BCWWA Water for People Committee
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Water for People, a nonprofit, nondenominational international development organization, was founded in 1991 by members of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and as Water for People Canada in 1995 to "help the most impoverished people worldwide improve their quality of life by supporting sustainable drinking water, sanitation and hygiene projects".
Individual WFP committees operate in the AWWA's 43 sections; 37 in the U.S. and five in Canada, of which the BC Water and Waste Association (BCWWA) is one.
WFP encourages individuals or groups to adopt one of four countries where water and sanitation needs are greatest: Guatemala, Honduras, Bolivia, or Malawi. All funds raised by the B.C. Section are currently funneled to projects in Guatemala. In that country of 12 million people, more than half of the rural population (3.7 million) have no access to safe water or sanitation.
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According to the WHO/UNICEF Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 report, one-sixth of the world's population (nearly 1.1 billion people in the developing world) still remain without access to improved sources of water, and about 2.4 billion have no access to any form of improved sanitation services. As a consequence, 2.2 million people in developing countries, most of them children, die every year from diseases associated with lack of safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. |
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The BCWWA Committee supports Water for People by undertaking numerous education, awareness, and fundraising activities. Some of these activities include:
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Workplace giving programs serve a dual function - raising awareness about international development work and raising funds. By making regular payroll deductions at the office, employees have an opportunity to contribute as little as a dollar every pay period to WFP's cause.
In addition to funds raised through the WFP committee, the BCWWA makes an annual sponsorship contribution of $1000.00. 'Sponsor' contributions are unrestricted donations of $500 or more that support WFP's operating budget as well as projects in developing countries.
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We are more than a quick fix. Water for People's partnerships offer solutions to people by working with credible local organizations and country coordinators who make sure our funds are used efficiently and effectively. We work side by side with gifted, motivated people from all walks of life. We build the capacity of people to change their own lives. We empower people to obtain, maintain and sustain their own water systems. Using this development approach, the people who built the system are able to maintain it, long after Water for People's support is gone from the community. |
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Women and children often spend hours each day carrying water from distant and polluted sources - water that makes their families sick. Without financial and technological help, over two million people will die in the next twelve months for lack of good water with which to drink,wash or cook. |
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In Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other developing areas, people have little access to clear, fresh, safe drinking water. Without clean drinking water and proper sanitation facilities, millions of kids are too sick to go to school, their parents too sick to work. |
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If you would like to learn more about the BCWWA Water for People committee or any of our events, please contact John Delver the committee chair at (604) 293-3236 or jdelver@kwl.ca
Learn more about the BCWWA WFP Committee's adopted country, Guatemala, at www.water4people.org/country/Guatemala.htm.
If you live outside the British Columbia, Canada area and would like to learn more about Water for People/ Water for People Canada, you can contact the WFP Head Office in Denver, Colorado at (303) 734-3490 or visit the Water for People website at www.waterforpeople.org.
