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Madurai, India

Creating a Rain Center

Poster Contest Winner J.E.T. Prasanna, Age 16

Winning Students' Inititating the Project: J.E.T Prasanna, P. Sastha Kanagesabai, R. Sindu Devi, J. Rohan, L. Gomathi with help from their community water committee.

Name of Community: Madurai East and West Village Panchayat Union Block, City of Madurai, Tamil Nadu Region. This project will be implemented with the Goodwill Social Work Center based in Madurai (www.goodwillsocialworkcentre.org).

Project Name: Creation of a 'Rain Center' as a resource to Educate and Train the Community in Urban Rain Harvesting Techniques.

Poster Contest Winner P. Sastha Kanagesabai, Age 12

Nature’s Voice Our Choice in cooperation with students and their mentors from the Goodwill Social Work Center in Madurai, India has developed a project aimed at increasing the technical capacity of people living in slum areas to implement small urban rainwater harvesting projects. The slum areas of Madurai East and West suffer from seasonal severe floods and severe droughts. Rainwater harvesting from rooftops is mandated by the Indian Government and is common practice among those who can afford it. However, in the slum areas, where clean water is needed most, residents lack access to technical resources and training for developing basic rooftop rainwater harvesting structures. This program will train 2 technicians in Urban Rainwater Harvesting at the Anil Agarwal Green Center in New Delhi, India. Prior to the 2009 Monsoon season, these technicians will train 400 residents over 16 weeks in rooftop rainwater harvesting techniques and provide them with on-site technical assistance. Increasing the number of rainwater harvesting structures will provide residents with a source of clean water, reduce flooding and overflowing sewage during the monsoon, and improve the health and living conditions for thousands of children. Please Help us Reach our Goal of raising $1000 by January15th to fund the first phase of the project.

Madurai, India has been working with children, women, and families in Madurai for over 2 decades to develop programs that promote healthy family environments, build confidence, empower people to act, and educate slum dwellers about their rights. In March over 300 students participated in the

Poster Contest Winner J. Rohan, Age 4

Center's 'Children's Rights Through Artwork Program' and created drawings that were later submitted to our World Water Day International Poster Contest. The above winning students, who participated in the Goodwill Social Work Center's program, live in slums in and around Madurai, India. Their health and survival depends as much on healthy environments as on health services. In fact, these children are particularly affected by health related problems which are related to water and sanitation and they are susceptible to diarrheal diseases, intestinal worms and various eye and skin ailments.

Poster Contest Winner L. Gomathi, Age 4

The water resource problems are numerous in the slum areas of Madurai including:

Domestic and industrial waste entering streams and ponds,
Waste streams running through the streets,
Inadequate protection of potable water causing water borne diseases,
Lack of access to water resources,
Lack of public awareness of health and sanitation,
Improper planning to preserve/conserve rain water during monsoon season
Apathy and indifference of the local government machineries.

The Goodwill Social Work Center held an award ceremony to present each poster contest winner with award certificates and honor their acheivement

The 'Rain Center' will consist of a library of resources and staffed with technicians to train and assist Goodwill's community to implement rain water harvesting techniques to improve and secure their water supply. In addition the center would focus on educating children on the link between health and hygiene, water conservation, and rain water harvesting

This project is part of a larger ‘Student’s Give Water a Voice’ program which promotes artistic expression of the water challenges facing students and empowers them to realize their ability to make changes and take action.

Map of India with the city of Madurai circled in Red

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 09 December 2008 )

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