 lorence Cassassuce talks to rural ranchers in Baja
California Sur, Mexico almost every day about their
access to clean water. Her surveys as a UC-Berkeley
graduate student in 2004-2005 of groundwater wells throughout
the state turned up arsenic, bacteria, and saline intrusion – all
of which have long-term and short-term health impacts.
Flo now works for the Sociedad de Historia Natural de Niparajá,
a land conservation organization in La Paz, BCS, Mexico with a
history of reaching out to rural landowners to help protect
island, coastal, and marine environments. This water quality
survey was the first of its kind; Niparajá acted quickly to
educate rural families, seek possible solutions, and secure
project financing.
 |
Florence
Cassassuce from Niparajá explains the U/V bucket filters
for clean water. La
Paz, BCS, Mexico.
Photo Credit: Ken Broome |
Flo presented her survey results to the Rotary Club of
Woodside/Portola Valley in 2005. By this time, Flo and her
colleagues at UC-Berkeley had identified a potential solution –
an ultra-violet bucket that could sterilize dirty water. “For Rotary
International, clean water is priority number one,” stated Ken
Broome, the International Service Director for the local club. “Once
we heard Flo’s presentation, we decided to contribute $15,000
through Niparajá’s Friends Of Fund at ICF, plus an additional
$24,000 from Rotary International.” Those funds helped develop
the U/V bucket technology, manufacture 500 units, and distribute
them through the rural school system in Baja California Sur.
Since then, Niparajá has won a World Bank Development
Marketplace Award in the amount of $170,000, which will allow
clean water technology to reach 40,000 people in rural BCS.
Recently, Niparajá took its U/V bucket technology to
Guatemala, providing 300 units to residents with funding from
Rotary International. “Rotary has been a good partner for
Niparajá, but we also depend on partners like ICF, which
brought the World Bank opportunity to our attention and
ongoing donor support.” Flo recently commented, “They have
helped us leverage this important work beyond our own
backyard to help other communities in need.” |
