“SAFE WATER GARDENS” HUMANITARIAN PROJECT, A REPORT BY IFS GRADE 12 STUDENTS
International French School (Singapore) Terminale Students collaborate with Marc van Loo, initiator and co-founder of the Safe Water Gardens association, and organise a videoconference with him for the IFS community on 9th June.
Donatien, Ilan and Victor, grade 12 students engaged in the Terminale Humanitarian Group (EMC-Investissement), created this year, as part of the Moral and Civic Education programme.
As part of a project to provide support to the association SWG (Safe Water Gardens), they were able to share and collaborate with Marc van Loo, initiator and co-founder of the association.
The Safe Water Gardens association was brought to life by a coalition of scientists, concerned people and business partners. Their aim, to provide a safe and affordable sanitation system for every home in rural areas.
Find below the article written by the students explaining their project and its next step:
For several months now, three students from the Humanitarian Group (EMC-Investissement) have been working with members of the SWG (Safe Water Gardens) association to help villagers in Bintan-Indonesia.
The Terminale students were involved in raising awareness among IFS students and parents about water and sanitation issues in a developing country.
The main objective of the project was to finance the construction of irrigation and sanitation systems for Indonesian families living in the “kampong”.
It was in this context that the humanitarian group made a donation to this association, SWG. A few weeks after the donation, once the work was completed, the three students of the Humanitarian Group (Donatien, Ilan and Victor) accompanied by their teacher Mr Pilon, went to a virtual meeting (on Tuesday, 31st May) with these families in order to discuss the changes brought about by this project.
The first objective of this meeting was to discover the daily life of these families and therefore the different challenges and obstacles they face. In Indonesia, access to running water is not a given for everyone.
Although the government is setting up water treatment and supply systems, these systems are expensive. Moreover, in case of dysfunction, families depend on the government and have to wait a few days for it to be fixed. The system proposed by SWG is cheaper and just as effective.
n order to meet their daily water needs, some families collect water from a well and carry it in buckets. In short, the construction of this infrastructure, financed by the IFS Humanitarian Group, has transformed the daily lives of these families and their living conditions.
From now on, families will be able to satisfy their vital needs. The association is also working to make the water consumed by the villagers more drinkable.
The next step in the humanitarian project?
The webinar “Ideas change the world” organised on Thursday, 9th June at 7 pm.
More information here.
We count on your presence!
The Terminale students
Donatien, Ilan and Victor.
Join us for a live talk on Zoom with Marc van Loo, co-founder of Safe Water Garden. Mr van Loo will discuss the challenges and the impact of unsafe drinking water and share the role that IFS students have played – and continue to play – in powering a global water and sanitation solution.
“How IFS students are turning a dream into reality:
Safe Water and Sanitation for everyone”
On Thursday, 9th June at 7 PM SGT
To learn more about the IFS humanitarian group, click here.