Canadian Natural Health Coalition

Problem: Aladimma Owerri, Nigeria -- Facing widespread cases of gastrointestinal problems due to contaminated water, there had to be a solution. Teaching people basic domestic sanitation practices and development of healthy lifestyles included encouraging people to boil water. This raised the cost hurdle of boiling the water or treating with aluminum.    Joachim Ezeji formulated the idea for the Rural African Water Development Project (RAWDP) in 2000. As Program Officer with an engineering company, su...

Action: To promote public health through appropriate intervention in household water treatment and sanitation, particularly in the environmentally ravaged communities in Nigeria.   Methods of daily domestic (point of use rather than point of source preventing potential recontamination) water filtration in the Niger delta region vary according to what people can afford. Methods include (1) boiling water, least expensive, (2) Moringa "dosing" sedimentation, (3) Biosand filter, (4) Alum, which is most...

Problem: Guadalajara, Mexico is experiencing water scarcity at an advanced stage. Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest lake, is currently drying up. Guadalajara receives water from Lake Chapala where diminishing water, rampant pollution, and rapid population growth combine to create increasing scarcity. The communities I plan to work with are at a critical point in fighting the construction of the Arcediano dam which will force the dislocation of one community and severely threatens the health of the other....

Action: We are traveling to Guadalajara, Mexico in September to research community water management with the Mexican Institute of Community Development (Instituto Mexicano para el Desarollo Comunitario). In a quickly growing city with a quickly depleting water supply, water justice is an important component of the solution. Our project focuses on three communities actively engaged in water policy and water management both internally and regionally.  Not only is Mex...

Problem: Today, more than 1.2 billion people live in “extreme consumption poverty”. Seventy five percent of those people live in rural areas, have small plots of land and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Solutions to rural poverty must therefore focus on these rural poor farmers.

Action: Poverty is a multifaceted problem. IDE focuses on income generation in the belief that increased income provides a foundation for rural farm families to address other important needs, including education and medical care.   From experience, IDE has developed a unique market oriented approach to rural economic – Poverty Reduction through Irrigation and Smallholder Markets (PRISM) - see toolki...