STUDENT ASSOCIATION FOR INTERNATIONAL WATER ISSUES - PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE WATER DEVELOPMENT

The Student Association for International Water Issues (SAIWI) is a unique organization at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and has been promoting sustainable water projects in developing countries since 2000. Students collaborate with faculty in the Graduate Program of Hydrologic Sciences at UNR, and other organizations within those countries (such as the Peace Corp, Life Water, and International Development Missions) to improve water issues that are practical within our small scope and are truly needed in a developing community. In the last seven years, SAIWI members have fundraised to make twelve trips to Ghana, Haiti, Kenya, Panama, Bolivia, Guatemala, and Uganda. Some of SAIWI's projects include but are not limited to; drilling water wells, constructing above ground self-composting latrines, installing a chlorinating pump with a settling pond, and teaching about water borne illnesses and related hygiene to those communities. SAIWI gives students in the hydrological and related sciences an opportunity to use their skills to help others, and at the same time learn about sustainable water issues in developing countries. This clubs' success shows that providing safe and sustainable water to a developing community can be accomplished affordably and in a relatively short period of time.