Author: communitywatersolutions
2012 Fellowship Program FAQ
Application
What are you looking for in a CWS Fellow?
CWS is looking for CWS Fellows who are self starters; passionate about social innovation and sustainable development; take initiative; give and absorb constructive feedback; take pride in their work; approach problems with patience and pluck; dedicated to constant improvement; put self and team on the same plane not ahead of them, help others to become better, and who are open to new learning all the time; have the highest personal integrity; and approach projects with passion and professionalism.
What is the application timeline?
Applications for the 2012 Summer Fellowship Program are due on Monday, March 5th at 5pm EST. CWS will announce the Fellowship Finalists by Friday, March 9th. If you are selected as a finalist, a member of the CWS team will interview you (via phone) sometime during March 12th thru the 16th. CWS will announce the 2012 Winter Fellows on Monday, March 19th. If selected as a Fellow, you will have until Friday, March 23rd to accept or decline your position in the program and send back a signed copy of the CWS Fellowship Program Fundraising contract. On Friday, March 23rd we will announce the Fellowship Teams and send you the contact information for your other three teammates!
We will be accepting applications for the Fall Fellowship Program on a rolling basis with a final deadline of July 31st. A rolling deadline means that the earlier you apply, the earlier you will be notified if you are accepted and the more time you will have to fundraise for your fellowship fee. If you are interested in coming to Ghana this Fall, apply now!
The Winter Fellowship Program will follow a similar timeline as the Summer Program and the Spring will be similar to the Fall program.
Is there any way to extend the fellowship? (i.e. to meet internship requirements)
Because the fellowship ground work is only 3 weeks long many students ask if they can extend the fellowship to count for things like internship credit. CWS considers the fellowship to be a 3 month commitment. The ground work in Ghana only lasts for 3 weeks but your responsibility as a Fellow begins as soon as you accept the fellowship. As soon as you accept you have 9 weeks to raise the $3,000.
If that doesn’t suffice, you are more than welcome to extend your “fellowship” longer than 3 weeks but CWS only takes care of the organization of the actual CWS Fellowship program portion. We have had many fellows find plenty of research opportunities in Tamale or to continue back home in the U.S. All those arrangements are not put together by CWS and are the fellow’s responsibility.
What is the average age of a CWS Fellow?
The average age of a CWS Fellow is 21 years old, but we typically have Fellows ranging in age from 18 to 35 years old.
Fundraising
What if I don’t raise the $3,000 Fellowship Fee in time?
You will be given 9 weeks to raise funds to cover your Fellowship Fee. If you are unable to raise enough funds to cover the entire Fellowship Fee, you will be responsible for covering the remaining balance before traveling to Ghana. However, once you return home, you will be able to continue to fundraise and CWS will reimburse you for any additional donations that are made on your behalf.
What is the money that I raised used for?
The Fellowship Fee is used by Community Water Solutions to cover the cost of your team’s in-country expenses. These expenses include your in-country travel, lodging & food, your project costs (project materials, water quality tests & lab materials, Fellow training & educational materials, translator salaries, and transportation to & from your village), as well as the long-term monitoring costs of following-up with your community after your team leaves Ghana. The Fellowship Fee does not cover your flight to Ghana, your travel vaccinations or Visa fee.
What if I raise over $3,000?
If you raise more than the required $3,000, the extra funds will be donated to CWS to help us grow the Fellowship Program so that we are able to offer this opportunity to more young people in the future.
Can I fundraise for my flight?
You are more than welcome to fundraise for your flight and have many of our fellows have been able to accomplish this goal. However, this must be done separate from your Fellowship Fee Fundraising and donors must make their checks out directly to you, instead of Community Water Solutions. Funds donated online to CWS through your fundraising website may not be used to pay for your flight.
Trip Preparation
How much is the flight to Ghana?
The flight prices can vary greatly depending on the season and your departure city. The average price is $1,200, but typically they range from $900 to $2,000.
How do we treat the water?
As your fundraising takes off you will be frequently asked specifics about “What will you be doing?” Having a little pitch put together is usually the best idea. Fellows are the face of CWS and it is important you can explain what you’ll be doing when you are in Ghana. I put together a common conversation that takes place:
I am going to Ghana this Summer with a small non-profit called Community Water Solutions that brings cleans drinking water to rural villages in Ghana.
Wow! That’s really cool! So do you like, build wells?
Not exactly. In the region where CWS works, you can’t drill wells because there are not a lot of non-saline groundwater sources. What CWS does is work with communities that are currently using surface water sources, like ponds and rivers, and help them set up for-profit water businesses. CWS trains the women from the village how to use products that are available in the local market to treat water and make it safe to drink. They then sell that water to members of their village at an affordable price and use the money to sustain the business. All of the revenues from the businesses stays in the community- we don’t see any of that money. We fundraise all of the capital equipment to build these water treatment centers, and train the women to run them, which takes about a month, but then they are completely run by the community and CWS just visits to monitor and check up on them.
That’s really awesome! What products do you use?
We will use only two products—alum (aluminum sulfide) and chlorine. The alum is a coagulant works to remove the dirt particles and chlorine disinfects the water.
What are the top 5 things I should pack?
1. Bug Spray
2. Bandana/Hat
3. Snacks (granola bars, trail mix, candy, peanut butter, or anything else that packs/travels well)
4. Sunscreen
5. Books or fun card/travel-sized Board games.
What is the weather going to be like?
November thru May: Hot and very dusty. It can be a little chilly in the mornings and at night.
May-June: Transition from dry season to wet season. Chances of rain.
July-August: Hot, extremely rainy and muddy.
September-October: Transition period from wet season to dry season. Chances of rain.
What vaccinations do I need?
The only required vaccination to enter Ghana is the Yellow Fever vaccine. CWS also requires all of our Fellows to take anti-Malaria medication during their trip.
There are many other vaccinations recommended by the CDC for travel to sub-Saharan Africa. For the full list, please visit their website: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/ghana.htm. The list of recommended vaccinations is about halfway down the webpage.
The cost of your vaccinations varies based on what you need and the coverage you get through your insurance. To get a better idea of the cost, reach out to your primary care provider.
How much money of my own should I bring?
It depends whether you are going to do much traveling before or after the Fellowship Program. We usually recommend that Fellows bring about $200 in cash, which is more than enough to cover any gifts/souvenirs that you may want in the market and a couple dinners out (if you choose to eat out instead of eating at the guest house) but will not cover the cost of extensive post-trip travel. Do not bring travelers checks, they are not accepted by any store or vendors in Ghana. You can exchange your money when you arrive in Ghana – the counter is right by baggage claim at the airport. If you do end up needing more cash while you are in Ghana, you can use your American bankcard to withdraw money from an ATM. There are plenty of them around Tamale and they are very easy to access (Barclays, EcoBank and Standard Charter each have multiple branches in Tamale).
Can I bring things for the children in my village?
If you have extra room in your suitcase, feel free to bring along candy, toys, clothing, shoes, books or anything else that you, or your friends and family would like to donate to people in your village. The kids especially love soccer balls! The only thing we ask is that you wait until the end of your trip (either on opening day at your water business or on your last day in the village) to give things to people in your community.
Accommodations
Where will I be staying once we are in Ghana?
When you are staying in Accra you will be staying at a Chen Lien Hotel.
When you are in Tamale you will be staying at Gillbt Guest House. You can read through the CWS Blog to see some pictures of past Fellows on the Gillbt campus.
What is the food like?
Gillbt guesthouse does a great job of preparing food that is safe for us non-Ghanaians to eat. However, there is not much variety! Packing an extra snack or two is definitely a good idea. Also, while the cooks at Gillbt try their best to accommodate dietary restrictions, they are not used to cooking for vegetarians/vegans and there are very little non-meat protein options for them to work with in Ghana. If you do not eat meat, definitely pack other sources of protein that you can snack on (nuts, protein bars, peanut butter, etc).
Will I have running water?
Yes. Each room at Gillbt sleeps 2 people and has their own bathroom—sink, toilet, shower.
Can I drink the water there?
Gillbt provides water filters that you can use to filter the tap water. Other than that you should only drink bottled water, which is widely available in the area.
Can I do laundry?
Gillbt will do your laundry for about $ 7 (10 Ghana Cedis) per basket of laundry. They will provide you with a laundry basket in your room. If you dropped off your dirty laundry basket at the reception desk in the morning, it will be ready by the next morning at the latest.
Is there much down time?
Yes, although you will be working hard and spending a lot of time in your village, you will have some down time to relax at the guesthouse, go into the market, explore, go on a run, etc. Most Fellowship Teams end up going to their village very early in the morning before it gets too hot (around 5 or 6 am), and are back from the field around 1 or 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Dinner and the “Daily Debrief” are usually around 6:30 or 7 so Fellows typically have a couple of hours of downtime in the late afternoon and are then free for the night after the Debriefs are finished.
Where can I travel to after the fellowship?
While Ghana is a great country, there are not a lot of big tourist-y sites to see. Depending on your water business implementation goes, you may have one day to explore on a day trip outside Tamale.
If you are trying to factor in a few days before or after the trip, most Fellows choose to go to the Cape Coast to see the forts or to Takoradi for the beach. While CWS can make travel and guest house recommendations, we do not coordinate the end-of-trip or post-fellowship travel. We would recommend picking up the Bradt Ghana Guide Book: http://www.bradtguides.com/Book/120/Ghana.html.
Application for Summer and Fall Programs Are Open!
Attention college students, grad students and recent grads! Applications for both the Summer and Fall CWS Fellowship Programs are now available online! The summer program will be taking place in Tamale, Ghana from June 5th – 26th. Applications are due on March 5th at 5pm EST. The fall program will also be held in Tamale, from October 10th – 31st. Applications for the winter program will be accepted on a rolling basis, with a final deadline of July 30th. The earlier you apply for the Fall program, the earlier you will be notified if you are accepted and the more time you will have to fundraise for your fellowship fee!
Questions? Email Sam at [email protected]. She will be happy to answer any and all of your questions and can also put you in touch with Fellow Alumni who are happy to chat about their experiences in Ghana!
CWS Fellowship Staff
I often blog about the awesome staff we have here at CWS, who work full-time both in the States and in Ghana. However, there is another special group of CWS team members who don’t get as much blog love: our amazing part-time translators that help us during the Fellowship Program Sessions.
This winter, we were lucky enough to have 5 amazing individual join our team as translators for the Fellows: Amin, Jaleel, Ayesha, Nestor, and Mohammed. These guys and gal did such a great job working with the Fellows in the field. Many of their days were very long, and very tedious (imagine translating for a team of 4 people all day long in the hot sun!), but every translator always came back from the field with a smile on his or her face. When asked about their overall “high” of the trip, the Fellows almost always say the relationship they formed with their translators.
Amin, Jaleel, Ayesha , Nestor, and Mohammed – we can not thank you enough for your hard work this winter! The Fellowship Program would not have been possible with you and definitely would not have been as enjoyable without your positive attitudes and endlessly entertaining antics. You are such a valuable part of the CWS team!
Team B Wrapping It Up in Tamale
Despa! Good morning to our friends and family. These last two days have been our final days in our village, Libi. We continued household monitoring to make sure all household buckets were working properly and that everyone was using their new, clean drinking water. Everyone in Libi had positive things to say about the water and almost all the households were storing the buckets off of the ground and using a special drinking cup. In particular, there was an older woman in the village who was especially grateful. She told us that she had been very sick of late and her doctor prescribed clean drinking water as her medicine. Because Libi is secluded and potable water is expensive, it was hard for her to follow this order. Since we implemented Libi’s water treatment center she will be able to take her medicine – clean water – everyday! We visited 70 households total! Today we also put up the CWS sign for Libi so that everyone who passes by the village knows it is part of the CWS program. We are very proud that we were able to sponsor Libi as the 2012 Winter Fellows!
After all the work was finished, we handed out clothes and candy to the kids. “Handed out” ended up being mass chaos so Wahab, our fearless translator, had to take over the distribution of shirts and lollipops. He thoroughly enjoyed himself! We all wish we could have given them more. We have all enjoyed our time in Libi and Tamale and have lots of fond memories to take home with us. On Monday it’s back to Accra.
See you soon U.S.!
-Whitney, Ashley, Jasdeep & Walter
And they’re off!
I can’t believe that this day is already here! Early this morning, the 9 CWS translators and I waved goodbye as the two buses filled with the 2012 Winter Fellows pulled out of the Tamale station and headed for Accra. And with that, our biggest Winter Fellowship Program ever has come to a close.
Thanks to this amazing group of people (and the family and friends that supported their fundraising efforts!!), 4,500 people in rural Ghana now have access to safe drinking water. Before the Fellows’ arrival, every single one of these people were fetching their drinking water from highly contaminated, very turbid, surface water sources called “dugouts”, which are shared with the community’s livestock. These dugouts are man-made ponds that fill with rainwater during the rainy season, and sit stagnant during the dry months, getting more and more contaminated as time passed. Now these 9 new villages have permanent access to safe drinking water and 18 new women also have a new source of income – their CWS water business!
This session of Fellows were such a joy to work with! From day 1 it was clear to me and the rest of the CWS staff that they were a really special group. They were inquisitive and interested; passionate about their projects; extremely caring and compassionate when working in their villages; and, most importantly, SUCH a blast!!
Alex, Laura, Matt, Walter, Jasdeep, Ashley, Whitney, Zander, Michelle, Peter, Janelle P, Sarah C, Mark, Brianan, Larissa, Nate, Emma, Janelle T, Hannah, Lindsey, Asia, Luke, Kelly, Caitlin M, Katie, Brittany, Caitlin R, Boyd, Tim, Janna, Kristen, Sarah J, and Melissa,
Sam, Stef, Kathryn, and I have had such a wonderful time getting to know each of you! We all just can’t wait to see what amazing things you do with your futures. Thank you for spending your winter break with us in Ghana – you have helped change the lives of so many people!
Safe Travels!
-Kate
ps – I realize that we still need to post Team B’s “voices from the field.” Their post is currently with them, on the bus to Accra but we will get it up soon! Don’t worry Ashley, Jasdeep, Walter and Whitney’s family and friends, you will hear their story soon!
Voices from the Field: Team G
Team G here (Katie, Caitlin, and Brittany)! Two days ago we opened our water business in Kagburashe, which was very exciting. We got to our village around 7am and upon arriving to the dugout, were very pleased to see a number of CWS safe storage containers already lined up by the polytank, ready to get filled up with clean water. With the help of several villagers, including the children, we developed an orderly and quick distribution system. Our translator, Mohammed, helped the ladies fill up the buckets while Brittany kept track of which had been filled and paid for. Katie and Caitlin played with the children and helped the women in line. In about two hours we filled 43 buckets and several children’s water bottles (who gave the water rave reviews, by the way)! Since our village is comprised of about 46 households, we were thrilled that almost everyone came out for opening day!
Here are the two women who run the water business in Kagburashe. They were chosen by the Chief and elders and will be in charge of maintaining the water business after Team G returns home. It was amazing to see these women in action; they quickly learned the water treatment process (first using alum as a coagulant and then chlorine as a disinfectant), and how to keep track of sales. We have full confidence in their ability to run the business and are excited that they will be making a small profit in addition to providing their village with clean drinking water.
It was awesome to see the bright blue, green, and purple CWS buckets sitting on the heads of our village women and girls instead of the dirty metal ones they usually use for water. So bright and clean, reflecting the healthy water that now sits inside. Everyone was so happy to see the clear water flowing out of the polytank spicket. We hope that the villagers continue to take care of this water and take care of themselves. At the end of the day our translator took us to his home, where his mother prepared a celebration meal of Fufu—a traditional Ghanaian meal consisting of beaten down yams and a spicy tomato sauce. Katie and Brittany even tried some fried rat! What a day for new things all around!!
-Caitlin, Katie and Britany
Voices from the Field: Team I
Ahntray from Team I! Today we hit the road at 7:30am and began Day 1 of monitoring in our village called Buhijaa. We went household to household to check that each family using their blue bucket for clean drinking water from the polytank. If we found a household that wasn’t using it properly, we would have them correct it on the spot. Fortunately, almost every household we monitored today had a full bucket of clear drinking water! We took a sample of each and went to the lab for testing to be sure their water is free of E Coli and other bacteria.
It is fun because we get to have conversations with the women in each household to ask them about how they are enjoying the water and make sure everything is running properly. Their answer was always: YES! We love the work you’ve done!
The chief has been so thankful that we came to their village to help provide them with clean water and keep them healthy. Everyday we greet him and he gives us his blessing. Today, he gave us a live chicken and a lot of yams and explained how he wished he could do more for us. Sarah had the pleasure of riding home in the back of Shak’s truck with the chicken tied up by her side. And let’s just say, it’s not exactly the smoothest or fastest ride to our village. We are about an hour and a half away from Tamale and parts of it could be debated as to whether it is even actually a road or not!
As our time here draws to a close, we will be going out for dinner as a group with all the fellows to a restaurant called SWAD. See you back in the states in a few days!
All the best,
Melissa, Kristen, and Sarah
Voices from the Field: Team H
Yesterday was OPENING DAY in Yapalsi! After a week of arduous work setting up the facility and distributing safe storage containers, we finally got to see our work pay off. It was fulfilling to watch our women—Sinatu and Irisyatu—becoming supreme rulers of the center. Throughout the day, we heard our women discussing with the other villagers about how the center will operate which made us feel jubilant. All the women in the village showed up to collect water for their families including the Fulani people from outside the village, which we weren’t expecting. In fact, so many people showed up that the center ran out of clean water before everyone’s buckets were filled. Luckily, our women were on top of the problem and were refilling the blue drums with new water to be treated before we left. Towards the end of the day, the chief came out to express his appreciation for all of our work. He loved it so much that he bought 4 extra buckets for his family, and many other families followed suit. Finally, we took pictures to commemorate the event. All in all the day was a success in epitomizing the goals of CWS and we look forward to monitoring and witnessing the growth and development of the village!
-Team Hawesome (Tim, Janna, Boyd and Caitlin)
Voices from the Field: Team A
Antire ! (good afternoon) from Tamale and greetings from the remaining members from team A!
Yesterday was a very exciting day for us because we were able to meet face to face almost every individual in our village (Manguli). Our day yesterday consisted of walking from household to household distributing clean water containers that they will use to collect their families clean water from their new clean water source. It was amazing to be welcomed into every household and get to know each family individually. It was a very exciting day for our team, as all the people that we got know were very excited about the work we were doing. The day was also challenging, as we had to distribute forty- six clean water storage buckets!
Last night was tough as one of our contributing team members Matt Gillstrap returned home to the states as he had grad school to prepare for. Matt’s hard work did not go unrewarded as today was opening day for the village of Manguli giving clean water to ever household for the first time!
We began our day in Manguli like the days prior with first meeting at the Chief’s household to pay our respects and discuss our plan for the day. Every time we get to interact with the chief it is a really amazing experience as we go back and forth through our translator Nestor.
After meeting with the chief all the women and elders of the village met us at the new polytank with their buckets. There was a great opening ceremony with prayers said and water passed around; after that there was a four-hour frenzy of getting water into everyone’s buckets. It was very rewarding to see everyone so enthusiastic about their clean water.
When we met with the chief after everyone picked up their clean water he presented us with a guinea fowl and six cassavas to express his and the village’s deep appreciation. Can’t wait to make a meal of them!
-Laura and Alex (and Matt)