Drops of Sustainability: Education's role in delivering clean water solutions to rural third world communities

Abstract

Within the broad research category of third world development, the purpose of this study derives from foundational issues inherent with philanthropic poverty alleviation efforts. Specific to the global water crisis, the vast majority of clean water solutions delivered in the form of charity and welfare to third world communities are failing, because philanthropic firms unknowing employ unsustainable approach methods to their delivery. Discovering the underlying issues deemed prudent for constructing a poverty alleviation model that had sustainability at its core, is how the research question framed in this study was unveiled. The purpose of this research is to identify which sustainability success factors must be incorporated into a delivery approach, in order to secure the longevity of improvements that are delivered by clean water solutions to rural-targeted poverty classes. The execution of this study is a multi-phase construct in which initial preparatory research allowed for the eventual field application of my research findings. The field application of my research deliverable involves implementing a carefully constructed sustainability checklist into a holistic development approach for piloting water programs in rural areas throughout the Dominican Republic.