Editors Note: We have updated this article from our March Newsletter to supplement the Presidential Comments on our Nepal Water Project in this Newsletter.
Bob Stuart (image to left), our Club's International Director and former Rotary International Director, was the featured speaker for our March 2 Club meeting. He provided an inspiring and timely update on our global grant project in Nepal during Rotary International's World Water Month. Bob took the lead for this project for our club, and we worked with the Rotary Club of Dhulikhel in Nepal, Rotary District 6460, and the WASH Action Group to create a gravity-flow water system that brought sustainable, clean water access to a village in need for the Dhakalthok Drinking Water Project—changing lives for generations to come.This International Project took place in Nepal and was completed and turned over to the village on April 21, 2026. Located between China and India, Nepal is one of the poorest countries in world with a GDP per capita of $470. Nepal is dominated by the Himalaya Mountains, and many communities struggle with getting potable water. This problem was aggravated by the 7.8 Earthquake in 2015, which killed over 9,000 individuals, destroyed thousands of homes and schools, and devastated infrastructure.
The village includes 350 individuals and 50 houses and is located on a mountain. Their closest source of potable water had been a river at the bottom of the mountain, 1.5 kilometers, downhill from the village. In the past, women and girls walked down the mountain, filled containers with water, and carried them back up the mountain to the village.
The Global Grant Project (GG2570330) team built a 500 liter storage tank at the water source and an a 50,000 liter storage tank in the village to provide a continuous flow of water from the water source to the village. The water piping system from the river to the village was buried to prevent damage from mudslides and forest fires. The gravity flow system from the storage tank in the village provides potable water to every house. 70 taps have in installed in homes and one school. The water system has regulating valves and meters for safe and affordable water use. The project also provided community-based water and sanitation training.
The water system was officially turned over to the village on April 21, 2026 (images below). District Governor Elect Vishnu Karki attended as the chief guest, along with the President Dr. Anish Joshi and members of the Rotary Club of Dhulikhel-Nepal. Special thanks were extended to Past President Ranjeev Shrestha of the Rotary Club of Dhulikhel and to Past Rotary International Director and member of the Rotary Club of Springfield Bob Stuart for making things happen.
