East Berbice schoolchildren receive drinking water

Nov 04, 2017 News

…compliments of ‘Rotary Club of New Amsterdam ‘School Clean Water Project

The children accessing drinking water

The Rotary Club of New Amsterdam (RCNA) with its motto “Making a difference” is putting every aspect of that motto into play. The august body continues to churn out humanitarian and other projects to the benefit of the community at large.
The RCNA recently dug deep and came up with a signature project that is benefitting thousands of children in the East Berbice area.
The initiative is the “Rotary Club of New Amsterdam Public School Clean Water Project”. The commissioning ceremony was held, recently, at the Fort Ordnance Primary School in East Canje.
Present at the commissioning ceremony were Regional Chairman David Armogan, representatives of the donor agency, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, teachers and students of the Fort Ordnance Primary School and members of the community.
A number of schools are benefitting from the project which is bringing clean and purified drinking water to thousands of school children. The project was the brainchild of Rotarian and IPP Roger Greenidge. Raw water is collected and goes through a filtration process .The filtered water goes to tanks, is stored and released for drinking and cooking.
Greenidge in giving a background of the project stated, that the initiative was conceived last year July when he took office. It was one of the signature projects he aimed to fulfill during his one-year tenure.
An on-the-spot fundraising event was held and $750,000 was raised. That amount was used for a pilot project at the Canje Secondary School (CSS) in East Canje. That project was successful and served as a functional model which was used as a showcase to promote an interest in other potential donors.
A number of donors subsequently showed interest. Meetings were held between leaders of the church (Elder and Sister Peterson) and Orin Moses and members of the RCNA. The Pilot Project at CSS was inspected by a joint team and the CJCLDS agreed to partner with the RCNA to do five other schools. These were Cumberland, Edinburg, St Theresa and Fort Ordnance primaries and Edinburg nursery. All of which are receiving water at the moment.
Fort Ordnance was specifically chosen because it is earmark as a community disaster center in case of any natural disaster in the area. Clean drinking water is definitely a necessity in an area where people will be staying during disaster relief efforts. Greenidge mentioned, “This initiative is unprecedented in our public schools. I have not heard of anyone installing water filtration systems in our schools. I would also like to see the Government of Guyana getting involved at the regional level to install these systems at schools where treated water may not be available.”
Elder Stephen said he was happy to partner with the Rotary club for such a well thought out venture. He said that the church is well-known for its relationship with the community. Also giving remarks were Regional Chairman David Armogan who is also a senior member of the RCNA; Regional Education Officer Volika Jaikishun; and headmistress Mrs. Cort.
The students were told to ensure that the facility is kept clean and functional so as to ensure reliable and clean water at all times. A number of other entities have given commitment to join with the RCNA to continue with the initiative.
The activity was chaired by President Ramroop Rajnauth who thanked all those who contributed in one way or another to the success of the projects and helping the Rotary give back to the community.