Water Filters Bring Smiles (and Improved Health)

Volunteer Lizzie with filter

By Laura Manship – Executive Director

Volunteer Lizzie Distributing Water Filters

Volunteer Lizzie Distributing Water Filters

Thank to donations from the Wisconsin Rapids Rotary Sunrise Club, Shoulder to Shoulder was able to purchase 33 water filters.The water filters were given out to 33 families who participate in our Childhood Nutrition program — a program in which children from 6 months to 5 years of age are given monthly micronutrient supplements.  These supplements, called Chispuditos, help to prevent stunting, malnutrition, anemia, and other health problems.  The addition of water filters will ensure that the children are drinking clean water, and thus reducing the incidence of diarrhea and other stomach ailments which are so deadly to young children.

A special thanks to our intern, Lizzie Morris, for taking responsibility for this distribution.  Thanks, Lizzie!  (Lizzie is the smiling American in the photo above.)

The staff reported that the families were so excited to get the filters, that they waited 2 hours for the filters to arrive!!  (As you may know, the roads are largely unpaved, and we had a bit of difficulty with the transportation.  But, the filters finally arrived!)

A great big THANK YOU to the Wisconsin Rapids Rotary Club and to all who support StS’s Nutrition Program.

Families Proudly Carrying Their Water Filters Home

Families Proudly Carrying Their Water Filters Home

“Laura the Robot” Shined in Dubai

By Alan Ostrow – Mentor to Team Honduras

“Laura” Team Honduras’ Robot

The 3rd Annual FirstGlobal International Robotics Competition just concluded its Dubai competition. I am pleased to share the following:

  • Team Honduras’ final rank was 15th out of 190 teams in the world.
  • We were the #1 team in all of the Americas  (from Alaska to Argentina).
  • We won a Silver Medal for the Non-Technical Judges Award. There was no explanation given, but experience tells me that the Judges found Honduras to be a role model team.
  • We made it to the Semi-finals which means we were one of only 4 alliances left in the world to make it that far.
  • Our final record was 7 wins and 2 losses.

Alan’s Interview in Dubai

Team Honduras has competed in this International FirstGlobal Robotics competition for 3 years.  Overall, the Team has a record of 16 wins and 7 losses — which I am sure, places them in an elite class of teams.

There is certainly a lot to be proud of.  One of the things that impressed me most was that they discovered problems with the machine, when they were in Dubai, which could have knocked them out of contention.  But instead of giving up, they worked their way through the problems and built a champion.
They showed a lot of composure and character in the heat of competition.
It was a pleasure to work with Team Honduras.
Thanks
Al

William in Traditional Honduran Clothing

William in Traditional Honduran Clothing