Posts

Field Notes for March, 2015

Singapore: Celebrating World Water Day 2015 with #The Water Machine

 

16994503582_34d990b5fc_o

Using #The Water Machine at Singapore World Water Day.

16373531834_4f1ab0b844_o

Singapore World Water Day drew a crowd of more than 6,000 participants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every year, the Singapore Public Utilities Board (PUB) celebrates Singapore World Water Day with community partners throughout the month of March. This year, the main event on 21 March was staged together with partners from both the private and non-profit sectors at the new Singapore Sports Hub. Lien AID was one of the 27 official partners of PUB for the event, which drew a crowd of more than 6,000 participants.

Unlike residents in Singapore who enjoy clean water at the turn of the tap, right from the comfort of their homes, obtaining clean water for most of Asia’s rural poor is a difficult task requiring an arduous walk, spending time in queues or having to make do with polluted water.

For this year’s Singapore World Water Day, we created #The Water Machine to shine the spotlight on water challenges faced by Asia’s rural poor and let people in Singapore experience a small taste of how much effort it takes for them to obtain clean water. During the 3 hour event at the Singapore Sports Hub, a total of 156 people took up our challenge at Lien AID’s #The Water Machine.

Singapore: A Partnership with the School of the Arts

2015-03-21 08.34.51

An outdoor sculpture made of over 2,000 discarded water bottles by students from the School of the Arts.

 

 

As part of our efforts to engage youths in Singapore, we also partnered with the School of the Arts to create a large outdoor sculpture for the event at the Singapore Sports Hub. Made up of more than 2,000 discarded mineral water bottles, the sculpture is a symbol of the collective will that Singapore has shown in the conservation and protection of its water sources and which is still needed to ensure residents can continue to enjoy affordable clean drinking water in the long run.

China: Training Workshop for 26 Student Village Officers

From 23rd March to 26th March, Lien AID China held a training workshop for 46 Student Village Officers and grassroots leaders in Chishui city, Guizhou Province. The workshop participants represent 35 poverty stricken villages in Yunnan, Chongqing, Hunnan and Guizhou facing clean water access challenges.

Lien AID's China team hosted workshops for 46 Student Village Officers in Chishui city, Guizhou Province, China.

Lien AID’s China team hosted workshops for 46 Student Village Officers in Chishui city, Guizhou Province, China.

The opening ceremony of the workshop was graced by leaders from the China Association for Poverty Alleviation and Development, the Guizhou Council for the Promotion of Construction in the Old Revolutionary Areas, the Zunyi Council for the Promotion of Construction in the Old Revolutionary Areas and the Guizhou-Chishui Council for the Promotion of Construction in the Old Revolutionary Areas. A simple commendation ceremony was also conducted for 9 of the Student Village Officers (representing the best 9 delivered projects) who were part of Batch 3 and Batch 4 of the Village Water Management programme in China.

The 5-day workshop delved into topics related to small – scale water project management, with a particular focus on teaching participants how to conduct needs assessment and draft water project proposals. Upon completion of the workshop, participants have an opportunity to submit water project proposals to Lien AID China. Through a rigorous evaluation and selection process that looks at urgency and severity of water need; commitment from villagers, local governments and Student Village Officers, suitable projects will then be selected for implementation as part of the 7th batch of projects delivered under the Village Water Management programme in China.

Cambodia: Soft Launching 15 sites and selecting 12 new sites for 2015

In Cambodia we soft launched and handed over 15 water treatment plants of CWE program to local communities on March 26th in Kampong Cham. You can read our full writeup on the handover here.

After handing over the 15 CWE sites this year, Lien AID has selected another twelve communes in Takeo province, Kampong Chhnang province, Pursat province and Banteay Meanchey Province for implementation of water treatment plants next year.

Local children playing in a school next to the water treatment plant.

Local children playing in a school next to the water treatment plant.

Villagers carrying recently purchased water bottles away from the treatment plant.

Villagers carrying recently purchased water bottles away from the treatment plant.

The project site's initial supply of 20 litre water bottles quickly sold out.

The project site’s initial supply of 20 litre water bottles quickly sold out.

Field Notes for January and February, 2015

Every month we share updates on recent work from our offices around Asia. This month’s Field Notes has updates from the three countries we work in: China, Cambodia, and Singapore.

China: On January 30th in Guizhou Province Lien AID, held project management training for six Student Village Officers whose projects have been selected for implementation in China. The goal of the training was to provide additional coaching to the Student Village Officers on how to effectively document and report on water projects in the villages of Lianghekou, Tiantaishan and Baoyuan. These projects will launch in the first quarter of 2015 as part of the sixth batch of projects under our Village Water Management programme. More than 3,000 villagers will benefit from piped water connections in their households when the projects are completed by the end of 2015.

Cambodia: In February in Prey Veng province we trained eight Community Water Entrepreneurs along with water management committees and local officials. These water entrepreneurs and water management committees will support 8 new sites: two in in Kampong Cham and six in Prey Veng province. Next month we will hand over several sites to UNICEF and share pictures and stories of results from those sites.

Singapore: We completed a 4-month collaboration with students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Advertising and Public Relations Diploma Course. Taking on Lien AID as a client, the students were tasked to create an outreach campaign for Singapore World Water Day, encouraging youths in Singapore to take action against water pollution. Under the mentorship of The Hoffman Agency, the students developed detailed campaign strategies and plans, and in the process gained a deeper understanding of water issues both in Singapore and the region. We’ll be sharing some of their work in upcoming blog posts as well as the students’ take on this experience.

This month we will be celebrating World Water Day with #TheWaterMachine and an outdoor sculpture with the School of the Arts. More of our exciting activities in our next field note. See you next month!