{"id":236,"date":"2018-11-20T19:55:04","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T00:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialimpactmovement.org\/?p=236"},"modified":"2021-10-03T14:56:36","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T18:56:36","slug":"what-matters-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/socialimpactmovement.org\/staging\/what-matters-water\/","title":{"rendered":"What matters? Water!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What matters? Water!<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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“Stories may come from different parts of the world, but there’s a unified sense of urgency when the NEED relates to primary resources, such as access to clean water.

This is the story of Shaan Correa, a social entrepreneur in Sri Lanka<\/a> that I personally had the opportunity to meet last year. And this is part of her amazing work with Awakening Lanka \/ App\u00e9 Lanka at the community of Poonakary, Sri Lanka.”
Claudia Akel<\/strong><\/p>

My daughter asked me some very pertinent questions in April this year.<\/p>

\u201cAmma, why did App\u00e9 Lanka give bikes to school children before they gave water\u201d?<\/p>

\u201cWhy, did you give solar home systems to one cluster village and identify another 1000 homes that did not have energy, before you addressed the issue of water?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhy did you start a Sport for Unity, and an Art and Drama for unity initiative or train counsellors to work in the schools in Poonakary dealing with issues like PTSD before giving water?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhy did you launch the English for All program hoping to teach students an international language? \u201cIsn\u2019t water more important than anything else? Shouldn\u2019t App\u00e9 Lanka have dealt with the water issue first\u201d.<\/p>

I thought about it and realized she was right. Why hadn\u2019t App\u00e9 Lanka given heed to one of the most important needs \u2013 water?<\/p>

I have been working in Poonakary for\u00a0four years. I had heard comments like \u201cShaan, you can\u2019t stay in Poonakary you will have to stay in Kilinochchi there is no usable water\u201d. I had seen water bowsers distribute water when we were conducting our drama and art workshops or installing solar panels, I have had conversations with villagers who told me that during the rainy season when bowsers couldn\u2019t reach them they collected rain water in plastic containers, but the fact that there was no usable water went over my head for far too long a time.<\/p>

Now looking back, I think it was something I could not conceive of or wanted to accept. How could there be no usable water in a country like Sri Lanka especially in Poonakary which means \u201cVillage of Flowers\u201d.<\/p>

The \u201cNo usable water\u201d situation started bugging me, irking me. Every time I opened a tap, or filled the kettle to make my morning cup of coffee or stood under the shower for longer than I should. I thought of the Poonkarians with no usable water.<\/p>

The App\u00e9 Lanka team galvanized their school partners, their art, drama and music partners, they launched an awareness program on social media titled \u201cChosen Generation\u201d urging people to join them to give people in Poonakary what you and I take for granted \u2013 usable water.<\/p>

Water purifying systems have been installed in six schools, in just 6 weeks; just 18 more need to be installed.<\/p>

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To think all we need is 10 USD from 5,000 persons and all 6,410 students can have what you and I take for granted – usable Water<\/p>

Be a part of our vision for:<\/p>