"Water for All" — The Fifth Project in China: We Made Butuo County Different

As of June 2017, Bolaite and its employees have donated a total of RMB 724,598.00 to farmers and herders for the "Water for All" project 100% of Bolaite's employees participated in this program and everyone was very happy to solve the difficulties with regard to drinking water, environment and sanitation equipment for thousands of villagers living in several poverty-stricken mountain villages in Western China.

Butuo County is a national poverty-stricken county situated on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, with the per capita annual income of less than RMB 2,300. Its special geographical location leads to the uneven distribution of local water resources in time and space. In addition, the health of local villagers was affected by many issues, such as serious damage to water supply system, shortage of maintenance funds, lack of sanitation facilities, and malnutrition.

In April 2016, the fifth project of "Water for All" in China was officially launched in Bori Village and Eqing Primary School, Huolie Township, Butuo County, southeast of Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. The project was jointly initiated by Atlas Copco China and its non-governmental organization partner, Humana People to People China, with a total investment over RMB 653,000.

Finally, we are delighted to see that the implementation of the project has brought tangible changes to 1,049 villagers, teachers and students, and 1,500 livestock in Huolie Township, including the changes in safety and accessibility of drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and conditions, nutritional status and hygiene practices, and knowledge of water storage and environment.

At the end of the project, a delegation consisting of 11 employees from Atlas Copco in Greater China visited Bori Village of Butuo County, where the project was implemented. Our project has built new impounding reservoirs and public toilets for local villages, and as a result, the villagers can use water at home, and the children also have new hand washing sinks and bathrooms at school. The members of the delegation were still with a heavy heart while they saw that the children of poverty-stricken families were wearing misfit dirty clothes as winter approaches, especially in Butuo, where the annual average temperature is about 10°C.

After receiving the feedback from the delegation, the Corporate Communications Greater China issued a call to all companies affiliated to Atlas Copco China on October 26 to advocate all employees donating winter clothes to the villagers in Bori Village, Butuo County. In just one week, 21 companies in Greater China (including Bolaite) raised 73 boxes of clothes and sent them to Butuo County from 12 cities, including Shanghai, Wuxi, Qingdao, Nanjing and Guangzhou. Seeing these clothes packed and sent out, the heart of everyone is full of warmth.