Enactus University Students Drive Innovation, Solutions To Water And Sanitation Challenges Through World Water Race

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Enactus 2018 World Water Race culminates at the Enactus World Cup in San Jose October 9-11 when teams from around the world present projects of impact to an audience of executive leaders. These teams who are founding social innovation projects and tackling the water and sanitation crisis through entrepreneurial action, exemplify the next generation of leaders.

Participating students compete in the Enactus World Water Race – sponsored by: The Coca-Cola Company, Dell Inc., Wells Fargo and Company, XPV Water Partners – and on October 10 the top teams and their country operations will be awarded funding to scale their project impact.

"At Enactus, we believe investing in students who take entrepreneurial action for others creates a better world for us all," said Rachael Jarosh, Enactus president and CEO. "Our World Water Race teams are innovating to help alleviate the water scarcity and sanitation challenges in communities around the world. We believe real solutions will surface by tapping into the talent found in this next generation of leaders. Together with our global network, Enactus is making measurable progress and a sustainable, positive impact."

While these students take the stage to present their projects to a select panel of executive judges, the real impact is created in communities around the world through projects like these:

• Working in an area where rainwater is available, yet clean drinking water is not, Enactus students from Federal University of Pará in Brazil created a low-cost rainwater harvesting tool from reused food industry waste. The business then trains and employs at-risk youth to build and sell the rainwater systems through a digital application. To further impact, low-income families receive a donated system for every 5 systems sold.
• The Enactus team from Jesus and Mary College in New Delhi, India, established a network of female entrepreneurs who produce and market compost that diverts waste from landfills or bodies of water by sourcing waste from nearby colleges and communities. The business has already diverted 134.4 tonnes of waste and successfully sold compost to nurseries and schools that use the product as manure to grow food.
• The Enactus team at Shri Ram College of Commerce in India is providing clean drinking water to residents in rural and urban slums at a fraction of the price previously paid for potable water. The team is partnering with a local NGO to select and train entrepreneurs to reach even more communities. It is one of the first organizations to use reverse osmosis-based filtration and diluted sodium hypochlorite that eliminates pathogens and remove bacterial contamination. Additionally, the team is running a public awareness campaign with comic books and localized educational and health checkup camps.
• Enactus students at Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies in India are addressing sanitation problems and social harassment that contribute to water contamination and spread of disease. These students aim to eradicate open defecation in urban Delhi and started by launching a network of entrepreneurs who operate 10 safe, sanitary community toilet complexes. In addition to monitoring services, the entrepreneurs also conducted camps for the public and collaborated with psychologists to curate content to help address social stigma of using the facilities.

The collective impact that these projects, and nearly 200 others, are helping address: 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines, according to the United Nations Development Programme and World Health Organization. Every day, nearly 1,000 children die of a preventable water-related disease. Around 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking water that is fecally contaminated. Enactus teams worldwide are seeking to solve these challenges by launching entrepreneurial solutions.

At Enactus, we believe investing in students who take entrepreneurial action for others creates a better world for us all. Enactus develops college students into leaders who use business to solve community challenges, creating sustainable improvements in the lives of the people their projects serve, and in turn, the lives of the students themselves. As the largest experiential learning platform in the world devoted to social entrepreneurial action, Enactus has more than 72,000 student participants on over 1,700 campuses in 36 countries. In 2017, Enactus students dedicated approximately 7.3 million hours, creating and implementing over 3,800 projects that directly impacted more than 1.3 million lives.

For more information, www.enactus.org.

About Enactus World Cup, beginning 9 October, showcases the collective impact created by its global network of student, business, academic and community leaders. The signature event for Enactus features the top social innovation projects developed by student teams from 36 countries. Enactus World Cup, presented by KPMG and supported by strategic partners, is an immersive learning experience giving attendees the unique opportunity to connect, collaborate and celebrate with 3,000 peers and leaders from around the world.

To learn more about Enactus and the teams competing at Enactus World Cup 2018, visit enactus.org/worldcup/meet-the-teams. Or watch live during the event at enactus.org/worldcup. 

SOURCE Enactus

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