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The High Cost of Dirty Water: Rachel’s Story

Rachel draws safe water from Mkinga's tap
Rachel draws safe water from Mkinga's tap
Posted November 8th, 2018 by Megan Staub.

Water is a basic human need. But for 30-year-old Rachel Poul, it was an expensive one. In the rural community of Mkinga, Tanzania, Rachel had just two options to get water for her family: She could walk at least two miles to collect water that was obviously dirty and then boil it at home, or she could buy pricey water from a water truck. She tried both. But even when she bought the water, with hopes of protecting her family from miserable waterborne diseases, they still got sick. The expensive water was clear — but contaminated. So, Rachel combined her options. She bought ... Read More

The Power of Trusted Relationships

Enkereri, Kenya
Enkereri, Kenya
Posted October 9th, 2018 by Water Mission.

As one of the most well-known tribes in Africa, the Maasai people are recognized for their rich culture, fierce independence, and respect for the earth. Enkereri, Kenya, is home to a vibrant community of Maasai and is also the site of a brand-new safe water system designed to last for generations to come. In this project, the importance of our community development work in ensuring long-term success of sustainable water solutions is apparent. While our engineers are creating customized designs, the community development staff are building the framework that mobilizes the community to wholeheartedly pour themselves into the safe water project that empowers those served.   As part of our community development team in Kenya, Jackline Jebet spent several months building relationships ... Read More

Healing Trauma: The Church is a Hospital for Souls

Participants receiving Bibles during the Trauma Healing Program.
Participants receiving Bibles during the Trauma Healing Program.
Posted September 21st, 2018 by Mackenzie Schiff.

Refugees fleeing conflict and persecution experience trauma that no person should have to endure. In northern Uganda’s refugee settlements, where thousands have fled from violent civil war in South Sudan, the local church is playing a vital role in their healing process, with support from Water Mission Uganda’s Evangelism and Discipleship (E&D) team. “The role of the Church in refugee settlements is critical because it fills a gap only the Church can fill. Different agencies in the settlement [provide safe water]. The health center… is the best place to seek medical attention. However, none of these can offer solutions to a ... Read More

Enabling responsive support for water services with the MAP

Safe water system in rural Malawi.
Safe water system in rural Malawi.
Posted August 2nd, 2018 by Andrew Armstrong.

In 2017, Water Mission launched a major initiative that fundamentally changed the way we monitor and support rural water services throughout our global programs. Driven by our core values of excellence and integrity, we desire for the people we serve in communities, institutions, and areas affected by crisis to enjoy the highest level of water accessibility, safety, and sustainability. With this goal in mind, we collaborated with a consultant (IBM jStart) to develop a tool that would enable efficient and scalable monitoring, support, and learning. The tool, which we call the Monitoring and Alerting Platform (MAP), was designed to make water ... Read More

Measuring Impact with the Restore Survey

Survey participants in Indonesia.
Survey participants in Indonesia.
Posted May 24th, 2018 by Julia Sherry.

At Water Mission, we have long been committed to measuring the outputs of our work such as accessibility, safety, and sustainability of water and sanitation services. For over a year, we have been developing a new survey tool that will allow us to do what we’ve never done before… routinely measure the wide-ranging, transformational impacts of our work in communities. After all, our work does not stop with water and sanitation! We know that God is transforming many aspects of people’s lives through Water Mission. For the first time, we have a tool that will allow us to measure these impacts, ... Read More

Sustainable Management and Finance of Rural Water Supplies

Tap stand in Malawi
Tap stand in Malawi
Posted April 19th, 2018 by Andrew Armstrong.

Poor functionality of rural water supplies is a known and critical crisis. It is estimated that almost 15 percent of rural waterpoints fail after just one year and 25 percent are non-functional by their fourth year in operation.[1] Although there are many root causes of this, they cumulatively manifest themselves in the form of inadequate financing for ongoing operation and maintenance. One method, which takes a social business approach to water service delivery, is becoming known as the “safe water enterprise” model. Under this approach, private water service providers deliver water to end users for a fee and utilize ... Read More