TPRF Gives $50,000 for Clean Water Initiative in Haiti

Grant by The Prem Rawat Foundation will help supply bottled water, water purification, and hydration supplies to earthquake survivors

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the weeks go by since the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, clean water and medical treatment continue to be crucial elements for survival. A grant of US$50,000 from The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) will help provide a two-week supply of bottled water for 42,000 people; distribute purification sachets to produce 13 million gallons of potable water to communities where none is available; and distribute oral rehydration solution and salts (ORS) to treat 125,000 children and adults at risk of severe dehydration and water-borne illnesses.

The AmeriCares Foundation, recipient of the grant, has developed a three-pronged initiative to address the water crisis during the acute phase of disaster response, six to eight weeks after the quake. As clean running water is scarce due to the breakdown of water mains, bottled water is being delivered to shelters, camps and medical facilities.

Even before the earthquake, almost 50% of the population had no access to potable water. Now, with the increase in broken utilities and pipelines, many more people are subject to disease from contaminated water. AmeriCares is undertaking a vast effort to deliver water purification sachets, clean buckets and cloths to communities without clean water along with demonstrations of how to use them.

In a country where almost 10% of children never reach the age of six and one third of the population is under 18, the earthquake is fast becoming a children's crisis. Severe dehydration and water-borne illness is threatening to take many more lives, especially those of the youngest. TPRF's grant will help AmeriCares provide 125,000 at-risk children and adults with an oral solution designed to rehydrate the body and save lives.

This is the second grant that TPRF has made to help survivors of the earthquake in Haiti. Within days of the earthquake, the Foundation made a $50,000 grant to the World Food Program to provide ready-to-eat food for people who could not go back to their homes. Further grants are planned in the future, targeting the most essential needs for recovery over the long term. For TPRF's president, Linda Pascotto, "Providing essential aid is critical, but almost as important, is to help the people of this devastated country to begin to have hope again."

About The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF)

Created in 2001, TPRF works to bring the message of peace of Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji, to people around the world and partners with other charitable organizations to provide food, water, eye care and rapid disaster relief where it is most needed. For more information, visit: tprf.org

SOURCE The Prem Rawat Foundation