In February 2020, the Interact Club of Marblehead started a fundraising project to build toilets for individual homes in Mewat in the Nuh district, 2 hours south of New Delhi, India. Predominantly populated by Meos (indigenous Muslims), Mewat lags on almost every developmental measure, where sanitary facilities such as toilets and clean drinking water are persistently lacking in homes and schools.
As a result, Mewat is a hot spot for international development assistance. It is also a go-to site for National Immunization Day (NID) in the Delhi region for Rotarians from many parts of the world. The latrine project addresses the multiple issues endemic to poverty-stricken villages like Mewat, in which women often bear the most. Girls have suffered from higher dropout rates, poor maternal health, high infant mortality, and violence when they try to relieve themselves in the open without a closed-in structure.
When the lockdown hit in March 2020, activities across non-essential organizations, schools, businesses came to a standstill. However, as the new virus spread globally, the sponsoring club for the latrine project in India, the Rotary Club of Delhi South Metropolitan, and its lead US partner, Rotary Club of Morgan Hill in California, were committed to seeing this project through. More than ever, it became urgent to build these toilet stations as these communities were reporting an unprecedented spike of Covid 19 cases. As a result, the fundraising efforts for this project took on a pressing turn.
Marblehead Interact still wanted to help. Fortunately, the high schoolers had already banked $600 for the project before the lockdown, but additional fundraising collaborations with other Interact clubs across the district came to a halt. The question was how to appeal for more funding away from our home turf when our local community was inundated with unequaled needs of its own? Things came together when Rotarians sprang into action.
First, a donor matched the Interact's initial fund, of which Marblehead Rotary doubled in kind. Then, the donation pool was again matched dollar for dollar by the local District 7930 with the available district-designated funds (DDF) for a global grant. The groundswell in community giving had reinvigorated the high schoolers' project – to improve the lives in the villages by some 8,400 miles.
After a challenging year and a half, compounded by a series of lockdowns, restrictions, and monsoons, the project has finally been completed with 220 individual latrines built serving 3,000 people in two villages. Out of those 220 toilets built, "the first 20 toilets are dedicated to the Marblehead Interact students," wrote Manjit Sawhney, the lead host of the program from Rotary South Delhi Metropolitan. It is an acknowledgment that in philanthropy, every effort counts, big or small, and no gift is too minor to make a lasting impact.
The individual latrine has a composting capacity; a water tank for flushing and a sink for washing hands after use. (L); The womenfolk of Mewat (Top-right); the inauguration with a visit from the District Governor RID 3011, Anup Mittal (bottom-right).