing safe water in countries such as El Salvador and Honduras. Programs from various groups including Rotary International have provided the relatively inexpensive filtration devices. The efforts are making some headway, but Eisen said the battle is far from over.
“Right now they’re sharing their drinking water with the animals, and they use it for washing and everything people need water for,” he said. “There’s no way that it’s drinkable.”
Drink it they must, though, often resulting in debilitating and sometimes fatal diseases. Without safe water, added Eisen, families are hardly able to pursue education for children, and are helpless to improve their situation.
“It’s a vicious circle,” he said.
To help break that circle, Rotarians from the Plymouth Noon, Plymouth AM, Northville, Canton and Livonia AM and PM clubs have committed to “The Aqua Project”, or TAP, with the goal of raising $100,000. Other nearby Rotary Clubs have shown interest in participating, too.
“This is the first time that we’ll have a minimum of five Rotary clubs from the western Wayne area working together on a fundraiser,” said Eisen.
Drinking water is the first step toward providing children in rural areas of the disadvantaged countries access to proper schooling. Eisen hopes some of the money raised can go toward educational supplies.
The fundraiser will take place Nov. 11 at the Super Bowl in Canton. The Super Bowl’s 60 lanes will be reserved at $1,000 each. Teams, players and a major sponsor are still needed.
The effort wouldn’t end after the fundraiser, either.
“There’s no end,” said Eisen. “There’s a need that is so big. The nice thing is (Central Americans) have enormous will and we are convinced that once this thing is going, they will be completely self-sufficient.”
