U.S. school donates to keep cholera out
Harare, June 8, 2009: The campaign against the spread of cholera received a boost when a United States school handed over 100 ceramic water filtration systems to a Zimbabwean school in Ruwa, Harare.
Nysmith School in Herndon, Virginia, represented by Steven Ruscus and his son Emory (14), made the donation on Thursday June 4 at a ceremony attended by U.S. Embassy Consul, James Jimenez, and students and teachers of Chiremba primary school, the main beneficiaries of the donation. Nysmith has a student enrolment of 700 in grades Kindergarten through Level 8.
In addition to training the beneficiaries on the use of the water filtration systems, US$1,400 was donated towards the general development of the school. Chiremba school has an enrolment of 1,335 pupils with 33 staff members.
Starting in August 2008, Zimbabwe witnessed the worst cholera outbreak in 15 years, which killed more than 4200 Zimbabweans.
Touched by the plight of Zimbabwean students, Ruscus and his son Emory sprung into action and formed an organization called Nysaves. With support from Jimenez, Nysaves started to raise money for direct aid for Zimbabwe’s school children to counter cholera.
Nysaves raised over $6500, which they used to purchase and transport the ceramic water filtration systems.
Explaining the use of the filtration systems, Ruscus said the special ceramic elements consist of a fine microporous structure, which forms a complete barrier to all particles larger than 0.5 microns in size. Fine particles of silver are evenly dispersed within the structure of the filter element, which prevents the growth of bacteria. The elements also contain an additional activated carbon filling, which removes chemical and organic compounds from the water and improves its taste.
After passing through the filter, safe, filtered water collects in the lower chamber to be drawn off from a tap. The filter is designed to be cleanable. Regular cleaning of the element restores its filtration efficiency. The elements may be cleaned over 100 times before replacement becomes necessary.