• Grant from The Prem Rawat Foundation will help improve overall health for thousands of people in Southern Sudan
LOS ANGELES, CA, May 28, 2010 -- A grant of US$30,000 from The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) will help provide safe water wells in three remote villages in Southern Sudan, one of the world's poorest regions. Each well will provide an estimated 1,000-1,500 people with fresh water for their daily needs.
Water for Sudan, recipient of the grant, focuses on bringing clean, fresh water to people who have little access to it and are often underserved by the larger international humanitarian and government-sponsored relief organizations. Previously, villagers in these remote areas were forced to walk hours every day in extremely hot temperatures just to reach a frequently contaminated water supply filled with parasites and germs that cause cholera and malaria.
Salva Dut, founder and president of Water for Sudan, says experience has shown that a safe water well not only improves the basic health of villagers, but also helps the entire village by increasing farmland capacity and number of livestock, lowering child mortality, and enhancing opportunities for education. This, in turn, he says, promotes gender equality, because girls, who are the traditional water carriers, are able to attend school and do other work that can improve their livelihood.
"Water for Sudan's mission, which is in line with a development program sponsored by the United Nations, also makes local citizens partners in the project," Mr. Dut says, "because they build the wells, service and maintain the resource, and are trained to become caretakers of a community utility."
He adds that there are some indications that the program is introducing a measure of stability to an area of the world torn by generations of conflict.
Linda Pascotto, TPRF president, says, "The Prem Rawat Foundation is committed to helping people with this most fundamental need of clean water. I am very happy that TPRF can be part of this worthwhile effort in Sudan."
About The Prem Rawat Foundation
Created in 2001, TPRF promotes Prem Rawat's vision to address fundamental human needs so that people everywhere can live their lives with dignity, peace and prosperity. Web: www.tprf.org.
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