Newtown Rotary Club And World Help

Foundation Take Safe Water Program To Barcelona

 Newtown Rotary Club and the World Help Foundation jointly developed a Safe Water Program for Rotary Clubs around the world to bring potable drinking water to third world countries. The official “kick-off” event took place in Barcelona, Spain, at the Rotary International Convention June 22 to June 26.

 More that 19,000 people attended the convention that featured Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union as the keynote speaker. Two Newtown couples, Calla and Harvey Sellner and Dot and Duane Baumert, discussed and demonstrated the Safe Water Systems at their exhibition booth to members of more than 1,000 Rotary clubs during the five-day convention. The World Help Foundation, headquartered in Newtown, has developed technology and equipment that can provide safe, potable water from polluted ponds and streams in small quantities to schools and clinics and larger quantities for communities of 5,000 people or more.

 The Rotary worldwide organization has a membership of more than 1.2 million members in 31,000 clubs in some 165 countries, providing a network that can bring Safe Water Systems to the neediest countries around the world.

The technology has been specially adapted to purify water for people in third world countries who have minimal resources. It consists of a combination of activated charcoal filters and ultraviolet light to eliminate the harmful bacteria, heavy metals, and chemicals from the water.

The Rotary clubs will provide the link to deliver and install the Safe Water Systems. A similar effort was started in 1985 to eradicate polio from the face of the earth and today polio remains in only a few African and Asian Countries. Rotary has led the effort to polio ratification effort and plans to complete the job by its 100 birthday in 2005.

 The World Help Foundation is located at 225 South Main Street in Newtown. The Newtown Rotary Club meets on Monday nights at 6:15 pm at the Fireside Inn. Any one interested in becoming involved with the program can contact Duane Baumert of the Rotary Club at 426-8895 or Harvey Sellner at the World Help Foundation at 270-7853.