ATLANTA (ABP) — Since the Dec. 26 tsunami swept through Southeast Asia, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has been working to ensure clean water reaches tsunami survivors in several countries.
Ranging from water-purification tablets in India to larger purification systems capable of cleaning 600 gallons of water per hour, the Fellowship has directed resources to provide victims with clean water.
“Everyone agrees that clean water is the most pressing need in the areas affected by the tsunami,” said Barbara Baldridge, coordinator of CBF global missions. “Children are especially vulnerable when clean water is not available.”
Because several countries affected by the tsunami provided bottled water to victims during the emergency phase, the Fellowship was able to concentrate on areas less aided. Through the quick response of governments and numerous relief organizations, “Major epidemics were averted by providing clean water, which lessened the medical emergency,” said David Harding, the Fellowship's international coordinator for emergency response and transformational development.
The Fellowship received $2,273,256 for tsunami relief by the end of March, of which $507,617 has been distributed. “It has been humbling to see the response of Baptists to the tsunami disaster,” said Daniel Vestal, CBF national coordinator. “It has also been heartening that such confidence has been put in CBF to channel their expressions of concern and compassion.”
So far the Fellowship has purchased six water-purification systems that have provided clean water to thousands of homeless survivors living in camps for displaced persons throughout Southeast Asia. One local government asked the Fellowship to continue providing water for the anticipated 3,000 people who will become long-term camp residents.
Shortly after the tsunami, the Fellowship purchased systems from a U.S. company and transported them on charter planes to Southeast Asia, where they were assembled by two teams of trained volunteers from North Carolina Baptist Men.
The systems take water from streams, rivers, lakes, lagoons or wells and purify it for drinking. The cost is less than $1 per 1,000 gallons. At a treatment rate of 10 gallons per minute, up to 10,000 gallons can be produced daily, providing 13,000 people with two liters of clean water daily. However, none of the Fellowship's systems have run the 20 hours a day capable to achieve this maximum capacity.
Several partner churches and individuals contributed significantly to purchasing water-purification units. The Fellowship is continuing to determine the most effective way to utilize the designated funds to address water shortages in the tsunami affected areas.
Prior to the tsunami, clean water was stored in concrete-lined cisterns or open wells averaging 14-foot depth in one region, said Darrell Smith, one of CBF's global missions field personnel who was temporarily deployed to Southeast Asia for relief efforts. Filled with mud and salt water following the tsunami, more than 200 wells and cisterns were made functional with the help of volunteers and field personnel. After removing debris from wells, salt water was pumped or scooped out with buckets. Before clean water could be stored again, well walls were scrubbed repeatedly and chlorinated, Harding said.
Volunteers from North Carolina Baptist Men cleaned wells and cisterns in two villages, restoring the villagers' ability to gather and store clean water.
Because clean sanitation is as essential as clean water, the Fellowship is working to build community toilets in coastal villages, according to Harding.
“We want to provide clean water in tandem with providing clean sanitation facilities in order to control disease. Providing for the disposal of human waste in an environmentally safe manner using toilets is just as important as providing clean water to drink,” he said.