partners

April 30, 2012
tweet this

Building a well is the easy part.

0 comments
| comment here

At charity: water, we know that building a water project is the easy part. Keeping clean water flowing over time, however, is a complex business that requires money, training and innovative thinking. It’s something we’ve always been committed to.

In some cases, up to 30% of the cost of a charity: water project goes into training and educating the community about how to take care of the well long after we’re gone.

Categories:

April 25, 2012
tweet this

from the field: at REST in Ethiopia

0 comments
| comment here

REST offices in Tigray

Our Water Programs Officer, Christy Scazzerro, flew out to Ethiopia for a week-long work session with our local partners A Glimmer of Hope and the Relief Society of Tigray. On a sunny Saturday, 20 people piled up into this conference room to brainstorm solutions to the many complexities and intricate details that go along with working in remote areas. The candy wrappers around Christy’s laptop let us know she was working hard.

Here’s a note from Christy:

Good afternoon from Mekelle!

You might be thinking — what can you possibly get done in a meeting with this many people?

In Ethiopia, decision making happens first through open dialogue, a lot of (healthy) arguing and then finally consensus. At REST, subordinates, supervisors and department heads have to be in agreement or we can’t move forward. This is why reps from Finance, Planning and Implementation are usually involved in every meeting. It’s also why we might stay on a single issue for a few hours – until we reach consensus up and down the line.

It’s been a productive week delving into new processes, reviewing operations and planning for 2012 and 2013.

Tomorrow we’ll drive to Rig #1 and sticker it up with campaigner names! Then a couple more days in the office before heading back to NYC.

See you all soon!

Categories:

April 10, 2012
tweet this

One Day Without Shoes.

1 comment
| comment here

TOMS is celebrating One Day Without Shoes.
So… take ‘em off!

Today, our friends at TOMS asked everyone they knew to kick off their heels or sneakers to help spread awareness about millions of children who live without proper footwear every day. We’ve always supported TOMS’ work, and today is no different.

Check out the campaign here »

charity: water + TOMS.

Remember when we launched our first-edition water project shoe with TOMS in spring of 2010? $5 from every sale of shoes went to fund a water project in Ethiopia. We sold out in weeks and raised enough money to fund an entire well for a community in rural Ethiopia called Sekura.

Late last year, the charity: water team visited Sekura Village… see the impact of your shoe purchase:

Learn more about our partnership with TOMS here >

Categories:

March 16, 2012
tweet this

You funded a drilling rig… and now, it’s going to work!

2 comments
| comment here
sept

In September 2011, we asked you to help fund charity: water’s first drilling rig to bring clean water to 40,000 new people every year in rural Ethiopia. More than 1,400 mycharity: water fundraisers and donors answered in a big way, raising more than $1.2 million for a brand new drilling rig fleet.

By now, you probably know we’re big on showing impact. From proving every completed water project with photos and GPS to sharing stories from people you’ve helped get clean water to drink — we want you to see how you’ve changed lives.

And today… we have exciting news! We were expecting to drill the first well with the new rig in May of this year. But Founder Scott Harrison was just in Ethiopia and… the first drilling rig arrived early!

Take a look at how your support is already helping bring life’s most basic need to people in Ethiopia:

We’re so grateful for your support of our work, our partners’ work, and our mission to end the water crisis. Thank you, September Campaign supporters! And stay tuned: as promised, we’re getting the GPS device set up in this rig soon so you can track its progress from village to village.

Learn more about September Campaign 2011 here >

Categories:

March 8, 2012
tweet this

Recognizing women in the water crisis.

5 comments
| comment here

Today is International Women’s Day. We’re taking a minute to celebrate some of the women of this past year — specifically, some amazing daughters, mothers and grandmothers we met in November 2011 while traveling in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.

Almost a billion people in the world live without clean water. We call that the water crisis. And while we know many of these are men, the water crisis takes a significant toll on women of the world. Women are twice as likely as men to collect water for their families each day. Many in Sub-Saharan Africa walk up to four hours each day to get water that’s likely to make them sick when they get it home to drink.

Today, we hope you join us in recognizing the women of this world who bear this burden, who get up early or stay out dangerously late, who haul forty pounds of water weight in a Jerry can strapped to their backs… who strive for and hope for their children’s health, who put their families first. We’re lucky enough to have met some when we travel to the field. Their stories continue to shock us, inspire us and keep us working to bring clean water to every person on the planet.

photos: Mo Scarpelli / charity: water
womens day

Women we met in Baskura, Ethiopia, in November:

This video was made for the Rockstar Cavemen, the sponsors of this new freshwater well.

Stories of amazing women and girls in the past year:

jerry can
- Khadija from Bangladesh: Clean water and toilets brought her back to school.
- Mintamir from rural Ethiopia: She used to wish for clean water to wash each day like the city girls… her wish came true. “I am just like them now.”
- Poppy from Bangladesh: Not much is clean or accessible for the disabled in Pora Bosti slum… but Poppy’s new toilets are.
- Whitney from the U.S.: She ran coast-to-coast to raise funds and awareness for clean water.

Have more stories to share about amazing women? Leave us a comment with a link or a personal story. Happy Women’s Day!

Categories:

More »