Rotary Club of Clearwater Plans to Provide Water to Community in Dominican Republic
(l-r) Ms. Myah Moore, Director of Development for Global Initiatives. USF Foundation; Rotarian Fred Simmons; Thomas L. Crisman, Patel Professor of Environment, USF Department of Biology; Dewey Williams, President Rotary Club of Clearwater. The Rotary Club of Clearwater plans to help provide water to the small community of Miches, in the Dominican Republic. Dr. Tom Crisman of the Patel Center at USF presented an update on the plan recently at the Rotary Club of Clearwater, a project that Rotarian Fred Simmons began two years ago as an international project of the Rotary club. The project involves a large water tank that is in need of considerable repair, to stop leakage, replace an inner liner and repair broken valves or faucets. Dr. Crisman, the Patel Professor of Environment at the University of South Florida, is an internationally recognized aquatic ecologist, specializing in water management. He is a consultant to both the United Nations and the US State Department. Rotarian Fred Simmons has drawn the participation of the Rotary Club of Dunedin North and the Rotary Club of North Tampa into the project, plus major oversight support by The Patel Center-USF and Engineers Without Borders- USF. The Rotary Foundation and the local District of Rotary will also contribute financial support. Currently some residents near the tower live in homes without water. Their only supply is to walk down a long hillside, draw water from ground leakage, then carry the water back up the hill. In many cases, it is the children who are assigned this task. Volunteer welders will be needed to attach the inner liner to the metal tank. For more information, Fred Simmons may be contacted at 727-445-1992.
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