To members of BAFI and other friends.
6 years ago I became aware of the arsenic pollution in Bangladesh and vowed to help.
On BBC (UK) and National Public Radio in US I pointed out that is the largest man made environmental catastrophe that has made Chernobyl look like a Sunday School picnic
After a false start the Harvard/MIT program got started 2-3 years ago. I decided to work with Dhaka Community Hospital and their 40 clinics in various parts of the country. Charles Harvey, now at MIT, is studying the hydrochemistry and hydrogeology. David Christiani at the School of Public Health and the Medical School, has started a long term epidemiology program to understand causes and cures. But they cannot succeed unless there is immediate help to the poor suffering people.
2 years ago I was able to get some $30,000 in charitable funds which was sent to DCH and went directly to the villagers for a new sanitary dugwell project.
We decided that it was vital to:
(1)Follow WHO sanitation guidelines rigorously (cover the wells; keep away from latrines etc)
(2)Involve the local community in design, and implementation of the construction, and commitment for continuous maintenance and monitoring.
Under these conditions the project has worked well. A detailed report of the first wells – covering 7,000 people – is available on the web at
dugwells.html
or you may use the “shortcut” at . Many others are being built.
10 days ago I visited several of the villages and was greeted by the villagers with overwhelming thanks. At one village of 700 or so people, no wells had been free of arsenic 2 years ago. 347 people had arsenic poisoning. They had been drinking arsenic laden water for 12 years with no obvious solution.
I invite you to help and make a small contribution. We suggest that you help the village of your birth $350 buys a brand new sanitary dugwell or $200 a reconditioned dugwell serving 3- 4 families; $600 can buy a bigger dugwell with water piped to the houses. If you cannot afford that much, maybe you can contribute a part of a well or $100 of measuring equipment.
Gifts may be sent to me at:
Richard Wilson
Department of Physics
HarvardUniversity
CambridgeMA02138
Or direct to Dhaka Community Hospital
I will ensure that the gift goes directly to the people in the villages. Please tell me the village that you want to support and Dr Quasi Quamruzzaman (Director of Dhaka Community Hospital with 40 subsidiary clinics) has undertaken to give that village priority.
If you need the funds to be tax exempt I will route them through Harvard University. I am starting a public foundation, “The Arsenic Foundation” but it is not yet ready.
The attached photos show from Left to Right then Top to Bottom:
from the village of Ruppur (Pabna district):
(1) A covered , sanitary, surface dug well. This cost about $350 and supplies about 14 families of 150-200 people.
(2) From the same well, water is now pumped to a tank from which pipes lead to 7 independent taps. The sign shows, on left the names of the village supervising committee and on the right the list of householdsdirectly supplied by the well
(3) A young lady drinking water from the tap in her kitchen. The first time in history the village has had running water!
(4) Another sign
(5) The hands of a man developing keratoses. This, alas, may be irreversible
(6) From the village of Kashinathpur: A new well being dug; my funds pay the salary of the laborer and capital equipment
(7) The welcome given to me (and a member of the Harvard Epidemiology team) by children of the village
(8) From the village of Monakosha: A pond sand filter providing water for 100 families totaling nearly 1000 people. The water is filtered through layers of sand and other material and is tested to be free of coliform bacteria. The open tank is just being cleaned..
I note that the equipment for testing coliform bacteria that I obtained was designed by CLEAN INDIA – a small non-profit company in New Delhi started by my friend Dr Ashok Khoskla, who got his PhD with Harvard Physics Professor Norman Ramsey nearly 30 years ago and was awarded the United Nations Environment prize last year.
PLEASE GIVE WHAT YOU CAN