Self Help Women’s Groups in India help change behavior around diets and toilet use to improve health.
She recently was able to take out a bank loan of INR 12,000 (US$180), which she used to construct a toilet in her family home It was the Self Help Group (SHG) in her village that persuaded Sushila of the importance of sanitation for her children’s health and nutrition, and helped her get the loan she needed.
The project is working through SHGs to deliver awareness, training, finance, and monitoring on sanitation and nutrition in an integrated manner.
It has the highest rural population density in India and a per capita income barely half of the national average.
A third of its population lives below the poverty line, and more than two-thirds of rural households do not have access to individual toilets.
With a growing body of research linking open defecation to disease and child malnutrition, it is not surprising that the prevalence of stunting in children under the age of five in Bihar is a staggering 49 percent, much higher than the national average of 38 percent.
The Bihar Transformative Development Projects is using SHGs to address these issues and reach women at an unprecedented scale.
Project staff is trained to scale up this initiative across Bihar, and the lessons learnt, guidelines, and toolkits are used to scale up across rural livelihood projects in other states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
First, a comprehensive package of behavior change communications on sanitation and nutrition practices is delivered across a village.
Village federations lead post-construction monitoring through regular visits to these households, while messages around the health linkages between nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation continue to be delivered through SHGs.

Jostna.
After concluding the cause to be unsafe water, a brave Jostna did what it took to prevent her other children from suffering as well.
“I refuse to accept any more sickness in my family,” said Jostna, a 56-year-old wife and mother of five living in Bangladesh.
You see, not until recently did the family have access to safe water or a private toilet at home.
For years the family got their water from various, unreliable sources; ponds, streams, hand-dug wells, and nearby drainage canals.
Open defecation eventually led the family to build a toilet at home.
Between unsafe water and poor hygiene, Jostna’s son became severely ill.
The doctor recommended Jostna install a deep tubewell at home to prevent any more water-borne illness in the home.
WaterCredit empowers the poor to take hold of their water and sanitation crisis, and put an end to it.
Jostna is now working with Water.org’s partner in Bangladesh to construct her own tap at home.This will put the needed resources into her home immediately, freeing her and her husband to work and focus on their children.

Elena.
A widowed mother of five, Elena was empowered to access her own safe water and sanitation solutions at home.
A widowed mother of five, Elena was empowered to access her own safe water and sanitation solutions at home through something Water.org created called WaterCredit.
We created WaterCredit so the poor, like Elena, could access affordable financing to construct their own water taps and toilets at home.
Hours of the day are now spent working and attending school, rather than walking to collect water or ill in bed.
For instance, Elena’s daughter recently graduated school and now she works full-time at a local bank.
Her 17-year-old son is finishing his education and drives a taxi to supplement the household income.
Her three youngest boys are all in school with high hopes of becoming doctors and professional soccer players.
Within less than two years Elena’s loan for a tap and toilet will be repaid, and water will keep flowing.
With the ability to give her family water and private toilets, now Elena has empowered her children with opportunities to create bright futures for themselves.

OSHaRE added to Walk for Water.
The event, which over the past nine years has helped to improve access to safe drinking water overseas, has added the local Owen Sound Hunger and Relief Effort to the causes it is raising money for.
"Next year will be the 10th anniversary and we will have OSHaRE on then as well," said Jeffrey Robins, owner of Aveda Mane Street Hair Salon, which puts on the event each year with Barry Kruisselbrink of Barry’s Construction.
"Barry gives money to them each year so he just wanted to help them out a little bit further."
Each year the funds raised from the event have gone to WaterAid Canada, which improves access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation.
"They are building wells for people who don’t have accessible, clean water," said Robins.
Robins said the event started locally after the salon took it on as it was Aveda’s national fundraiser.
"Each year it has just grown and gotten bigger and bigger."
Last year, the Owen Sound event raised close to $47,000, making it the top fundraising Aveda salon in Canada.
"I have a person in my chair for half an hour so I talk to them about what we are doing," said Robins.

Company behind Dakota Access Pipeline spills over 2 million gallons of drilling fluids into Ohio wetlands.
Energy Transfer Partners has twice spilled drilling fluids into “pristine” Ohio wetlands this month.
Energy Transfer Partners — the company behind the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline — has spilled drilling fluid into two pristine Ohio wetlands this month, according to information reported to the Ohio EPA.
The spills were not related to the Dakota Access Pipeline, and instead occurred while Energy Transfer Partners was constructing a different pipeline that would stretch 710 miles from Appalachia to Ontario, Canada, according to the Washington Post.
Drilling fluid is used to cool equipment and is not toxic, but it is often mixed with substances like clay, making it mud-like in texture and viscosity.
According to Energy Transfer Partners’ reporting to the Ohio EPA, the company spilled as much as 2 million gallons of drilling fluid on April 13, and as much as 50,000 gallons a day later and 100 miles from the first spill.
The spills occurred while Energy Transfer Partners was drilling horizontally under the sensitive water crossings — the same technique the company used to drill beneath the Missouri River while constructing the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Greg Abbott (R) in 2015 — giving the Dallas billionaire influence over how the state’s natural and cultural resources are used — but is just coming up for confirmation now.
Ruth Hopkins, a Dakota/Lakota Sioux writer, said on Twitter that appointing Warren to the commission was like “giving Darth Vader a spot on the Jedi Council.” Warren, for his part, told the Dallas Morning News that he felt personally victimized by the protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“It was hurtful,” he said.

Lemoore schools to test for lead in water.
LEMOORE — In January, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced public schools can receive free testing for lead in drinking water under a new state program.
The State Water Resources Control Board, in cooperation with the California Department of Education, recently required all community water systems to test school drinking water upon request by school officials if the public school is served by the community water system.
“Students need fresh water, nutritious meals, and appropriate physical activity to be ready to learn in class.” At the Lemoore City Council’s last regular meeting on April 18, Public Works Director Nathan Olson said Lemoore Union Elementary School District and the Lemoore Union High School District have already asked the department to test for lead in their schools’ water systems.
Julie Fagundes, chief business official for Lemoore Union Elementary School District, said the district decided to jump on this free opportunity and requested the testing in February, shortly after the state department of education’s announcement.
Fagundes said public works staff have already met with the district’s maintenance and operations director and will be collecting water samples from five locations at each of the district’s school sites from water fountains and water from the kitchen areas.
Lemoore Union High School District Superintendent Debbie Muro said the district decided to contact the public works department about three weeks ago after hearing what the California Department of Education was offering and to just be proactive in the process.
The public works department would have to test between eight to 12 faucets, sinks and water fountains as part of their sample collections.
Lead problems are infrequent in California, which has newer water infrastructure and less corrosive water than other parts of the nation, according to the state department of education.
Ben Stidman, maintenance, operations and transportation director at Hanford Joint Union High School District said all the district’s school sites use city water for all potable water use.

Samburu Project’s Walk for Clean Water in Hermosa Beach.
On April 30, the Samburu Project will hold its 8th Annual Walk for Water Pier to Pier Walk in Hermosa Beach.
These walks will be held other California locations such as Malibu and Woodside as well as in major metropolitan areas including Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, Stamford, Conn., and London, England.
“Here in the South Bay as always it will be a special day for us.
Students are personally involved in fund-raising for the event.” Mira Costa High School students participate in the project through their Model U.N. class and their instructor Bob Timberlake, who is committed to the event.
“I come to the high school and explain the Walk for Water and the project itself.
We create shareable fundraising pages for the students participating in the Pier to Pier Walk, so they can send it to family and friends and get sponsors.” The Samburu Project has been working with Mira Costa students for six years, and the students represent an integral part of the fundraiser.
We have a tent set up with jerry cans like those that women use there to carry water.
Seeing them and being able to pick them up makes it easier for participants to relate to the experience of carrying cans that weigh 44 pounds when filled with water,” Swanson explains.
The walk, which starts at 8 a.m., both begins and ends at American Junkie, located at 68 Pier Ave. in Hermosa Beach.

New treatment plant to provide clean drinking water to conflict-affected Iraqis south of Mosul.
ERBIL, Iraq, 27 April 2017 – A new water treatment plant on the banks of the Tigris River will provide clean drinking water for more than 50,000 Iraqis at the Qayyarah Airstrip Emergency Site, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) said on Thursday.
The plant, currently under construction, is supported by UNICEF and EU humanitarian aid and will provide both emergency and long-term solutions for the current water crisis stemming from military operations in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which has so far resulted in the displacement of more than a half million people.
‘The majority of water treatment plants along the Tigris have been destroyed in fighting over the last several years, leaving vulnerable populations with only access to raw, untreated river water,’ said Thomas Wilson, Coordinator for DRC’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme.
‘We decided to build a new treatment plant to provide clean drinking water to the camp and host community as a way of providing an immediate and longer-term solution.’ Located some three kilometers east of the Airstrip, the treatment facility – a compact design of traditional plants – can provide up to 200 cubic metres of water (200,000 litres) per hour for camp residents, greatly increasing both the quantity and quality of drinking water.
DRC has worked with authorities and engineers from the local water directorate to design and build the treatment plant as both a response to the current humanitarian emergency and a longer-term, durable solution for water provision in the area.
After the construction of a connecting pipeline to the Airstrip, the treatment plant will more than triple the current provision of clean drinking water to residents.
‘With the arrival of summer, water consumption across Iraq will spike and we are now in a better position to provide enough water per person in the Airstrip,’ Wilson added.
‘This will help mitigate the outbreak of diseases like cholera, which is endemic across the country.’

2 billion people have no access to safe drinking water.
Billions of people are of risk to various diseases due to unsafe drinking water By 2050, water demand will increase by 55 per cent mainly on industry use Drinking water concerns are driving the growth of bottled water [SYDNEY] While the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mandate safe drinking water for all by 2030, currently 1.8 billion people get drinking water from contaminated sources, putting them at risk of contracting various diseases, according to UN Water, the UN coordinating agency.
But in Oceania, parts of Western Africa and in the Sahara region in Africa, less than three-quarters of the population uses an improved source with the figure below 50 per cent in Papua New Guinea, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
“In Sub-Saharan Africa, 90 per cent of the diseases are water-borne,” András Szöllösi-Nagy, chair of the Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme, tells SciDev.Net.
“If you invest one dollar into a public utility, whether it’s water supply or a sanitary facility, in the long run you gain four dollars (at the level of national savings),” he says.
With the global population set to reach nine billion, the OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 report warns of further strain on freshwater availability.
Human consumption is only six per cent of total water consumption, the big user being agriculture, says Szollosi-Nagy, who is also the governor of the World Water Council.
“The world has plenty of water although we can’t evenly distribute it.” He compares Jordan’s 120 cubic metres per person, per year to Canada’s 112,000 cubic metres per person annually.
People in developing countries buy bottled water because “it is marketed as pure, clean and safe, something that is not readily available from a tap,” Gary Mortimer, associate professor at the Queensland University of Technology, tells SciDev.Net.
“Bottled water sales are expected to reach US$280 billion next year, with an average continued growth of over eight per cent at least till 2020.

Eumungerie Water Supply Scheme completed.
After a long wait, residents of Eumungerie and Mogriguy have access to potable water with the completion of the Eumungerie Water Supply Scheme.
After flushing the system in Eumungerie and reaching satisfactory disinfection in accordance with Australian drinking water standards, it was now potable.
“A clean water system is one of the primary health care benefits to any community, so that’s the primary benefit.
But there were also people who in the past had to put up tanks or cart water in from other places and they don’t have to do that now,” Mr Bailey said.
However, Mr Bailey said if someone built in the village they would be able to pay to have the water connected to their house.
The completion of the Eumungerie Water Supply Scheme has been a long time coming.
Council adopted a forward planning proposal to supply reticulated drinking water to Dubbo’s villages in 1995 and subsequently supplied drinking water to Wongarbon in 2000, Brocklehurst in 2001 and Ballimore in 2010.
The design for the Eumungerie Water Supply Scheme began in 2014, Mr Bailey said.
Construction took more than 12 months and included more than 35 kilometres of pipeline starting from the reservoir north of Mogriguy.