aguapuraparaelpueblo.org

WE DID IT! With your help and support Agua Pura achieved its goal of becoming a permanent member of the Global Giving network. We raised over $4000 from more than 50 donors in one month! It’s an amazing accomplishment for our little organization. Now comes the exciting and satisfying part, deciding how best to use the money you gave us to reach our goal of distributing 1000 WAPI’s to families in Latin America to help make their water safe to drink. I have some big plans for next year and I’ll be sharing them with you in the New Year.

In the meanwhile, you can scroll down  to “Agua Pura’s busy month” on this website to see some pictures of our work this fall.

And if you still want to contribute to our program, checks mailed to us with this years date on them still count for a 2011 deduction.

Thanks and Happy New Year

Tom Carter

Agua Pura is proud to announce that it has reached the half way point in its drive to become a member of Global
Giving’s permanent group of featured non profit organizations.  As of this weekend we have received almost $2000 in
donations and over 30 new and recurring donors!  THANK YOU DONORS!  Thank you so much for your support and we look forward to sharing reports of our programs with you during the following year.

To reach our project goal of we must reach $4000 and 50 donors by the end of December.  The money we raise will
support our work in Latin America for the coming year, and you can read about our 2012 plans at 2012 projects. If you would like to help us reach our goal, you can click on the button here on our website.  If you have already helped us, thank
you again and you can help us again by “sharing” our project on your facebook site.  Agua Pura Facebook

If you would like to have a Water Pasteurization Indicator as a personal thank you for your donation and support,
please let me know, and I’ll be happy to send you one as my holiday gift to you!
Tom Carter

Solar Stoves in Chiapas

Water Pasteurization Indicators (WAPIs) are a very simple devices for showing when water has been heated adequately to make it safe to drink.

Water Pasteurization indicator (WAPI)

Traditionally families have been told to boil their water to make it safe, mostly because it is a visible endpoint. This sometimes requires a large amount of cooking fuel and time. In many parts of the world obtaining fuel or firewood is expensive and time consuming, and causes harm to the environment such as deforestation and erosion.

Pasteurization involves heating liquids high enough to kill pathogenic organisms without boiling. Milk is heated to 161° Fahrenheit, which kills all dangerous bacteria and other organisms, and water can be made safe at the same temperature. It is not necessary to boil water to make it potable, only to heat to the temperature of pasteurization. This is a graph that shows the temperatures necessary to kill pathogens.

Temperatures at which Disease Causing Organisms in Contaminated Water Are Killed

WAPI’s are a durable, reusable plastic tube containing a special wax that melts at 149° F. When the wax melts it shows that the water has reached pasteurization temperature and is safe. When the tube is removed from the water it cools and the wax hardens and is ready for use again.

Download a copy of this table from our workshop handouts section.

We are proud to announce that Agua Pura Para El Pueblo has been invited to join globalgiving.org   Global Giving is a highly respected organization that sponsors small nonprofits worldwide and provides training and support for their fund raising efforts. They have very high standards for financial accountability and transparency and it is an honor for Agua Pura to be asked to participate.

It is an honor and a privilege and also a challenge for us to participate;  Starting today, for the entire month of December, Global Giving has challenged us to raise $4000 for our program from 50 donors.

The money we raise will be used for our projects:

$40 will provide Water Pasteurization Indicators (WAPI’s) for 10 rural families near Coban, Guatemala.

$50 will purchase the supplies for 20 Solar Stoves in Oaxaca, Mexico

$80 will purchase a water testing kit for a community health worker in Chiapas, Mexico.

$120 will build 10 “Rocket Stoves” for families living at the dump in Tutitlan, Mexico.

$250 will fund a water and sanitation training workshop in Latin America.

Agua Pura has accepted their challenge and we believe that we can meet our goal of $4000 with the help of our supporters. If our supporters help us and ask their friends to help we can not only reach our goal but win bonus cash awards. In addition, the top fund raising organizations are eligible for additional cash prizes:

The top three (3) projects that raise the most funds will also receive supplementary cash bonuses from Global Giving of $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000 respectively. The (1) project with the greatest number of unique donors will be awarded a bonus of $2,000. And there are other cash prizes as well.

Please visit our site on Global Giving: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/pasteurize-water-in-latin-america-with-wapi/ and consider giving to our campaign.

If you want to read more about  Agua Pura’s trip, I’ve published a summary account of the Mexico Program on my blog, : http://watertestingtom.blogspot.com/2011/10/agua-puras-busy-month.html

Tom