2008: The International Year of Sanitation
On March 24, 2008, World Water Day, UMCOR Indonesia kicked off the “International Year of Sanitation,” as declared by the United Nations. At the event, UMCOR recognized local students who demonstrated leadership on sanitation issues and broke ground for a new water and sanitation facility. This facility will serve 21 schools in the Bireuen District—a tsunami-affected community in Aceh Province—and provide improved access to sanitation for nearly 5,000 children. The new facilities will include latrines and handwashing sinks that will be connected to the local water supply or newly-dug wells. The project is funded by both UMCOR and UNICEF.
“UMCOR has greatly improved my school’s sanitation and hygiene,” said one school principal. “I hope UMCOR can expand [these] programs to other needy schools.”
Contributed by the United Methodist Committee on Relief
Clean water and renewed hope in Indonesia
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has helped nearly 20,000 people over the last three years to have better access to clean water and sanitation . In the next three years, UMCOR anticipates helping 75,000 more with this basic need.
Nusret Osmanspahic, UMCOR Indonesia’s former head of mission, emphasizes the importance of these programs, saying, “80 million Indonesians live without proper sanitation facilities, which contributes to the diarrhea-related deaths of over 100,000 Indonesian children each year.”
UMCOR’s past water and sanitation projects included rehabilitating two water treatment plants, providing water access for two UMCOR-constructed schools and installing septic tanks and water connections to nearly 550 UMCOR-constructed or repaired homes.
Contributed by United Methodist Committee on Relief