Rotary – Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Projects
Overview
The RCOS International Service Committee has been involved in global clean water projects for decades. Clean water means potable, safe Water, including access, functioning Sanitation, and the development of good Hygiene projects, hence, WASH. In the spirit of improving the lives of the most vulnerable, our ISC contributed to WASH projects in rural western Honduras in 2015 and 2017. In 2022, we initiated and sponsored a third global grant for Honduras that is now underway, and detailed below.
In addition, we have contributed to multiple other international projects over the years. See this link to the ISC – General page to learn more.
Of the nearly 9.6 million people living in Honduras, about 1.5 million have lacked access to clean water resources and most of them live in rural areas. Many rural families consume water from unsafe streams or open wells-where people bathe and wash clothes, and animals defecate. Disease and premature deaths follow. A 2013 survey found that, in addition to lack of ready access to water, 17 to 28 percent of the communities also had no sanitation services. The region or department of Copan, in the western highlands of Honduras, is rural with profound clean water needs.
2015 Honduras #1-and 2017 Honduras #2 –
In 2015, our ISC began what has evolved into multiple water projects in the Honduras highlands. This first one was a $10,000 grant towards an $800,000 WASH clean water grant for rural communities near Copan, involving Rotary International and World Vision, a large global non-governmental organization. In 2017, we contributed $20,000 towards another $800,000 clean water project in the vicinity of the first Copan project. Both of these were $400,000 grants sponsored by other Rotary Clubs and Rotary Internation Foundation, and then matched by World Vision. These projects impacted families, children, and schools to provide sustainable access to clean water and hygiene education to eradicate disease.
2022 Honduras #3 – Safe Water Honduras Global Grant –
Our $400,000 Global Grant, Safe Water Honduras, in 2022, was the first large global grant that our Rotary Club has sponsored. It has achieved tremendous milestones. With the participation of many Rotary Clubs and Districts across the country, this grant was successfully funded and matched by Rotary International and World Vision in 2023. We received sufficient excess funding to launch a “sidecar” global grant to accommodate the generosity and accomplish more for the Copan region. The scope of this project involves bringing clean safe water to some 16,000 people, including over 13 villages, 15 schools and 10 healthcare facilities, constructing water taps, storage tanks, and numerous sanitation and hand-washing facilities, and training local groups for sustainable future maintenance.
In January 2025, World Vision, our NGO partner in these Honduras and other WASH projects, sent our entire District 5180, via Joe Scheimer of the D5180 Foundation, a letter of thanks for the success of our ISC programs and grants. Click Here to view the letter.
With intensive work by our committee members to draft and fund this grant proposal, our Rotary District 5180 officially became the first “SuperWASH” district in known Rotary history. All 37 clubs in D5180 donated to this grant. In addition, we recruited and received contributions from 21 Rotary Clubs outside of D5180, including districts in Minnesota, Oklahoma, New York, Texas, and Washington.
Decades ago, Rotary International formed an invaluable partnership with World Vision. WV works in nearly 100 countries with over 34,000 staff, including in Honduras. For Safe Water Honduras, RI matched our fundraising, and WV matched the remaining $400,000 to total $800,000. In designing this grant, our club, RI, and WV traveled to conduct community assessments in Honduras in 2022, and returned in 2023. In February 2024, construction began. In the summer of 2024, an RI Cadre of Technical Advisors visited to provide follow up evaluation of project compliance and make recommendations.
Another key partner in this project is the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras, who has provided fundamental leadership on the local level to identify, recruit, manage, and communicate this effort across municipalities, communities, and families, and coordinate with World Vision on the ground.
FOR A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF SAFE WATER HONDURAS AS OF JULY 2024, CLICK THIS LINK TO “SAFE WATER FOR COPAN.”
The goals of Safe Water Honduras are to significantly improve the health, literacy and well-being of about 14,000 people through sustainable access to safe water and improved sanitation facilities, including: constructing about 1,500 water taps from gravity-fed and pumped water systems; putting water storage tanks in about 15 schools; bringing safe water supplies to two health facilities; constructing sanitation and hand-washing facilities at about 10 healthcare facilities and 10 schools; and train local WASH committees. A complete list of all project goals is included in the global grant and is available on request.
New and rehabilitated systems include protection of the water sources, pipelines to water tanks, and distribution networks with household connections. The project includes a pilot project to supply micro water meters to promote the rationed use of water and fair fees for water services. New water delivery systems will help protect women and girls from their daily and often dangerous treks to acquire water. When the children are free from the work of fetching water, and have access to sanitation facilities in their schools, they benefit from increased time spent in their classrooms.
DONATE TO OUR ISC
Donations to our RCOS ISC are greatly appreciated and will make a difference to help change the lives for families and children on a global level. Rotary works to improve the basic needs, economy, and welfare of millions of people worldwide.
In 2024, our club renamed the ISC donation fund of our Rotary Foundation as the Phair-Lee donation, in honor of John Phair and Clayton Lee, two longtime members of the ISC who have traveled the world on behalf of Rotary for decades, and have contributed enormously to the success of the ISC. Thank you for your donation.