One Week Later, Halfway Done!

We are halfway there!!! Having just launched the site a week ago, we've already made tremendous progress. This morning, we passed our halfway mark. Currently: $2,040.

THANK YOU -

Kinza Sentissi

Christine Lohkamp

Charlotte Myer and Julie Myer

Priscilla Poor

Muchas Gracias

to the following new contributors! We're getting closer and closer!

Angela Chen

Chenggang Sui

Kristi McNair

Qianyun Zhang

We are concluding this weekend with a total of $1900! Almost halfway there.

Good night, world!

Happy Easter!

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone! And a big thank you to our newest contributors!! Current standing: $1,710 << that's over 40% of our goal!

Yonghua Zhang

Bruce Ebnother

Jordan Humphrey

The Kirch Family

Josh Burkhardt

Besos!

1/3 Done!

We're 1/3 of the way there!! Had a record number of donors today.

HUGE THANK YOU to all. Currently: $1,375!

Andrew Chapman

Pat Lippe

Yue Zhou

Dr. William Silvers

Haris Hussain

Jenny Zhang

Siming Zhang

Susan Ebnother

Pearl Horng

Dr. Jennifer Foster-Harris

Besos.

Superstars!

We have officially surpassed the 25% mark of our fundraising, thanks to the generous contributions of the following SUPERSTARS:

Molly E Dickinson
Deborah Reighard
Helene Jernick
Aaron Shackelford

A special thank you for all of your continued support. Besos y abrazos!

20%!

This afternoon, while I was in microbiology lab (oh the joy of streaking bacteria across agar plates!) more contributions were made and now we've reached 20% of our goal! Current standing: $865.

THANK YOU to these new donors -

Raheel Anwar

David Lim

Caitlin Basile

Mirza Baig

Together we can make a difference!

15% and Still Going!

Wow. Within a mere 2 hours, we have now surpassed 15% of our $4000 goal. Our current standing is $685. I am truly touched by everyone's generosity.

A shout-out to our latest contributors -

Ali Hoover

Carlos Rangel

James Plummer

Stephanie Wong

Casie Yan

Thank you all so much for bringing us one step closer to Iquitos!

We've Reached 10%!

With the most recent donation from Ms. Morgan Plummer, we're now at $425, which is past our 10% mark! Thank you Morgan and everyone else who's donated so far for making this possible!!

THANK YOU!

A BIG THANK YOU to all those who have contributed so far. Within 12 hours of launching our site, we have already received $375!! That's almost 10% of our goal!

We really appreciate all your donations and support. Please continue to do so by sending the link to your friends, family, and colleagues. Help us spread the word!

Special thanks to the following individuals -

John Tabor - our first donation! Woo hoo! Way to rep TFA and the Heels!

Sam Wang - thanks dad!!

Dr. Rebecca Shoden - thank you for your continued support and guidance throughout the years!

Josh Glick - first PSCOMer!

Daniel Chun - thank you for helping us get the word out there!

Rebecca Freedman - thank you for your support!

Samantha Smith - Thank you, Far! Way to rep TFA and the Heels!

Talk soon,

Chloe

Troubled Waters goes live!

Our fundraising site is now live! Check it out and donate if you're able.

Our fundraising site!

Mission: Iquitos

Our Vision

We believe in a world in which people do not have to worry about how to get water or whether it will make them sick. What would your life be like if you had to worry about this every day? 1.1 billion people around the world do and . The facts do not have to be like this. Our hope is to help change this. 

Our Story

We are four first-year medical students from Pennsylvania State College of Medicine – Katie Dickinson, Kim Faldetta, Derek Reighard, and Chloe Wang. Kim lived in Iquitos, Peru from August 2009 to July 2010 and will now be returning with Katie, Derek, and Chloe as WHO (World Health Organization) and PAHO (Pan-American Health Organization) interns on a summer project on water use and sanitation in six municipalities surrounding Iquitos, Peru. Unbelievably, it is the largest city in Peru that is not accessible by any road and it is in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest!

We will spend several weeks administering surveys, testing various water sources, and talking to locals. For the last few weeks of our trip, we will work on a public health intervention based on the findings of our study.  We will likely be training child health promoters as advocates of at home water treatment through boiling and filtration.  At the conclusion of our project, we will present the data to our supervisors at WHO/PAHO and they will use that data to work on broader initiatives.

We are all incredibly excited to be going down to Iquitos. To get to know us better, click on our individual tabs below! 

The Impact    

Poor sanitation can lead to a wide variety of diseases that cause significant morbidity and mortality. Cholera, leptospirosis, and hookworm are some examples of diseases that thrive in areas of poor sanitation and can cause serious harm or even death to their victims. Each of these diseases occurs or has occurred in at least one of the municipalities surrounding Iquitos, capital of the Loreto region of Peru. 

In the municipalities surrounding Iquitos, Peru, many people do not have access to running water or clean water.  Many must obtain their water from nearby rivers, which may or may not be contaminated with the diseases mentioned above. The inhabitants in all of these communities face significant barriers to obtaining one of the most fundamental human needs: potable water.

It is our goal to assess household water collection, treatment, and use in six municipalities near Iquitos. We will then implement an intervention to help reduce the worm burden and disease transmission seen in these regions.

This project will serve as a tremendous learning opportunity for the whole team – fostering compassion for those in under-served nations, as well as developing leadership skills and team collaboration as we work together. We firmly believe, with the time and effort we put in, there is real potential here to contribute to a possible solution and give the people of Iquitos the clean water they deserve.

Our new blog!

Stayed tuned for updates about our journey to and adventures in Iquitos, Peru!