Adventure Travel Company Builds Toilets for Rural School in India
Great Barrington, MA (PRWEB) August 05, 2014 -- Some 620 million people across India are still forced to defecate outside due to lack of adequate bathroom facilities - the largest number world-wide. The problem is especially dire for children, with nearly 48% of India’s youth suffering from some degree of malnutrition. Diarrhea and worm infection are two major health conditions that affect school age children, at the least impacting their learning abilities, at worst contributing to high child mortality rates. Furthermore, according to Unicef, nearly 28 million children have no toilet facilities in school.
As part of Relief Riders International’s ongoing efforts to bring much needed assistance to rural communities in need, they’ve decided to tackle this critical issue on one of their upcoming rides, scheduled for October 2014. Participants will enjoy exhilarating adventure while also getting the chance to use their skills, enthusiasm and experience to assist in a life-changing project.
One of the biggest hurdles of achieving adequate sanitation in these rural areas is the fact that most small desert schools have no wells to draw water from, nor do their bathrooms have any sewage systems. This program will involve boring a well to provide running water for toilets, building a sewage system in order to manage waste, and renovating the existing school bathrooms to enable a higher level of sanitation at the school in the village of Hirasar.
Additionally, the group’s interactive health and hygiene talks will teach proper hand washing with soap to young children. This simple yet effective measure is able to reduce diarrheal disease by over 40% and respiratory infections by 30%.
“After 10 years of working in the humanitarian field, it has become increasingly evident that simple measures, such as sanitation and hygiene, are essential for children to survive,” comments RRI Founder and Executive Director Alexander Souri. “We are now poised to improve our health and hygiene program by initiating our prototype ‘School Sanitation Program’ on our upcoming Pushkar Relief Ride. I am beyond thrilled to be a part of yet another amazing opportunity to change lives and improve the future for these beautiful children and their families.”
The October 2014 Pushkar Relief Ride is scheduled to take place from October 23rd through November 7th, 2014 and our February 2015 Nagaur Relief Ride is scheduled from February 19th through March 4th, 2015. Spaces are limited to small groups of no more than 12 participants and they book up quickly, so immediate reservations are strongly recommended. For more information about RRI, or to reserve your spot on this trip, where you will have an opportunity to truly make a difference in the lives of those in need, please contact Relief Riders International.
ALEXANDER SOURI, RELIEF RIDERS INTERNATIONAL, http://www.reliefridersinternational.com, +1 (413) 329-5876, [email protected]
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