A drive towards change and innovation has stayed with me.
University or straight into work?
Ambition, combined with persistence and hard work.
A magic wand, to persuade politicians to govern with the objective of promoting and fulfilling human rights, particularly human rights to water and sanitation.
My extravagance is to be able to turn on a tap and drink as much water as I like.
There are many people out there working to secure human rights.
I am happy everywhere, which is fortunate, as I travel a lot for my work.
What is the greatest achievement of your life so far?
Professionally, I have had the opportunity to engage in global discussions on human-rights violations and on human rights to water and sanitation.
I am not easily frustrated but there are times I feel that people are not taking me seriously.

Suspected cholera cases in Yemen Two years of intense conflict have exacted a heavy toll on the country’s health system, as well as on water and sanitation services, and we’re entering the peak season for the spread of diarrhoeal diseases in Yemen.
Cases of the disease have been confirmed in 19 of the country’s 23 governorates WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are honing in on areas reporting the highest number of cases to stop the disease from spreading further.
Cholera vaccination?
The use of the oral cholera vaccine (OCV) is just one of the tools available to combat outbreaks.
Many aspects should be considered before a vaccination campaign: access to the people and places where the cholera is present, logistical constrains (for example availability of cold chain to store the vaccines safely), availability of the vaccines ( we have a worldwide stockpiles of 2 millions cholera vaccines to respond to many outbreak of choldra in different countries).
Treatment?
More information here: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/suspected-cholera-yeme… http://who.int/hac/crises/yem/en/ Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus confirmed in Syria http://polioeradication.org/news-post/circulating-vaccine-derived-poliov… A circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) outbreak has been confirmed in the Deir-Ez-Zor Governorate of the Syrian Arab Republic.
The detection of the cases demonstrates that disease surveillance systems are functional in Syria.
This outbreak was successfully stopped; the now-detected cVDPV2 strain is unrelated to the WPV1 outbreak.
OPV has been a critical tool in eliminating 99.9% of polio cases worldwide, and while cVDPV is rare, the GPEI is actively working with countries to eradicate both vaccine-derived and wild polio.

LUVERNE — Gov.
Mark Dayton’s recent signature on a state bonding bill should pave the way for Blue Mounds State Park in Luverne to get access to a new water source, but a question remains: how long will it take?
This is the fourth summer visitors to the state park will have to rely on bottled water for drinking, cooking and handwashing — and use of the Luverne Aquatic and Fitness Center for showers — since E. coli bacteria was first discovered in the park’s water system in late May 2014.
On its website, the state park notes showers and sinks will not be turned on, and advises RV campers to fill their freshwater tanks at fill stations in Luverne or Pipestone.
Minnesota State Parks and Trails Southern Regional Manager Kathy Dummer said Thursday that water access to the park is a high priority for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), but she doesn’t know how it ranks in the scope of all of the bonding projects that exist.
The bonding bill included $15 million for the Minnesota DNR, which Dummer noted was less than half of the governor’s request, for asset preservation projects across the state.
The state park has been in talks with Rock Rapids, Iowa-based DGR Engineering as its water woes continued, and the plan — once funding becomes available — is to connect the state park to Rock County Rural Water (RCRW), which runs approximately three miles “as the crow flies” southwest of the park, said RCRW Manager Brent Hoffmann.
“It depends what we find for rock once we get to the state park,” he said.
Dummer said the DNR will continue to work with RCRW to coordinate the water delivery project and develop a construction timeline.
At The Globe, Julie covers the agricultural beat, as well as Nobles County government, watersheds, community news and feature stories.

Empowering communities through targeted health promotion is helping individuals and families make changes to their behaviours.
One such community where this is being witnessed is Kautru village in Suki Fly Gogo Trust Region in Middle Fly District.
The community mine continuation agreement (CMCA) Middle and South Fly health program (CMSFHP) support community health through promoting the Healthy Islands Concept, recognised by the Health Department.
A component of the concept is ensuring access to clean, safe drinking water and recognising the health benefits this can have.
After identifying clean water access as a community issue in Kautru during the 2014 village health volunteer training and family assessments, and again during the dry weather event in 2016.
CMSFHP health promotion officer, Cyril Yama, has been persistent in promoting the importance of safe drinking water.
However, for 12 families in Kautru, they decided to take it one step further and came together to contribute money to purchase water-purifying buckets.
The buckets were purchased on their behalf by Mr Yama, who also helped assemble and deliver them.
Kautru is a model village for the Healthy Village program in the Suki area.
It’s funded through the CMCA portion of the Western Province peoples’ dividend trust fund, managed by Ok Tedi Development Foundation and implemented by Abt Associates.

Changes To America’s Infrastructure Could Make Our Tap Water Unaffordable.
Now they say it got lead and stink in it (New World Water) Fluorocarbons and monoxide Push the water table lopside Used to be free now it cost you a fee Those are lyrics to a song that is 18 years old, yet prescient as ever.
In 1999, Mos Def’s “New World Water” described the dystopian, greed-driven trends in the government’s treatment of the planet and its citizens.
Referencing many of the hot-button issues popular today in discussions about climate change, the rapper now known as Yasiin Bey also touched on the privatization of the global water supply, co-opting a human right into a for-profit service.
In 2017, the state of America’s infrastructure – including its water systems – remains substandard, and with a presidential administration with apparently no regard for Earth’s rising temperatures or poor Americans’ access to clean drinking water, we have a tragic case of art imitating life on our hands.
Trump is expected to submit his official plans for the nation’s infrastructure – buildings, roads, utility supplies – this fall.
Along with things like crumbling bridges and rotting foundations, the nation’s infrastructure responsible for bringing millions of Americans tap water will likely be addressed in the literature.
Directly overseeing the organization’s Water for All campaign, Grant is critical of any politician who supports the privatization of America’s tap-water systems and warns that “it seems like the Trump administration is putting forward a plan that relies heavily on privatization of our essential infrastructure.” Inherently troubling about such a position is, of course, that privatizing infrastructure means that the bottom line becomes more important than public good – precisely the kind of ethical dilemma that led to the human-rights disaster in Flint.
“It’s a myth when you talk about privatizing infrastructure assets like water systems, and think that it’s going to reduce the cost of the service — it doesn’t, you pay more when private companies take over water systems.
They want to use their water systems as cash cows to pay for other government services,” she warns.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> Two campuses at Alta Loma School District have tested positive for lead in the water, according to a student advocacy watchdog.
Data from the State Water Resources Control Board shows that Carnelian Elementary School had at least one water tap sample test positive for lead at 17 parts per billion, which is above the state level requiring corrective measures, and another one at 9.8 parts per billion.
The threshold at which the state water board recommends schools restrict access to water is 15 parts per billion for lead, said Jason Pfeifle, public health advocate for California Public Interest Research Group, a student advocacy group.
As for the readings at Carnelian Elementary, none of the water quality violations was found in drinking water, said Rob Hills water treatment manager at Cucamonga Valley Water District said.
He also noted that the sample site had nothing to do with children’s drinking water.
“We were not required to do take action, but our goal is to get to zero,” he said.
“At CALpirg we think that level is too high, and based on the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics, there’s no safe level of lead in water,” Pfeifle said.
Reports provided by the state water board are current as of May 19.
The state water board does not contact the schools to document actions taken, Moran said.
“We do think school districts should go above and beyond for some of these results above 1 parts per billion and schools should be restricting access and removing lead from water,” Pfeifle said.

LUVERNE — Gov.
Mark Dayton’s recent signature on a state bonding bill should pave the way for Blue Mounds State Park in Luverne to get access to a new water source, but a question remains: how long will it take?
This is the fourth summer visitors to the state park will have to rely on bottled water for drinking, cooking and handwashing — and use of the Luverne Aquatic and Fitness Center for showers — since E. coli bacteria was first discovered in the park’s water system in late May 2014.
On its website, the state park notes showers and sinks will not be turned on, and advises RV campers to fill their freshwater tanks at fill stations in Luverne or Pipestone.
Minnesota State Parks and Trails Southern Regional Manager Kathy Dummer said Thursday that water access to the park is a high priority for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), but she doesn’t know how it ranks in the scope of all of the bonding projects that exist.
The bonding bill included $15 million for the Minnesota DNR, which Dummer noted was less than half of the governor’s request, for asset preservation projects across the state.
The state park has been in talks with Rock Rapids, Iowa-based DGR Engineering as its water woes continued, and the plan — once funding becomes available — is to connect the state park to Rock County Rural Water (RCRW), which runs approximately three miles “as the crow flies” southwest of the park, said RCRW Manager Brent Hoffmann.
“It depends what we find for rock once we get to the state park,” he said.
Dummer said the DNR will continue to work with RCRW to coordinate the water delivery project and develop a construction timeline.
At The Globe, Julie covers the agricultural beat, as well as Nobles County government, watersheds, community news and feature stories.

The High-Level Panel on Water and Connect4Climate are proud to announce that the winner of the #All4TheGreen Special Blue Prize is Probal Rashid, from Bangladesh, with a photo taken in his country portraying how water stress is affecting individuals in his community.
"Rani, 9, collects rainwater for drinking.
Rainwater is the main source of drinking water in the village of Shyamnagar, Satkhira, Bangladesh.
“Rainwater is the main source of drinking water due to sea level rise,” informed the winner.
The #All4TheGreen Photo4Climate Contest Special Blue Prize aimed to award the best photo of anything related to water in the participant’s life.
Probal Rashid talked live from Bangladesh through Skype, and thanked the jury for being awarded #All4TheGreen Contest Special Blue Prize.
First, they want to change the way the world views and manages water.
This prize is very important, because it will the world change the way we view and manage water” said Juang Zhu, Director of the Division for Sustainable Development/DESA, UN.
It will help publicize the importance of water for Bangladesh, and for the region as a whole".
Climate change is making the harsh environment harder and water resources more limited."

Access to clean water improves health in rural Tanzania.
Until the pump was installed at the end of January 2017, most of Ndomoni’s 1,321 residents walked up to eight km to the nearest village to get water, or relied on surface water from ponds, which required boiling.
The Canadians are members of a PWRDF delegation that has come to the diocese of Masasi to learn more about All Mothers and Children Count (AMCC), a larger project that builds off work done during CHIP.
“Now, because water is here, it is easier for us now to educate people about [medical] treatment.” But having accessible water isn’t just about having water that is safe to drink.
Girls whose time might otherwise have been spent carrying water can stay in school longer, and mothers have more time to take their children to the clinic for a checkup, he notes.
Setting up a borehole is no small task.
Once the Canadian and Tanzanian governments sign off on it, the drilling can begin.
Once the borehole has been drilled, water samples are sent to a laboratory in Mtwara for testing.
“You may find that work is going to take place, maybe in July or in August, but the process started last year!” says Monjesa.
“Especially for a hungry person, for a thirsty person, waiting that long period is very difficult for them.” Fortunately, according to Monjesa, all 30 of the boreholes dug as part of the CHIP program hit safe drinking water on the first try.

JD7 rebrands as Aquam Pipe Diagnostics.
Aquam Corp is a global clean-tech firm that provides infrastructure support, rehabilitation and diagnostics solutions for water and gas infrastructure.
"The announcement of a new name reflects the company’s continual transformation and encompasses future pipe diagnostic technology that is currently being developed by our R&D team," said Daniel Krywyj, Managing Director, Aquam Pipe Diagnostics.
"By aligning our brand with our parent company, we acknowledge the ongoing progress and hope to add value for our licensees, distributors and stakeholders."
Aquam Pipe Diagnostics technology is used globally for potable water, gas and industrial pipeline investigations focusing on asset assessment, pipeline CCTV and in-line leak detection.
The products are for sale through a network of distributors and are available for field services for asset owners, municipalities or contractors via approved licensees.
Aquam Pipe Diagnostics will be debuting the new brand at AWWA’s ACE17 Annual Conference & Exposition later this month in Philadelphia, PA at booth 2555.
To learn more, visit www.aquamcorp.com.
About Aquam Pipe Diagnostics Aquam Pipe Diagnostics technology is used globally for potable water, gas and industrial pipeline investigations focusing on asset assessment, pipeline CCTV and in-line leak detection.
We offer products for sale through a network of distributors as well as offering specialist field services for asset owners, municipalities or contractors via approved licensees.