Help Vulnerable Women Become Leaders of Change

Hello! All of us at Global Grassroots hope that you have been enjoying this holiday season. And, as always, we want to thank you for your support of our Women’s Academy for Conscious Change.

Since our last report, so much has happened! Since then, we have received and approved completed water venture proposals from nearly all of the twelve teams who completed our formal training in July. Currently, the teams are waiting for estimated costs from WASAC, the municipal water company. WASAC officials have completed site visits to all of the individual team locations to assess the cost of each venture and they will provide the estimated budgets to our Rwanda office in the coming weeks. In the meantime, each team is completing their issues studies, processing their sector registrations, and opening bank accounts through which they not only will receive their start-up funds and subsequent tranches from Global Grassroots, they will be able to pay contractors and others when construction begins. Our local staff visits teams weekly during the venture development process.

One team, named Vision, is focusing on unemployment and lack of skills as they relate to water. The team is from a village called Nkusi, about an hour and half’s drive from Kigali by way of a long, winding road to the top of a mountain. A couple of the team’s leaders are men and they believe that their mission is to convince other men in the community how critical the social issues facing women are. The team, as a whole, is very ambitious and organized and we are delighted by their commitment and their efforts.

The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation has provided Global Grassroots with partial funding for this ambitious undertaking; we need to raise the rest. When completed, the cost per ultimate beneficiary receiving clean water and other gender-based violence services will equate to less than $6 once all teams are operating - and 30,000 people will have access to clean water right in the heart of their villages. That's all: just $6 per person for permanent, sustainable access to clean water.

As we start off a new year filled with hope and possibilities, will you help us make clean, safe water not just a possibility but a reality for thousands of people – mostly women and children? Thank you so much for your support!

From all of us at Global Grassroots, we wish you a very happy and healthy 2016!

Thank you so much for generously supporting Global Grassroots’ Academy for Conscious Change. We are excited to have convened our current cohort of 12 teams of women (and their supportive male colleagues). These teams all are focusing on bringing clean, safe water to their villages by mid-2016 through our exciting partnership with The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation’s Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN). RAIN is helping support these twelve water ventures as part of a 3:1 matching grant so we really need your help as an individual donor to ensure that our teams are able to achieve their goals! 

Our teams began their 12-month leadership training and social venture incubator through our Academy in July. They will work to provide water access to their respective communities, a total of approximately 30,000 people, while simultaneously addressing social issues facing women and girls, such as sexual exploitation associated with water collection or water-borne illnesses. Just as in all of our other Academies, participants learned mindfulness, entrepreneurial skills, accounting and financial accountability, and nonprofit management. Currently teams are completing their business proposals which will include mission and vision statements, a team roster, and a list of stakeholders. 

Ten of the 12 women-led teams will be working with WASAC, the Rwandan municipal water authority, to extend the main water pipeline into their communities. The two remaining teams, both without access to a WASAC pipeline, will each install a pipeline system to run water from local springs directly into their respective villages. The median cost globally for water infrastructure to bring clean water to one person is $250. Global Grassroots’ high-engagement model teaches women how to provide water to their communities, sustainably and permanently, while also improving other dimensions of the lives of local women and girls, for just $6.50 per person. We stand proudly behind our data and believe that our approach of working with grassroots women change leaders may be one of the most efficient water programs globally. Add to that the many significant ripples of impact, particularly for women and girls, and we know our program is special.

Global Grassroots staff has already begun to provide high-engagement support to teams in the field, helping them to fully develop their proposals. Once completed proposals have been approved, teams will collect data for their baseline issue studies, get materials estimates, and develop project budgets. Going operational is close to a year away for all teams but there is a lot to do in the meantime. We look forward to reporting on their progress over the coming months.

This year, your gift – at any level – will help us 'meet our match' from RAIN and will support our teams in bringing safe, clean water to thousands of people. Sustainably. Permanently. Amazing. Thank you so much!