Feature

Drishty Teams Up With Johns Hopkins
Project Clean Water for Peace

Masudur Rahman

BORN and raised in America, Minhaj Chowdhury was always updated about the happenings in his forefathers' land, Bangladesh. On various occasions, he came to know about the arsenic problem, which is very common in major portion of the country. This tempted him to help the Bangladeshis suffering from arsenicosis. Together with his mate at Johns Hopkins University, Paul Baublitz, he initiated the project 'Clean Water for Peace'. The project was aimed at mitigating arsenic contamination in groundwater reserves.

The project, funded by the Davis Projects for Peace Program, was authorized under supervision of Johns Hopkins University, and was launched at the rural village called Golaidanga, a rural village of Manikgonj in the Singair union. Out of approximately 700 tube wells, there is not a single tube-well in Golaidanga that is arsenic free.

Over the course of three months, a 5-week arsenic awareness campaign was developed teaming up with Drishty Chittagong, a Chittagong-based debating organization that engages in cultural events as well as development initiatives. On reaching Golaidanga, the awareness team taught the school kids in the primary and high schools, the harmful effects of arsenic which they were totally unaware of. The lively interactions with the villagers for a whole month taught the villagers how to stay away from arsenic contamination, and how to save themselves from the arsenic-caused disease, arsenicosis.

Also, to provide them with a source of arsenic-free water, the project distributed 100 Sono Filters to the families living in the village, and to the mosques and schools. The filter won the $1 million Grainger Challenge Prize for being the most sustainable solution to the arsenic problem in Bangladesh and is considered the gold standard when it comes to arsenic filters. The Sono Filters were purchased from Manab Shakti Unnayan Kendro in Kushtia, who manufacture these household filters that filtrates arsenic from groundwater. The villagers were educated on the use of the Sono Filters with the help from the field agent Shikha Akhter, and it gained quick popularity in the common people as the filter does not require any electricity or any other sources of power, nor does it emit any toxic wastes.

The project came to a ceremonious end on the 15th of June 2009, with an open-air seminar at the school ground of Golaidanga. Present at the event were the local chairman, the headmaster of Golaidanga Govt. High School, Drishty president Masud Bakul, Drishty general secretary Saif Chowdhury, the two initiators Minhaj Chowdhury and Paul Baublitz along with several other Drishty members who contributed to the successful completion of the project. The school goers were quizzed on the spot on the theme of staying arsenic free, and the ones who came up with correct answers were instantly awarded with glasses for drinking water, a symbolic representation to provision of clean drinking water. The villagers expressed their heartiest gratitude towards Minhaj and Paul, who have come all the way from USA.

In Bangladesh, an estimated half of the 150 million people are in danger of arsenic poisoning. Along with the deep conflicts this problem creates, the health hazards of arsenic poisoning are also devastating. Arsenic exposure leads to serious health conditions including heart and respiratory failures, reproductive problems, and cancer. Studies suggest that an estimated 270,000 deaths in Bangladesh will occur in the near future due to arsenic-related cancers alone. Arsenic contamination also causes a great deal of social strife based on the false belief that arsenicosis is contagious. Bangladesh is a developing country with the highest amount of arsenic contamination in the world. Arsenic contamination does not alter the smell or look of water. People that consume high amounts of such water suffer from arsenicosis, a disease that affects hundreds of thousands of villagers every year. The initiative taken by the two young Americans can prove to be a cyclical reduction in arsenic contamination in near future, but it would only be possible if all of us are aware and caring to the cause, and help as much as anyone's best. Drishty Chittagong thanks Minhaj Chowdhury and Paul Baublitz from the bottom of their heart, and appreciates all such future endeavors from anyone who is reading this article.

(Writer is a debater and member, Drishty Chittagong.)