Clean water in rural northern Thailand
More than 2/3 of the population of Phrao, a poor district in rural northern Thailand, depend on agriculture for their livelihood, and their drinking water bears the burden. It is no surprise, looking at any satellite image of the area; it is checkerboarded completely with fields and orchards growing corn, rice, mangoes, lychees - Some of the most chemical intensive forms of cash croppings that exist.
Warm Heart, a small grass-roots development organization, exists to empower rural Thai villages through community based initiatives that create sustainable opportunities in the economy, in education and in public health.
That last part is where I come in. My name is Joanne Fitzgibbons, a third year student studying International Development and Geography. For the last year I've gained work experience in community based water quality monitoring in Atlantic Canada, and on August 13th 2014, I will be traveling to Phrao to help Warm Heart with the creation and implementation of a water quality monitoring program that they can call their own.
With this program in place, Warm Heart will be able to test the drinking water supplies of their community partners in Phrao and surrounding hill-tribe communities for harmful pollutants like the pesticides and herbicides that infiltrate ground and surface water throughout the region. With this data at their disposal, they will be able to launch further projects with the help of Engineers Without Borders to filter the chemicals out of the water and proactively protect against future contamination and autoimmune diseases.
The equipment I need to take with me includes a colorimeter, a block reactor, and reagents to test for total nitrogen, phosphorous and chlorine (some of the elements that appear in organophosphate and organochlorine pesticides and herbicides). The total cost of this equipment will be CAD $3,446.00 - And it's all out of pocket for me.
The funds raised here WILL NOT be used to pay for anything of mine, such as flights or accomodation - The money raised in this campaign is being spent on the necessary equipment only, and anything raised above and beyone the cost of the equipment will go directly to Warm Heart as a donation.
Being able to purchase this equipment for Warm Heart to use and keep would be invaluable for protecting the health of the people in Phrao and the surrounding villages - Help me make it happen! 
The Warm Heart family, featured above, and some photos from the communities they work with and the kids that they house at their Children's Home!