One week from tonight join us for an inspiring evening for "Women's Making Waves: Global Women's Water Initiative Report Back from Africa". We'll share stories of the women who have transformed from being water bearers to water providers. These women who had never picked up a shovel in their lives are now building rainwater harvesting systems, toilets and water filteres which has resulted in the provision of clean water and sanitation to over 15,000 people in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
It promises to be a night of inspiration and hope!
GWWI Women Making Waves: GWWI Graduates Launch the First
Local Chapter of Global Women’s Water Initiative in Moyo, Uganda
SAVE
THE DATE: Thurs, Oct 25 in Berkeley, CA “"Women Making Waves: GWWI Report Back from Africa”
Martha and Angella have been friends since they were young
children. In 1979 during the Liberation War in Uganda, most people of Moyo, the
town on the northernmost tip of Uganda, had to flee their homeland across the
border of Sudan to safety. Angella and Martha’s families with their young
children left with only their documents, no money and whatever belongings they
could carry on their backs. They walked across the border into Sudan and lived
as refugees in separate areas wherever they could find shelter. After 8 years, during the resettlement they had
a teary and bittersweet reunion when they returned to find that their town of
Moyo had been completely destroyed. No houses or buildings anywhere.
As they restarted their lives back home, they were committed
to help rebuild their community. They helped start the Marindi Cooperative
Society, an organized group composed of women and men to carry out small scale
credit and savings services to its members.
Angella and Martha, as a retired nurse and midwife, respectively,
wanted to provide more services to improve the health of their community. In 2011, they were selected to participate in
the GWWI Women and Water Training in Kampala, Uganda. When they learned about
WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and how to build WASH technologies, they
knew that this was one way they could meet their goals. Because lack of access
to water was a very big issue for Moyo citizens, they elected to learn how to
build rainwater harvesting systems (RWH) with an ISSB tank (interlocking
stabilized soil block) to provide water to their community.
When they brought the RWH technology back to Moyo, their
organization was so impressed with it and their capacity to build it, they
supported them to build a RWH system and tank at a local school serving over
hundreds of students and some neighboring families. After seeing how easy it
was to build and training other Moyo women to be able to construct the
technology, the MCS chair helped the women members form a new organization
called the Moyo Women’s Water Initiative (MWWI), inspired by the work of the
Global Women’s Water Initiative.
The first order of business was to mobilize over $1200US
from the community to buy an ISSB machine so they can make their own bricks,
sell them and construct more tanks. The 30 women members of the MWWI have
registered with the government and are now well on their way to realizing their
collective dream!
Join Women's Earth Alliance and Crabgrass as we celebrate the Global Women's Water Initiative and the amazing women who have changed the lives of over 15,000 people in East Africa. We will be sharing stories from these remarkable women who just over a year ago had never picked up a shovel and are now winning awards, challenging gender stereotypes, earning money, getting grants, chairing local water boards and improving the health of their communities! It's a night you won't want to miss.
The Global Women’s
Water Initiative Team has been traveling through East Africa to visit the women
teams that were trained in our 2011-2012 year long training program. Meet the people whose lives they are
changing.
GWWI Team - Gemma
Bulos, Director; Rose Wamalwa, Kenya/Tanzania Field Coordinator; Comfort
Mukasa, Uganda Field Coordinator
“You cannot even study when you are thirsty.
Even the work of the school administration becomes difficult.” Administrator at Amuria High School
The 200 female boarders at Amuria High School in Amuria,
Uganda no longer have to leave their classes to fetch water or miss school
entirely when they were menstruating thanks to GWWI graduates Florence and
Eunice of Orphans and Widows Association for Development. Florence and Eunice
received funding from a local WaterAid partner who not only sponsored them to
build a rainwater harvesting system with a 15,000 liter tank (approx. 4000
gallons) on their dormitory but also to a cleaning bay where the girls can
bathe between classes when they have their period.
Eunice
Florence
The 200 girls who live in the school dormitory would be required to fetch water during school hours, which could sometimes take up to
3-4 hours increasing their risk of getting attacked and defiled. When they got
their periods, they would miss school entirely or even drop out because there
was not enough water for them to clean themselves.
Student fetches water at the new tank behind her dorm
According to the school health officer, having the rainwater
harvesting tank and access to water has created so many opportunities not only
for the girls but also for the school. The school kitchen would have to wait for
water to cook, and now the meals can be served on time so the girls have the
energy for their studies. Sometimes up to 5 girls a day would faint from
dehydration, but now have clean water to drink. The project even united
families in the community who came together to donate time and materials for
the construction of the tank. And the most exciting, according to the head
teacher, the money they saved from spending 8000UGX per day on clean water
(approx. $3.25US) and medical expenses when students fell ill from
water-related disease (upwards of 300,000UGX approx. $120US/week) as well as
donations from the community, the high school has been able to accumulate over
11million UGX (approx. $4,400) of the 18million they need to complete
construction of a borehole that will serve the community at large.
Water is changing the game in Amuria. And everyone WINS!
The Global Women’s
Water Initiative Team has been traveling through East Africa to visit the women
teams that were trained in our 2011-2012 year long training program. Meet the people whose lives they are
changing.
GWWI Team - Gemma
Bulos, Director; Rose Wamalwa, Kenya/Tanzania Field Coordinator; Comfort
Mukasa, Uganda Field Coordinator
“Before we got the Biosand Filters, seven
students per week would get sick from typhoid. The school paid at least per
student 450KSH (approx. $6US) just to take them to the doctor. Now we no longer
have cases of typhoid and the school is saving money to buy educational
materials.” Teacher at Angel Academy
At the Angel Academy Primary School typhoid was a daily
occurrence with both students and teachers falling ill to disease caused by
contaminated water. With over 500
students and at least 7 incidences of typhoid per week costing a minimum of 450KSH
per patient - not to mention the 200KSH/day the school laid out to have someone
fetch the ‘safer’ water from the river, the school was spending thousands of
dollars a year in water related costs. When they learned about the Biosand
filter from GWWI Graduates Jane and Linda from Kilili Self Help Program (KSHP),
they knew this was an opportunity for them to address this recurring health
issue and minimize their financial burden once and for all.
KSHP is a respected
organization in this region having already trained over 25,000 people in organic
bio-dynamic farming. They integrated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) into
their program after being sponsored by American Jewish World Service to attend
the GWWI Women and Water Training Program in 2011.
The Director at Angel Academy called upon KSHP to engage
their students and teachers to build seven Biosand Filters – 6 for the school
(1 filter per 100 people) and because he was completely convinced that this
technology was the best solution for contaminated water, he even bought one for
himself to place in his private home which he
shares with his neighbors. KSHP brought
the mold to the school and conducted a BSF training for some of the teachers,
local community members and one 15 year-old stellar student. Some of the younger students helped with some
of the simpler tasks like washing the gravel and sand, and everyone benefitted
from the KSHPs WASH Education Training which covered proper hygiene, operations
and care for the Biosand filter and other water and sanitation related
practices.
The students are so happy with the filter and after noticing
their own improved health, they are even recommending that KSHP help them to go
door to door to promote the BSF to their families so they can have clean water
at home!
The Global Women’s
Water Initiative Team has been traveling through East Africa to visit the women
teams that were trained in our 2011-2012 year long training program. Meet the people whose lives they are
changing.
GWWI Team - Gemma
Bulos, Director; Rose Wamalwa, Kenya/Tanzania Field Coordinator; Comfort
Mukasa, Uganda Field Coordinator
“I never
had hope of becoming rich because I would spend 2000KSH ($25US) per month
because my children would get sick of typhoid. The money would come and go.
Because of the Biosand Filter, now I dream of being rich!” CISO Member
The Community Initiative Self-Help Organization (CISO) of Birunda
loves the Biosand Filter! So much so, that after a few of them learned how to
build it, they convinced the other members to adopt it and started planning a
campaign to bring clean water to their group.
BSF's
CISO learned about the BSF from GWWI Graduates Jane and
Lindah Kilili Self-Help Program (KSHP).
KSHP promotes food security having trained over 25,000 people in organic
bio-dynamic farming to increase their crop yield so they can provide food for
their family and sell the excess. After
attending the GWWI Women and Water Training Program, KSHP has since integrated
a new Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program, adding water security to
their mission. KSHP hosted a WASH Education training inviting people from five
of their local communities to learn to build the Biosand Filter. Those
attendees returned home to promote the BSF and encourage their community
members to consider it as a viable option for clean water.
Linda
Jane
CISO took the information and ran with it! It didn’t take much convincing for some of the members. After testing the water from her existing water treatment, one woman member found out that her current clay water filter was not working and she broke it and wanted a Biosand Filter. Another family who had not been able to boil their water during the rainy season because there was no available firewood and chlorine was too expensive wanted a BSF too!
BSF Owner
They collected money from their members and rented the BSF
mold from KSHP so they could provide filters for their group as well as sell
them. They came up with a “Buy One Sell One” promotion scheme that required all
the members to buy one filter and sell one to guarantee that they make their
investment back and more. They also contributed the funds for materials, tools
and labor to build 30 filters to start their business!
CISO is well on their way to building a sustainable
enterprise to provide clean water for their community and beyond!
