International Health

INTERNATIONAL HEALTH COMMITTEE

To meet our mission, the IHC has three main objectives:

Education: The IHC develops presentations on international health issues that are presented at the annual education conference (AEC) and at regional WSEHA meetings. Updates to this website include links to technical resources that WSEHA members can access to learn more about international health issues and best practices in basic water and sanitation.

Outreach: The IHC is developing strategic partnerships with sister organizations, such as the Washington State Public Health Association (WSPHA), to better utilize resources to promote environmental health in an international setting. The IHC holds silent auctions on an annual basis at the WSEHA AEC to not only raise money for overseas projects but to increase awareness of international health issues.

Assistance: WSEHA has worked with many different organizations to support projects related to environmental public health. Each year, the IHC chair and WSEHA Board select a recipient for the IHC funds. See the list to the right for project descriptions.

Los Manguitos (2001)
Chipole (2002)
Helene (2002)
Pancansan (2003)
Quito (2003)
Cali
Afghanistan/Ecuador (2004)
Thailand (2005)
Janconuno (2006)
West Bengal, India (2007)
Laos (2008)
Los Rodriguez, Nicaragua (2009)

Kahororo (2013)

Water 1st International (2014)

Mercy Corp (2016)

H2OforLife (2017)

Etta Projects (2018) & Pt II

Help Animals India (2020)

Water1st (2021)

Project Ethiopia (2022)

Etta Projects (2023)

Past IHC-Sponsored Projects

2024 IHC Recipient
Clean Water for Haiti

2024 Amount Raised:

"Most of Haiti’s water sources are contaminated. Haiti’s water problem is widespread, and there isn’t a person in country that isn’t affected by it in some way. We believe we can make a difference. At the center of everything we do we keep three things in focus – are we empowering people, are we improving life for the people we’re working with, and are the changes that are created through our work sustainable?

Clean Water for Haiti is one of the largest, consistently running biosand filter projects in the world. Since our start in 2001 we have installed over 40,000 filters, providing access to clean water at the household level for almost 2% of Haiti’s entire population. The best part? Over 95% of our filters are still in use after the first year. For about $100 US we can build a filter, deliver and install it, and provide a year of support to the family who owns it. On top of that, we get to provide full time employment to local Haitians.

We want Haitian families to know Clean Water for Haiti as a dependable source for household water filtration in Haiti. As we continue to work in a very focused way we want to keep doing what we do better, whether it’s within our filter program, or by making changes and developments within our programs and with the biosand filter itself that will help other projects around the world."

For information about their current operations given the political situation, please read this document.

Here is how YOU can help sponsor Clean Water for Haiti and make this year’s IHC Silent Auction and Raffle successful:

► Donate to the silent auction! Items in the past have included: gift cards, experiences, getaways, books, gently used items and memorabilia, etc. Anything helps!

► Raffle baskets! It’s time to get competitive and creative! IHC is encouraging all WSEHA board members, LHJs, and any individual with a creative spirit to donate your best raffle gift basket. Last year Kitsap Public Health and DOH earned bragging rights for the most money raised and most creative baskets, respectively. Who is going to take the awards from them this year?

► Make a donation using this link: