H2O for Life's implementing partner, DigDeep, identified Appalachia as one of the hot spots in America in which water access remains a critical issue. Communities in parts of rural Appalachia face three key water challenges: lack of household water access, poor water quality, and lack of wastewater services. Appalachia spans 420 counties across 13 states, from southern New York to northern Alabama, and is home to approximately 25 million residents. According to the Economic Innovation Group’s Distressed Community Index, McDowell County in West Virginia has the highest level of distress of any county in the United States, with an index value of 100 on a scale of 0 (most prosperous) to 100 (most distressed). One of 55 counties in West Virginia, McDowell County has a primarily rural population of approximately 18,000.

Now more than ever, every American deserves the right to stay home and stay safe. Clean water makes that possible.

The families our implementing partner, DigDeep, serves are some of the most vulnerable to coronavirus in America. They struggle to wash their hands and bodies. They are forced to break social distancing to haul water. They live far from healthcare facilities. COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) has upended the lives of all Americans, and that includes our friends and family across the Navajo Nation. 

In light of COVID-19, we are providing families who do not yet have a Home Water System with 275 gallon water tanks that DigDeep will connect to their water trucking routes. This intervention includes the tank, set up, and weekly or biweekly water deliveries as families await Home Water System installation. Moving forward, the Navajo Water Project plans to continue giving families these tanks prior to Home Water System installation as a short-term solution to providing for their water needs. 

We’re tremendously grateful for the incredible leadership of the Navajo Nation, public healthcare workers, local and elected officials, other non-profits, and mutual aid groups who have coordinated an unprecedented response to this crisis.

Matsimbe is a large secondary school in rural Malawi with an enrollment of 1872 students and only 18 teachers. The school uses a nearby hand dug, unprotected, shallow well as their source of drinking water. Because the water source is unprotected, it is most likely contaminated, and students often become sick from drinking it. Teachers at the school have to travel and queue at a community borehole half a kilometer away whose water yield is very low. They often have to wait for long hours to access water, taking away precious time from teaching. Then, it is difficult to carry the heavy water back to the school. 
 
The school's sanitary facilities are in very poor conditions. They have four temporary pit latrines and no urinary facilities. The are no handwashing facilities at this school. Due to lack of sanitary facilities, boys and girls use the bush at a nearby graveyard as a restroom. This further contributes to the rampant spread of water-related diseases among students. As a secondary school, girl students who have reached puberty often drop out from embarrassment of having no private place to use the restroom or maintain menstrual hygiene. 

H2O's implementing partner, Freshwater Project International, will drill a fresh water borehole at the school, and provide two blocks of latrines (with locking doors) and two blocks of urinals. One of the girls latrines will have a menstrual hygiene management station. All of the sanitation facilities will have hand washing stations adjacent, and more hand washing stations will be located close to the classrooms. Students will also receive hygiene and hand washing training and menstrual hygiene management training (for girls). Additionally, students receive a supply of Procter & Gamble Purifier of Water packets for students to use to purify water in their homes.
 

A new rainwater catchment system was built! Madegwa Primary School in Kenya now has a new source of safe, clean water thanks to your support. Handwashing stations were installed so that students can clean up after using their new latrines, and students and staff have received training in sanitation and hygiene.

- Rainwater Catchment Tank
Construction for this 50,000-liter rainwater catchment tank was successful! “The 50,000-liter tank donated to us will be of much help to the school community at large,” Headteacher Jane Msachi said. “We had a hard time in getting water in school, which made some of the pupils stay home because of lack of enough water in school. This also made most of the pupils go to other schools which have water. I believe by donating this water tank to us, the school will grow in population.”

- VIP Latrines
This project funded the installation of six new ventilated improved pit latrines. All of these new latrines have cement floors that are easy to use and clean. And with a rainwater catchment tank, there should be enough water to keep them clean all the time.
- Handwashing Stations
Pupils can now enjoy washing their hands with soap thanks to the two handwashing stations that were delivered to their school.  These new handwashing opportunities will help reduce cases of hygiene-related illness. The training on hygiene has motivated these students to share what they’ve learned with their peers at school and families at home.

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The proposed project will be an integrated effort on improving health and nutrition awareness among children. Availability of safe drinking water, Bio sand filters and regular check-ups to monitor the health of the students. This school has already received water and sanitation facilities with the support of H2O for Life. 

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The Thar Desert of India is one of the most challenging parts of India. Severely deficient rainfall creates a chronic drought situation in Thar trapping the region under great poverty and deprivation. Food and water shortages are very common causing poverty and malnutrition. In rural areas health and nutrition needs are often neglected and less prioritized especially for females. Lack of awareness and lack of adequate healthcare are two critical challenges in the region. Education and health facilities are limited in the desert and develop the lowest statistical data nationwide. 

India has a goal for 100% enrollment of children and to ensure the completion of primary and secondary education by all boys and girls under the Sustainable Development targets for 2030, guaranteeing equal access to opportunities for access to quality technical and vocational education for everyone.

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere. In a country where 37% of rural people have no safe drinking water (UNICEF) and 47% of the forest cover has disappeared over the last 50 years (UN Food and Agriculture Organization), these water, sanitation, and reforestation programs are a critical way to improve the living standards of the rural poor while conserving environmental resources. We work in remote rural villages that lack access to most basic services and are too small to receive assistance from other organizations. In general, communities are formed of subsistence farmers or day laborers who live in extreme poverty, surviving on $35-70/month.

In 2000, Pierre Supreme Elius started La Renessence, after noticing that the streets were filled with children during the school day.  After talking to the community he learned that there was no school in Cite Pope (Saintard region) Haiti and they could not afford the fees that the schools outside of the city required.  After trying but failing to get the support of various leaders, Pierre decided to start the school himself in a local church.  With the help of the community an additional one-room building was constructed out of wood and coconut front panels to house the pre-schoolers. This year 96 students attend La Renessence (46 boys and 50 girls). Pierre used to get water out of an old well. It was far from potable, but there was no choice but to give the children this water especially on the hottest days. Pierre also teaches the children a hygiene class discussing the importance of clean water.

Currently La Renessence students get their water from an untreated well.

Supporting this project will allow enough funds to deliver 3 jugs of clean water per school day for an entire school year.

We sorted trash into compost, recycling, and landfill in order to minimize waste. Trash must be manually removed before the current washes it back into the ocean, where it endangers wildlife. We also sold raffle tickets to benefit community programs.

Ella volunteered all summer at the Maria Mitchell Science Center and we raised $245 for their conservation, education, and outreach programs! 

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere. In a country where 37% of rural people have no safe drinking water (UNICEF) and 47% of the forest cover has disappeared over the last 50 years (UN Food and Agriculture Organization), these water, sanitation, and reforestation programs are a critical way to improve the living standards of the rural poor while conserving environmental resources. We work in remote rural villages that lack access to most basic services and are too small to receive assistance from other organizations. In general, communities are formed of subsistence farmers or day laborers who live in extreme poverty, surviving on $35-70/month.​

For two months Ella volunteered by cleaning tanks, collecting specimen through seining expeditions, measuring and collecting data, and leading tours. 

We held a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps families build and improve places to call home.  

Our potholder sales ($460) went directly to the Columbia Secondary School Green Team's contribution! This is the school Ella attends! 

Our squares were combined to make a blanket to warm orphans in South Africa. Since 2008, Knit-A-Square has distributed 90,000 blankets to comfort the vulnerable children of South Africa, most of whom have been orphaned due to the HIV/AIDS crisis. 

We picked up beach trash for five hours. Thousands of pounds of trash wash up on Nantucket every year. Trash must be manually removed before the current washes it back into the ocean, where it endangers wildlife.

We raised $57 for NYC homeless women and children. Founded in 1983, Win (at the time Women in Need) began as a shelter for four homeless women and their combined six children. Today, Win is the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing to homeless families in NYC.

Our potholder sales ($250) went directly to the Columbia Secondary School Green Team's contribution! This is the school Ella attends! 

We raised $302 for STOP India! (Stop Trafficking & Oppression of Women & Children)

STOP India's mission is to stop trafficking and oppression through education, legal movements and rescuing children and women from various forms of slavery and trafficking. They rescue girls and provide a safe home for them to heal and rehabilitate as well as receive an education and life skills, providing many opportunities for survivors to realize their potential and to become empowered individuals and agents of change.   

We raised $70 for Elephant conservation! 

The 96 Elephants Campaign bolsters elephant protection in the wild by increasing support for park guards, intelligence networks, and government operations in the last great protected areas for elephants throughout the Congo Basin and East Africa. It funds high-tech tools in the field ranging from drones and sophisticated remote cameras that track poachers in real-time, to specially trained sniffer dogs to find smuggled ivory in ports and trading hubs. It also engages the public through a series of actions including online petitions and letter writing campaigns enhanced through social media to support U.S. and state moratoria, increase funding, and spread the word about demand and consumption of ivory. 96 Elephants will educate public audiences about the link between the purchase of ivory products and the elephant poaching crisis, and support global moratoria and other policies that protect elephants.

We raised $410 for Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket! 

MMAN responds, rescues, protects, and advocates for marine mammals on Nantucket and the region. MMAN regularly takes part in Island events, providing information, outlining opportunities for future education, and encouraging involvement from the public in marine mammal conservation causes.

We raised $230 for Schools4Water! 

Schools4Water is a project organized by Walking4Water to involve students in their mission for clean water for all!

We raised $35 for Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket! 

MMAN responds, rescues, protects, and advocates for marine mammals on Nantucket and the region. MMAN regularly takes part in Island events, providing information, outlining opportunities for future education, and encouraging involvement from the public in marine mammal conservation causes.

We raised $35 for Polar Bears International! 

Polar Bears International is the only organization dedicated solely to wild polar bears. Made up of a small group of passionate conservationists, scientists, and volunteers­­, PBI exists to help secure a future for polar bears across the Arctic.

We raised $65 for Bideawee Animal Shelter in New York City!

For more than 117 years, Bideawee has been the leading no-kill pet welfare organization serving metropolitan New York and Long Island. Through a vast array of services Bideawee cultivates and supports the life-long relationships between pets and the people who love them.