Projects
This picture was used with the permission of the Blue Planet Run Foundation
Funds raised by A Drink for Tomorrow are channeled directly into other non-profit or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are committed to implementing community-based clean water projects.
Funds are not restricted to any geographic area, but are directed into those areas most in need of clean water projects; namely, Africa, Asia and Latin America. We support organizations that have the infrastructure and knowledge in place to carry out clean water projects, but lack physical or human resources due to inadequate funding.
Building a Well in West Bengal, India
A Drink for Tomorrow Joins Project Well and Peer Water Exchange to Build a Well in India
A Drink for Tomorrow is partnering with Project Well and Peer Water Exchange to fund the construction of a well in India. This project will provide clean water to a community of 140 people for life. In West Bengal, and other states in India, millions of people are exposed to arsenic in their drinking water. The tasteless, odorless metalloid occurs naturally, in a dissolved state, in groundwater aquifers in the region. Arsenic causes cancers of the lung, bladder, kidney, liver, and skin as well as cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive, neurological, and dermal effects. In West Bengal, it is estimated that in 9 out of 18 districts, over six million people are drinking arsenic-contaminated water. For these people, death and illness could be only a sip away.
A Drink for Tomorrow researched organizations working on the ground to construct wells providing people with a drink of clean water. Through Peer Water Exchange, we have partnered with Project Well, a nonprofit that has done amazing work in the district of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal. Their work has helped to decrease deaths due to arsenic poisoning, and we are excited to fund their construction of a well in the Deganga Block of North 24 Parganas. Project Well takes a sustainable approach by involving the community in the construction of the wells, using environmentally friendly materials, training community members to maintain the wells, and following up consistently to ensure proper functioning of the wells.
Please visit our website in the coming months as we share the story of bringing a drink of clean water to the people of the Deganga Block in West Bengal, India.
Peer Water Exchange
ADFT plans to become funders of an organization called Peer Water Exchange (PWX). PWX is a non-profit organization that connects groups of people around the world and facilitates discussion, development and implementation of clean water and sanitation projects.
The basis of PWX is collaboration and partnership: small, local NGOs around the world develop projects with their communities and through PWX, the projects are discussed, finalized, approved, and funded. PWX was created by the Blue Planet Run Foundation with the hopes of increasing the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of managing grassroots water and sanitation projects around the world.
ADFT and PWX are alike in both their goals of providing access to clean water around the world and their reliance on two central strategies - collaboration and partnership. However, while PWX works more on the implementation side of clean water projects, ADFT will solely provide much needed funding for such projects. In this way PWX will serve as an intermediary between our organization and community-based organizations across the globe. In partnering with PWX, ADFT will be able to distribute and manage funds raised without the cost of the overhead this would require, thus decreasing expenses, increasing efficiency, and improving transparency. Through PWX, ADFT will be able to allocate money to specific projects, oversee the projects along with clean water technology experts, and measure outcomes accurately.
While ADFT currently plans to channel most of the funds raised through Peer Water Exchange, funds are not limited to this partnership.
To date, A Drink for Tomorrow is still planning promotions and partnerships as well as collecting funds to support our first clean water project.
You can learn more about Peer Water Exchange at www.peerwater.org.
Stakeholder Advantage
"BPR's initiative to use a peer review process to assess and approve water and sanitation projects is bold in its conception and inclusive in its method. Bringing in organizations and individuals in different parts of the world to the process of project selection and approval is both transparent and cost effective. Other organizations supporting water and sanitation projects may well have something to learn from this approach. "
Ravi Narayanan Vice Chairman, Asia Pacific Water Forum Former CEO, WaterAid
