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Residents of Makoor, Kerala, India, show the effects of years of drinking and cooking with highly fluoridated water.
The World Health Organization estimates that almost one-tenth of global diseases could be prevented by improving the water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and the management of water resources.
The citizens of Patari, a village in Uttar Pradesh, are among 25 million people in India alone who suffer the consequences of fluorosis, an irreversible condition caused by elevated levels of fluoride in drinking water. The painful effects of fluorosis can include bone deformities, calcification of ligaments and tendons, and abnormal bone density.
“The fluoride, because of its strength, rots teeth and destroys bones,” says Maurice Halliday, past governor of District 1020 (Scotland). Rotary clubs in Scotland partnered with District 3110 (India) to provide fluoride filters to 60 families in Patari and sanitation, safe drinking water and hygiene training to surrounding schools.
The Rotary Foundation leverages local experience and professional know-how to help communities, like Patari, help themselves. In honor of World Water Day, I invite you to consider a special gift to The Rotary Foundation to help address the unique water and sanitation needs of communities across the globe.
You can direct your Annual Fund gift to SHARE, to help support the local and international activities identified by Rotary clubs in your community. Or, you can direct your gift to Rotary’s Water and Sanitation fund, to be spent on quality water and sanitation projects identified and implemented by Rotarians around the world. Either way, your contribution will be used to fund high impact, sustainable solutions to our world’s most pressing needs.
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