By Ko Tze Yung
Every year, millions of people get infected by waterborne diseases when increasingly frequent natural disasters strike vulnerable communities. These are caused by ingesting or coming into contact with infected or contaminated water sources, especially rampant in rural communities in developing countries. South-East Asia (especially the Philippines) has experienced up to 20 typhoons in recent years. Due to bureaucratic inefficiencies, cultural complexities and slow distribution channels, it has been difficult to deliver relief supplies to disaster-stricken areas quickly.
Efficient provision and distribution of disaster relief supplies during emergencies is the key to drastically reducing the spread of waterborne diseases. With the endorsement of the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta and The GoodWater Company, I am campaigning to raise capital for 1,000 simple to use water purification bottles (Total cost: $19,000) to be deployed via the ERP. The ERP facilitates last-mile distribution to needy communities via strong distribution partners such as the Singapore Red Cross.
About the Emergency Readiness Programme
The programme does three things:
1) Stockpile ‘simple to use’ water purification bottles and other equipment, made ready for quick deployment during natural disaster events
2) Pre-establish functioning distribution channels through strategic partnerships with different Red Cross Society entities locally. This includes the removal of custom duties & other bureaucratic barriers
3) Expands geographic coverage to include as many high-risk areas as possible
While there are other types of solutions (i.e. solar lamps & medical supplies) that are also needed in disaster-stricken areas, I would like this campaign to be about supporting the effective provision of clean water to at-risk communities. The target of S$19,000 translates to the equivalent provision of 200,000 water man-days (number of days’ worth of clean drinking water).
GoodWater Purification Bottle
Legend
*Water Man-Days: Number of days’ worth of clean drinking water
No. of water man-days = (No. of bottles * Lifespan) / Daily drinking consumption
(Based on a 2L daily consumption & a lifespan of 400L/bottle, 1 bottle provides approximately 200 water man-days, i.e. 200 days’ worth of clean drinking water)
Imagine more than 300 families gaining access to clean water within 3 days of a disaster occurring. Pretty impactful right?
The GoodWater Company (a Singapore SME & Social Enterprise) has in place an Emergency Readiness Programme (ERP). I believe the ERP can provide an effective platform that is beneficial to all stakeholders in preparation for times of emergencies.
This integrated platform, backed up by 2 Centres of Excellence (Singapore & Indonesia), strives to strategically boost the capabilities and capacities of organisations to bring about effective last mile distribution to communities in developing countries, thereby creating social impact.
For more information:
Should you wish to purchase purification bottles directly from The GoodWater Company for any other purposes, please visit them at www.egoodwater.com for direct enquiries/purchases. There are also numerous other social-environmental products on sale.