A Rotarian’s Thirst For Service Benefits Ghana

By Steve Bigham

Every five minutes, 67 children around the world die from drinking contaminated water. According to the United Nations, four million children die each year due to a lack of clean water. The shortage of clean, safe water for drinking, bathing and washing ranks as one of the world’s worst problems.

Newtown resident and Rotarian Harvey Sellner, now retired, wants to help stop this worldwide epidemic and has chosen one tiny corner of the world on which to focus his efforts. These days, he is preparing to ship dozens of water purifiers to the African nation of Ghana. With the help of his fellow members of the Newtown Rotary Club, the effort is becoming a reality.

“Water purifiers are common here in the United States. However, in Africa, where they are needed most, there are few, if any. They have diseases you have never heard of,” Mr Sellner explained. “We’re using Ghana as a proving ground to convince the right people that the inhabitants of Third World countries can have access to safe drinking water.”

Mr Sellner is founder of the organization which calls itself the World Help through Technology (WHT) Foundation. Its mission is to help the people of Third World countries through the use of technology. Its main focus now is water, although it has also focused its attention toward education and disaster relief.

“We live in one of the richest nations on earth, at a time when our technological abilities can perform miracles,” Mr Sellner explained. “What would happen if we utilized our expertise to help other people solve their terrible problems? I believe that this would be a better world.”

Mr Sellner is packaging these water purifiers, along with several donated computers, in a large sea-going container, which is expected to arrive in Ghana this spring. The shipment cost is $4,000, which, according to Mr Sellner, is well worth it if it saves a life. The purifiers will be used in rural village clinics and hospitals.

Each purifier is designed to connect to a contaminated source in a public building, and, through the use of carbon filters and ultraviolet lights, provide safe drinking water at one gallon per minute.

Instapak, a division of Sealed Air in Danbury, has offered to pack the computers and purifiers with a special expandable packing material.

Ghana was chosen for the water purification project after Mr Sellner and Rotarian Ed Osterman met Ghana resident Kwame Pongo, who was visiting the United States as part of the “Up With People” tour. He explained the plight of his country and the need for help.

Ghana, located in western Africa near the equator, was the first African colony to declare its independence. Today, Ghana’s government understands the importance of education and the role it will play in eliminating the country’s Third World status.

Mr Sellner and his wife, Calla, visited Ghana this past July to cement relationships with dignitaries in the Ghana capital of Accra and the port city of Tema. Mr Sellner, a retired engineer from Perkin Elmer, also worked closely with medical people to work out the placement and other logistics of the purifiers.

“We only have so many purifiers, so WHT is trying to maximize the good they can do,” Mr Sellner said.

The shipment to Ghana will also include 20 cases of books (500 to 600 total) that were collected from the library’s annual book sale.

Another WHT Foundation project is now taking hold in the troubled African nation of Somalia.

In 1991, Mr Sellner visited Jeremie, Haiti, one of the poorest towns in the Western Hemisphere, to install purifiers. The clinic still depends on the devices to provide safe drinking water.

Newtown Rotary has access to 1,000 of these water purification units that were once used as salesman’s samples. The cost of refurbishing a unit is only $100, which includes filters, UV bulbs, spares for each and conversion to 220V, which is most common overseas.

For more information on how you may help, call Harvey Sellner at 426-6548.