PHILIPSBURG – March 22 was World Water Day as declared by the United Nations and is also observed by Rotary International as its focus for April is Water and Sanitation Month.
Last year, the Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle, in an effort to ensure that clean drinking water was available to children at school made an inventory of the schools that did not have properly functioning water coolers.
It found some schools were lacking well-functioning coolers and some coolers were without filters. Six schools participated in the “Water for School” project in 2016. This year Mid Isle again did another inventory and found 18 schools that did not have properly functioning water coolers.
Mid Isle looked for donations to cover expenses for the replacement and installation of new water coolers where necessary. In addition, as an extra precaution, water filter installations will be mounted to treat the drinking water prior to distribution to the water cooler systems.
The “Water for Schools” project was officially launched on Monday, March 20, at the Marie Genevieve de Weever School, in Hope Estate, where a new water filter installation was installed under the supervision of Rotarian Tony da Cunha.
During 2017, Mid Isle will be celebrating the Rotary Foundation turning 100 years old. That’s a century of Rotary members changing lives and improving communities all over the world.
The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle meets Tuesdays at 7:00pm at Mary’s Boone in Simpson Bay. For more information contact rotarysxm.mi@gmail.com or visit their Facebook page: Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle.
