Dubai A Dubai-born founder of a US non-profit organisation which seeks to provide clean water to poor communities in the developing world said they are seeking volunteers and philanthropists in the UAE.
Chicago-based Shilpa Alva, 33, co-founder and executive director of Surge, said Dubai volunteers and communities can help alleviate a “silent global water crisis” in which 783 million people do not have access to clean water and almost 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation.
“One in six people in the world still do not have access to clean water. We’re looking at people and volunteers who can help us bring life-sustaining water to those most in need,” said Alva.
Alva is not your typical US-educated non-resident Indian. She has set her heart on issues affecting the world’s poor. She still considers Dubai her home, as she has been visiting family and friends here at least once a year since 1998 when she left for university in the US. She co-founded Surge in late 2008 while living in Minnesota after her graduation.
At 21 she spent a few months as a volunteer in a remote Indian Himalayan village. “It was then that I was confronted with water and sanitation issues for the first time as an adult. We were only able to shower once every three to four days and had to wash our clothes in the murky river water - and we were the fortunate ones who had access to water. This volunteer assignment was a turning point in my life.”
In 2011 she moved to Chicago, which now serves as the global headquarters for Surge and is home to most of the team members.
With Surge Middle East, her plan is to start a chapter in Dubai that will initially focus on creating awareness about the water crisis with a specific emphasis on local water issues. “We believe that every big change starts with education and awareness. We cannot expect people to care if they do not know there is an issue,” she told XPRESS ahead of the chapter’s launch on April 24 at The Mojo Gallery in Dubai.
We also plan to show how local action, such as being mindful of one’s water consumption, can enact global change,” she said.
Eventually, she said, Surge Middle East could carry out the same “core” activities done by the US arm -– including building deep wells in Asia and Africa.
Surge is in the process of registering with the Dubai Humanitarian City.
Box -- Water crisis
* 1 in 6 people do not have access to clean water
* 1 child dies every 20 seconds due to a water related illness
* 800 million people do not have access to clean water
* 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation
