Rotarians from around the world have been assisting with fresh water and sanitation projects in developing countries for many years.  SafeWater Plus is about being more impactful in reach and focus with these efforts.

Three years ago a group of Rotary Districts partnered with World Vision and Haiti Outreach with the goal of building something substantial.  The Safewater project began to drill 141 wells and and build 1,200 latrines in the Central Plateau in Haiti. The project is a combined partnership between Districts 5950, 5960, 7020(Haiti), with World Vision and Haiti Outreach.

Death rates in the targeted Haiti project area ranged as high as 23% for children under the age of five, mostly from contaminated water.  As of December 2006, 80 wells have been drilled and 475 latrines have been built.

Rotarians have made 14 volunteer trips to the area to build homes, build desks for students, work on soccer fields and much more.

          
              
                "After they drilled the well,
                        the Children Stopped Dying."
                              Dominican Grandmother --1998




Startup Support for Rotary Clubs & Districts
SafeWater Plus provides a program model and support to Districts and Clubs wishing to have similar SafeWater objectives.  Contact us to learn more about how to get started.  The Adopt A Well program is a great project to consider for your club to meet your water project  goals.


Rotary Foundation Directed Giving Benefit
SafeWater Plus allows Rotarians to meet both water project goals and Rotary Foundation contribution goals in one option.


More on the History of Safewater Plus
International (RI) District 5950 (a district which includes Minneapolis, the western half of the Twin Cities metropolitan area and portions of west central Minnesota) anonymously donated $100,000 to the Rotary International Foundation with two stipulations attached to the gift. One stipulation was that other Rotarians of District 5950 as a whole provide a match to the anonymous contribution. The second stipulation was that the money raised be spent on projects providing safe drinking water to citizens of undeveloped countries.

By March 2000 the Rotarians of District 5950 had raised more than enough to match the $100,000 anonymous donation. In fact, donations to the RI Foundation provided the District with over $250,000 to fund safe drinking water projects. However, Rotary District 5950 does not envision a safe drinking water program constrained by the current fund balance. Instead, Rotary District 5950 intends to use the money raised to-date to spearhead a worldwide effort of Rotarians supporting safe drinking water programs in undeveloped countries. Rotary District 5950 is calling the program "Safe Water Plus."

The "Safe Water" portion of the program name refers to Rotary's desire to provide every person with drinking water free from microorganisms and other contaminants which directly cause sickness and disease. The "Plus" portion of the program name refers to Rotary's desire to go beyond safe water and address the need for adequate sanitation facilities, health and hygiene education, and long term operation and maintenance of water supply and sanitation systems.