National Geographic works closely with GlobalGiving to carry out a thorough due diligence process for every organization featured on the Atlas. The organizations behind every project on the Action Atlas must meet the following criteria:

• Their work has significant positive social or environmental impact.

• They have a track record for delivering on promises.

• They are not listed in any terrorist databases.

• Their projects are eligible for international philanthropic donations

We are pleased to have four projects featured on the Global Action Atlas. They are:

Hands-on WASH education for students and teachers in Northern Uganda

Help improve the lives and health of Bolivian school children

Hands-on WASH education for students and teachers in Zimbabwe

Help improve the lives of Peruvian school children through water education

Check them out, and please sign up to be a Project WET fan.

Of course, you can also "like" us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, if that's more your thing. Better yet, do all three!

A Shanghai student enjoys the interactive, hands-on lessons.

Project WET Senior Vice President John Etgen teaches "The Blue Planet", a lesson demonstrating how much of our planet is covered with water.

Each participant received a Project WET China vest.

A boy shows off his "Incredible Journey" beads, which help demonstrate the water cycle.

The schoolchildren show their enthusiasm for water and Project WET.

Want to learn more about the Project WET launch in Shanghai? You can also watch a video prepared by our partners about the day's events:

To get general information about the conference, please contact Linda Hveem.

If you’re interested in being a vendor or exhibitor, contact Erin Vait.

Members of the media or representatives of corporations can contact Nicole Rosenleaf Ritter.

See you on September 13, 2011!

The words may be simple to translate, but the concepts are far from easy. Our international team has been working this year to translate and localize the Project WET WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) materials to make them applicable and useful to children and teachers in Tanzania.

The latest step in the process was for Africa Project Manager Molly Ward and International Project Assistant Morgan Perlson to travel to Tanzania during the first 10 days of August to host two training sessions on the newly completed and published Kiswahili Project WET WASH materials in Kiswahili.

The first day-long training took place on August 4 in the small town of Mtwara. Located on the coast of southeastern Tanzania, Mtwara is--according to the Tanzania Tourist Board--a relatively remote town along the rugged patch of coastline that leads to the country's border with Mozambique. Approximately 40 educators--including district academic officers and teacher resource center representatives--were trained in the WASH materials so that they could return to their home communities and lead further teacher trainings.

The semi-autonomous archipelago territory of Zanzibar was the site of the second training. Also known as "Spice Island", Zanzibar provided a beautiful backdrop for a day of hands-on learning for another 40 or so Tanzanian educators and education officials.

Writing to Molly after the workshop, one of the local leaders shared that “even the new participants were so excited, enjoyed and really love the project.”

These most recent trainings followed on the heels of workshops completed in June 2010 in each region of Tanzania. At those workshops, local educators provided input about the best ways to customize ourexisting Project WET WASH materials to make them more appropriate and applicable in their regions. One example of a change in material based on local need was the addition of a neglected disease, bilharzia (Schistosomiasis), which is prevalent on the island of Pemba in Zanzibar.

Overall, with the support of USAID, Project WET has printed enough Kiswahili materials to distribute 200 KIDs booklets and 5 Educator’s Guides to every primary school and every Teacher Resource Center in each region of Tanzania. The materials are expected to be used in more than 900 schools, with the potential to reach approximately 1.3 million students. If results there are similar to what we've seen in other African nations using WASH materials, Tanzanian children will experience better health thanks to water education.

Project WET’s Molly said that the WASH work in Tanzania is rewarding both because it is such a beautiful place to visit and work, but more importantly because the need on the ground for these materials is so clear.

“To be able to provide local people with something useful that they also participate in customizing is incredibly rewarding. It is clear that the people we work with truly appreciate our efforts and we love to see them take ownership and pride in the end product they have helped produce. We have found in previous projects that by including local input the materials are much more likely to be utilized and make a difference.”

We realize that readers come to us from all kinds of backgrounds--teachers who use Project WET in the classroom, people who work in international development looking for innovative ways to present water education, Project WET partner organizations that want to know what's next, parents who want to teach their kids about conserving water, corporations that are concerned about sustainability and many other folks who are just plain interested in water and water education. With that in mind, we want to offer a little something for everyone in the world of water.

Posts from now on will be classified into the following categories so that readers can tell at a glance whether the information is applicable to their particular niche:

The Book Shelf: The latest information about Project WET publications as well as other noteworthy water education materials. We will be seeking recommendations for non-Project WET publications, blogs and other resources to highlight in this category.

Notes from the Classroom: This is a chance for teachers around the world to share how they are using Project WET materials in the classroom, so if you have something to share, please let us know! In addition, we may highlight trainings, curriculum and other teacher-related goodies to appeal to educators of all kinds.

Where in the World is Project WET? Updates from the international team on their work around the world, combined with stories about the results of that work. Our international partners are also invited to contribute their experiences for this category.

New and Noteworthy: When Project WET makes news, this is the place to find it. Everything from press releases to the latest media coverage will be available in this category.

Success Stories: In the United States and internationally, Project WET is having an impact. This category explains exactly how Project WET is changing lives on the ground.

Howdy, Partner! Project WET has partners in all 50 U.S. states and in 50 countries around the world, and we'd like to introduce you to some of them! If you are a Project WET partner organization, we want to hear from you. Tell us what you're doing and we will share it with the world.

Picture This: At least once per week, we would like to feature photography and video relating to water and water education. Images and videos might come from our latest international or domestic training, our participation in a world water conference or just our team's shots of some of the world's most important bodies of water. Want to have your photos posted on our site? Click here!

But lists can be overwhelming. Instead, you can see a succinct accounting of the impacts that we had around the world and closer to home in 2009, by looking at the 2009 Annual Report. This readable, compact view of Project WET's activities has just been released to the public, so check it out!

Of course, watching and commenting on our videos is not the only way to connect with Project WET. We also have a Facebook page and Twitter feed. Join in the conversation!

Here's an excerpt:

Although too often synonymous with brutal wars and displaced persons, Northern Uganda today is the site of an ambitious pilot program to improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) education and decrease water-borne diseases. Now, a year after launch, the initial results are in—and the impacts are dramatic.

Please visit DefeatDD.org to read the whole story. Thanks to DefeatDD.org and PATH for featuring some of our work in Africa!

To learn more about Project WET's work with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs, please visit our overview of the activities.

In "The Incredible Journey", Project WET VP John Etgen demonstrates one of our most popular activities, showing why the Project WET hands-on approach to learning is so effective.

In "Africa Project", still photos of children in the Lake Victoria School in Entebbe, Uganda are set to the music of the pupils singing the Project WET Hand Washing Song. Statistics show that following the implementation of Project WET's water, sanitation and hygiene materials in Entebbe, hand washing rates skyrocketed 800 percent among pupils, lowering absence and illness rates.

"About Water Festivals" is part of the comprehensive "About Project WET" video that explains more about the organization as a whole.

Stay tuned for more videos as they become available.

Much of the work is focused on educating children about water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and disease prevention and the water cycle, especially in Africa. Preventable diseases like typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis, polio and cholera have proliferated in Africa because of a lack of access to clean water as well as a poor understanding of proper hygiene. More information about Project WET's WASH initiatives in Africa--including some of the materials being used--can be found on the Sanitation and Hygiene resources page.

To support Project WET's activities internationally, read Where in the World is Project WET and/or make a donation.