Help Kenyan and Ugandan Women Provide Clean Water

It is with great pride and excitement that we share this wonderful report with you.

As you know, GWWI trains grassroots women in Sub-Saharan Africa to become water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) technicians, trainers and social entrepreneurs. From 2012-2015, GWWI launched the Women's Water Leadership Academy, a comprehensive and intensive 3-year training program the equips women with the tools and skills to bring sustainable clean water and sanitation to their communities. 

In year one, GWWI trainees learned to address the lack of water availability. One of the biggest challenges a grassroots woman faces is the tedious task of fetching water. Our trainees learned to build rainwater harvesting systems and water storage tanks to alleviate that burden.

In year two, GWWI trainees learned to address the lack of sanitation. Without proper sanitation facilities, people have to relieve themselves openly which is not only a health risk, but a security issue for women and girls because they can be violently attacked or even raped. Also, without sanitation facilities at school, 1 out of 10 girls will drop out when they start menstruating. Our trainees learned to build latrines.

In year three, which is where you provided much needed financial support, GWWI trainees learned techniques to ensure that their water is safe. Water-related disease is one of the highest causes of illnesses and even death in the world. Thanks to your support, GWWI trainees learned to build Biosand filters which have since been installed in schools and clinics around East Africa.

This final report includes the impact of the entire 3-year program. The support that you provided in year three, helped the women to build 100 of the 427 filters. Those 100 filters provided over 1000 students with clean water!

Thank you so much for supporting our project! 

If you are in the Bay Area, we are hosting a celebration to reveal additional impacts of the program, like how much income the women earned as WASH facilitators and trainers, how much additional money they raised to expand their projects and how their status has changed in their community because of their expertise and knowledge they gained from Global Women's Water Initiative! RSVP here if you'd like to join us!

Also, in other big news, two GWWI graduates were featured in a documentary called "Kenyan Water Women", produced by Al Jazeera English and it just won the New York Festival Best Documentary for Social Issues. You can view it here.