Worldwide Water Education
Educate. Empower. Act. The mission of Project WET is to reach children, parents, educators and communities of the world with water education. We invite you to join us in educating children about the most precious resource on the planet — water.
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Howdy, Partner! National Geographic site links Project WET with potential supporters
The Global Action Atlas is a National Geographic website that "spotlights hundreds of local, cause-related projects from around the world to a large audience of concerned citizens, giving individuals opportunities to take action by donating, volunteering, advocating and sharing information." Projects and organizations are thoroughly vetted by the organization's donation processing partner, GlobalGiving, before being showcased. The Global Action Atlas site explains that process on its website:
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!
Picture This: Students in Shanghai Get WET
Project WET, in cooperation with Nestle Water MT and the Chinese Ministry of Education, launched in China earlier this year. Below are some of the best pictures from one of the first Project WET events in China, where students from a Shanghai school learned about water supply, scarcity and more.
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:
New and Noteworthy: Save the Date!
Anyone interested in water and sustainability education for the next generation will want to put these dates on their calendar: September 13-16, 2011. On those days, the Project WET Foundation will be hosting a global water education conference in Bozeman, Montana for people involved in school and community education. The event will include leaders in the field of water education—everyone from UNESCO, NOAA, the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and educational institutions to corporations and businesses seeking to improve and enhance their sustainability programs. The program will offer pre- and post- conference field trips and workshops and a multi-strand workshop agenda covering the following areas: ActionEducation™ (education that leads to real-world solutions); technology education; public/private partnerships including working with corporations; Project WET USA; international education; and special topics such as oceans; weather, climate and change; extreme weather (flooding and drought); energy and water; watershed management; urban waters (storm water); and pharmaceuticals in water.
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!
Where in the World is Project WET? Training Teachers in Tanzania
How do you say "better health through water education" in Kiswahili?
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.”
