By Megan Vick

In December, our Charity Spotlight was on the Rotary Foundation and Rotary International. In Cary, North Carolina, the Rotary Club of Cary-Kildaire collaborated with the Rotary Club of Mussoorie, India. These two clubs collaborated to provide sanitation and pure drinking water facilities to three schools in India. I was able to ask Scott Rossi a bit more about the completion of the project.

Fridge Filters:Scott, can you tell us more about the project and its completion?

Scott Rossi: The first phase of the ‘Purified Drinking Water System and Sanitary Facility Project’ undertaken by the clubs was dedicated to the students of MY Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir, Gandhi Niwas, Mussoorie on Monday, 27th June 2011. The second phase was dedicated to the students of Mussoorie Girls Inter College, Mussoorie on Thursday, 30th June 2011. The third phase was recently dedicated to the students of Sanatan Dharm Girls Inter College, Mussoorie on Friday, 4th November 2011.

FF: How did your club come to decide on doing such an ambitious project?

SR: Rotary has six areas of focus: peace and conflict prevention/resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, and economic and community development. Our International Service Committee felt that well-planned water projects have the potential to address multiple areas of focus.

FF: What made the club choose India for the clean water project?

SR: Cary-Kildaire Rotary Club was part of three water projects last year. The first project was constructing soak pits or recharge wells in Kolkata City and surrounding rural areas, West Bengal, India. The second project was digging a bore hole well and constructing water storage tanks at a school in Our Lady of Lourdes School, Ozuoba, Rivers State, Nigeria. The third project was providing drinking and sanitation facilities at three schools in India. We chose these projects because of the needs that existed and because their were excellent Rotary partners at each location.

FF: How can other groups do something similar?

SR: They can search for water projects that need partners/sponsors on websites www.waterteaminternational.org or www.startwithwater.org (a website run by WASRAG, the Water and Sanitation Rotary Action Group).

FF: What was the best part about being involved in these projects?

SR: It is tremendously uplifting to be able to help people and to contribute to the alleviation of needless suffering.

Special thanks to Scott Rossi and Carl Ryden of the Cary-Kildaire Rotary Club for their information on this topic.

Check out the video for the Cary-Kildaire West Bengal water project!