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Over 600 million Indians defecate in the open every day because they have no toilet. This practice cripples health, economic, and social outcomes. Open defecation (OD) causes the spread of infectious diseases that kill an estimated 300,000 children under five every year. The economic costs of OD total nearly $54 billion lost each year in India, with rural households bearing the highest per capita loss. Furthermore, women and girls who lack convenient access to toilets often miss school and work while they are menstruating. SHRI ends open defecation in India by constructing community toilet facilities that are free to use. They include eight toilets for women, eight for men, hand-washing stations, and a biogas digester (a large underground tank). Human excrement is stored in this tank where it decomposes to produce methane gas. SHRI uses this energy source to produce electricity, which powers a water filtration plant that uses a patented resin filter to remove arsenic, fluoride, iron, and bacterial contaminants. The resulting potable water is sold for $0.008 per liter, less than half the current market cost, helping SHRI to generate revenue to offset its monthly facility O&M costs. This ensures facility cleanliness, a key predictor of sustained toilet use. Thus SHRI fights alongside rural Indian communities to end open defecation as a key step in the struggle for health equity, and social and economic justice.

To harness the multiple benefits trees provide for agriculture, livelihoods, resilience and the future of our planet, from farmers' fields through to continental scales.

To promote, support and maintain educational opportunities and initiatives for children and adults that do not have access to such opportunities and initiatives - predominantly in (but not limited to) Nepal, Indonesia, Africa and Australia To create sponsor partnerships to underwrite individual educational expenses. To support low income schools in developing countries and/or disadvantaged community in order to enhance the educational opportunities that the school can provide and maintain. To provide and/or support the social welfare of families in order to facilitate educational opportunities for family groups. To promote the association's initiative as based on the concept: It is in Giving that We Receive

The mission of Light in the World Development Foundation is to enhance the dignity and quality of life of children, families, and people living in our communities in U.S.A and Africa by eliminating barriers to opportunity and helping people in need reach their fullest potential through the power of organization, projects, donations, and philanthropy.