Kenya

We continue to expand and enhance our work in Kenya through our valued implementing partners.

Bridge Water Project
Working through Bridge Water Project, we refocused efforts in Western Kenya on well rehabilitation and construction. Local communities apply with BWP to either have a water project overhauled or installed for the first time. BWP works with these communities to ensure they are ready and able to manage their water source and that they are properly trained in hygiene and sanitation. We've spent over six years strengthening this team and it is so encouraging to watch them hitting their stride in providing reliable and sustainable water projects.

Africa Sand Dam Foundation
We expanded our relationship with the Africa Sand Dam Foundation, building our 2011 pilot program into a robust construction effort that includes 10 sand dams and 8 shallow wells. These comprehensive projects included the design and construction of small subsurface dams, as well as efforts in agriculture, land terracing, tree planting and watershed management.

Pamoja Trust
Our unique Urban Water Kiosk pilot in Mombasa, with Pamoja Trust, was a success. These small kiosks provide low income families with affordable alternative access to clean, safe municipal water. Without these interventions, which are coordinated and endorsed by the local government, families often pay a prohibitive premium for stolen and often dangerous drinking water from unscrupulous providers. The kiosk programs are entirely managed and operated by the local community and profits from water sales are reinvested into programs such as secondary education scholarships.

IcFEM
Finally, our relationship with IcFEM, a local community-led development NGO near Kakamega, expanded to include spring catchment schemes and rainwater harvesting in addition to water wells. We fund all of the water and sanitation efforts of this holistic development organization.

Rwanda

TWP has been working through Living Water International (LWI) in Rwanda for over two years. This maturing program has most recently been concentrating on the development of better models of monitoring and evaluation, determining the right manner and method to measure the long term effectiveness of the water source interventions we fund there.

Keeping tabs on former water projects is really the easy part though. The challenges arise, here and in every community we serve, in balancing responsibilities of the local implementer and the water user committees. When projects fail, do we "bail out" a community that was unwilling or unable to save for well repairs, as they agreed to? If yes, will that create unhealthy dependencies? This is but one example of tough questions without easy answers. We're working closely with our partners to address them and then share what we learn across our program.

We're looking forward to some innovative monitoring pilot programs in Rwanda in the coming year.

Uganda

We're working in three regions of Uganda through two partners, LWI and The Water Trust.

LWI's program is quite mature in Uganda and we use this partnership as a measure for many others. From the robust data collection taking place, to the reporting we receive, we're able to regularly measure the community level impact of this work to determine if such detailed tracking and evaluation pays off in long-term sustainability and community ownership. These are important questions. The investment is substantial and we're hopeful the return will be as well.

Through our support, our other partner in Uganda, The Water Trust, continued implementations in central Uganda and was also able to significantly expand their excellent work into a second region, near Jinga, in 2012. The Water Trust continues to be a leading partner in community engagement and training. Their unique approaches are being shared with our other partners as they too have shown, through careful reporting, that their impact is significant and lasting.

Burkina Faso

LWI was again able to greatly expand its activity in Burkina Faso thanks to our increased investment. This young and rapidly growing program also focuses on well repair, as so many water points have become inoperable from years of neglect. Working most often in cooperation with new local churches, communities are eager to embrace the responsibility of caring for their new water points. They understand the value of the water point and commit to making it last.

South Sudan

In the midst of new found independence, South Sudan remains perhaps the most challenging country in which we operate. We work carefully and on a limited basis there.

We identified a new partner, NeverThirst, to carry on our work in South Sudan. Their deliberate and methodical approach to community development encompasses elements far beyond water and sanitation. It may limit the reach of the work, in terms of total water points, but we are still excited to partner with them to bring water to nine communities.

Though we may not fund a great deal more work there for the time being, we're looking forward to seeing the impact of the wells we funded come to light this year.

Sierra Leone

There is probably no better example of the value of relationship than what our partner LWI's team demonstrates in Sierra Leone.

For years, they have listened carefully for the needs of the communities we serve together. Through schools in particular, they poured their lives into caring for others while restoring clean water. Training up groups of students and empowering them to lead the effort to see clean water and clean hands transform lives makes this work a notable model for others.

During the 2012 cholera outbreak, student led health teams leaped into action and these young students helped educate their neighbors on proper hygiene practices and save many lives. These are the future leaders of Sierra Leone. This is what potential looks like when it's unlocked.