ANZ and World Vision sign clean water deal

THE Australia-New Zea­land Bank (ANZ) last Thursday signed an agreement with World Vision to provide a simple water filtration system to disadvantaged communities in and around Port Moresby.
The partnership allows for World Vision to train ANZ Bank staff in basic hygiene and sanitation awareness programmes so they can use their volunteer leave to help their communities and become accredi­ted World Vision volunteers.
The aim is to give communities clean and safe drinking water and to make them aware of good hygiene and sanitation practices to avoid contracting water-borne diseases.
World Vision national director Curt von Boguslawski said this system would not solve the problem of not having access to water, “but it will give clean water back to the communities so they can still be healthy”.
“This system is good during natural disasters and similar or where access to clean water is difficult,” he said.
“Our role is to help people understand the importance of water and access to it to prevent diseases.
“So, with ANZ coming on, we will be training them to understand and learn the value of clean water so they can go out and tell communities about this,” he said.
The filtration system supplier, Basic Care, said the system did not need electricity or running water.
During a demonstration, Mark Seddon said people just had to pour water into a jug and let it run through the filter system hose into a tube to get clean and safe water.
Basic Care supplies non-governmental organisations working in communities with the filtration system which costs K199.