Representatives from the Water & Sewerage Corporation, Miya Bahamas and Arison Group provided repairs, upgrades and upkeep to vital community facility.

NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS — Making a difference and adding value on a personal, communal and global level are the principles at the heart of the internationally recognized Good Deeds Day, celebrated in more than 50 countries worldwide, and now The Bahamas as well. Based on these values, businesswoman and philanthropist, Shari Arison, initiated Good Deeds Day in 2007. 

Since then, Good Deeds Day has been an annual celebration for thousands of people across the world performing good deeds and giving back to local communities. 

Last week Ms. Arison and other representatives of the Arison Group teamed up with volunteers from Miya Bahamas and the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) for Good Deeds Day at the Elizabeth Estates Children’s Home in Nassau, The Bahamas. Miya, a subsidiary of Arison Investments, is conducting a 10-year comprehensive water efficiency project with the WSC. 

Dozens of volunteers gathered for the day at Elizabeth Estate Children’s Home to paint buildings, clean and repair windows, beautify the garden, install new efficient toilets and faucets and mowed the lawn. The new plumbing fixtures are designed to help conserve water and improve efficiency at the Children’s Home. New signage and swing sets were also installed for the young residents at the home.

The administrator of the Elizabeth Estates Children’s Home, Betty-Ann Brooks, said that she and the children were very appreciative that they were chosen as the volunteer destination this year on Good Deeds Day.

“The children and I are very excited for all that is happening,” Brooks said. “There are 37 children living here and we needed this help, so we are grateful for the improvements to the Children’s Home.” To ensure that the children understood the importance of water conservation, representatives from the Water & Sewerage Corporation performed a leak detection demonstration to teach the young residents how leaks occur, the damage they can cause and how to detect and repair them.

In addition to the work done on Good Deeds Day, Miya Bahamas also had volunteer teams at the home throughout the week to prepare for the work and ensure that the renovations were completed on Friday. Ms Arison said that she is glad that Good Deeds Day was a success.

“Today was an important opportunity for our local representatives of Miya Bahamas and our partners at the Water & Sewerage Corporation to team up to help the communities we serve,” Ms Arison said. “This global effort has a very real, tangible impact on local communities, so being here today and meeting the people at Elizabeth Estates Children’s Home has been a wonderful experience.”

One of the highlights of the day was the artistic demonstration by a 17-year old young man at the home when he painted a portrait of Shari Arison in front of a crowd who watched in awe. Ms Arison left with a portrait by the budding artist as a “thank you” gift from the children.

More about the Project

Miya and the WSC signed a contract to implement a long-term approach to significantly reduce water losses, the major cause of system inefficiency. In the Bahamian water distribution system, almost 7 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of water, 90% of which comes from expensive desalination plants, was lost to leaks in the system. The overall goal of the project is to reduce these losses to just 2.5 MIGD in 5 years and 2.0 MIGD in 7 years, while also improving the level of service to WSC customers. 

About Miya

• Miya was established by Shari Arison in 2008 as part of Arison Investments, with the vision of ensuring an abundance of fresh water, through efficient management of our world’s existing fresh water resources.
  
• More than a third of the world’s drinking water is lost from municipal supply systems, mainly due to undetected underground leaks. The most sustainable and cost-effective way to prevent such losses is to improve the efficiency of urban water distribution systems by effective water loss management.
  
• Miya optimizes water supply in urban water systems worldwide. It partners with utilities to design and implement comprehensive technology-based solutions that significantly improve the client’s financial and operational efficiency, while also enhancing customer service levels, reducing energy consumption, and lowering contamination and health risks, to benefit people, community, and the environment.
  
• Miya’s solutions comprise an audit of the city’s water system, full project planning, on site execution, maintenance, and training. Holding vast experience in implementing water efficiency projects around the globe, Miya is primarily active in Brazil, South Africa, Canada, the Caribbean, and the Philippines.

For more information on Miya please visit www.miya-water.com