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Welcome to Ghana Abby!

Posted on October 16, 2013October 17, 2013 by communitywatersolutions

For the next two weeks, CWS will be working with an awesome volunteer, Abby, in Tamale! After being accepted into last summer’s fellowship program Abby later later found out about an opportunity in South Africa that she couldn’t pass up. The solution? Abby headed to South Africa this summer and is going to spend the next two weeks in Tamale helping CWS with a project in the village of Jarayili! Abby arrived in Tamale this week, just in time for the celebration of Eid al Adha!

Celebrating EID at the CWS Office! (L to R: TK, Abby, Amin, Yakabu, Shak, Brianan and Wahab)

After a couple days in the office learning about Community Water Solutions and meeting our staff, Abby headed out with Brianan for her first trip to the field this morning. Abby, Brianan and Peter visited Jerigu, Nymaliga and Libi so she could see how the CWS water businesses work in three, very different villages. Tomorrow, Abby and Peter will head out to visit some more communities and plan to head to Jarayili on Friday to start Abby’s project.

Abby monitoring with CWS Project Manager, Peter — CWS Project Manager, Peter, shows Abby how to check the level of water at a CWS water treatment center and collect and sample of dugout water to test in our lab

So, what exactly is Abby working on in Jarayili? Long-time blog readers may remember that before leaving Ghana, Kathryn had been working in this community to test out the efficacy of 70 L Safe Storage containers. Unfortunately, as our West Africa Regional Director, Kathryn had a lot on her plate did not end up having enough time to complete her analysis. Despite a few rounds of water testing, Kathryn was unable to draw any conclusions about whether or not the 70 L SS containers would work as well as 20 L containers to prevent water re-contamination.

Now, months later, we are so glad to have Abby’s help to work on this project! Abby will be working in Jarayilli every day for the next week and half to see how well these larger containers work! She’ll be posting more detailed updates on this blog so stay tuned to hear more from Jarayili!

Returning to Ghana

Posted on October 2, 2013October 4, 2013 by communitywatersolutions

Last spring, CWS expanded our operations to the regions surrounding the city of Salaga, Ghana. This summer, we hosted our first Fellowship Program in Salaga. Two of the Fellows who came with us to Salaga, Caroline and Brigid, had already participated in the Fellowship Program and were returning to Ghana for a second time. Today’s blog post is written by Caroline, who we asked to write about the reasons why she wanted to join the Salaga Fellowship and share experience as a two-time CWS Fellow!

Returning to Ghana for the Salaga fellowship was an incredible experience. I have such distinct memories from both of my trips and it was amazing to return with the experience from my first fellowship. Having already been oriented to CWS’s approach, I was excited to use this knowledge in Salaga. I knew that I wanted to return to a country that I developed such a strong love for. My teammates and I had a great dynamic throughout my first fellowship, and Shak, our translator helped us to really get involved with Tohinayili, our community. On our last day, we all painted a mural on the school that said, “we promise to only drink clean water” and some of the children helped us by putting their handprints on the school wall. Painting the mural was one of my fondest memories and cemented my love for Ghana and interest in development work. I knew that I wanted to be part of the CWS team again and help them with their expansion to Salaga.

In regards to packing I felt a lot more prepared, I knew to bring plenty of the necessities, such as peanut butter and cheezits. Most of my focus went into fundraising. It was a bit daunting at first; I needed to be creative and think of different strategies. Writing an article about CWS in my local newspaper worked well. I live in a small town and many people heard about my trip and wanted to learn more about my involvement CWS. I also found that people felt involved with the fundraising when I came home and shared all my wonderful stories and photos with them. Having the experiences and pictures from the first fellowship made it easier to express to people what I was doing in Ghana and both new and old donors were excited and willing to help me reach my fundraising goal.

Salaga is a small town and spending two weeks there was an interesting change from Tamale. We had two bikes at the CWS house and I loved biking into market to buy groceries and fabric. Salaga’s small size made it easier to immerse myself in the community and connect with our neighbors. I went on a run after being out in the field and it suddenly down poured so I stopped and met a nice woman to talk with and wait for the rain to end under a large tree. The small community feel of Salaga is wonderful to experience and I enjoyed having time to explore.

My teammate and I implemented in Kabache-Kasawuripe, a community about an hour away from the CWS office. Our implementation process went quite well and I felt like I was able to build on my leadership skills within my team. Having already conducted a chief meeting and an opening day, I felt more confident in my abilities and this fueled a greater feeling of engagement with the community. I loved worked with Eric, our translator. He did a tremendous job helping us orchestrate all the various steps throughout the implementation process. Lamnatu, one of the women in charge of the business completely took over monitoring the water business and I enjoyed talking to her about the business and the ways we could support the system and maximize sales. Working and speaking with Lamnatu and my overall connection to Kabache-Kasawuripe is an incredibly fond memory. I thoroughly enjoyed my fellowship in Salaga and look forward to hopefully returning soon.

-Caroline Colllins

Sounds like your cup of tea? CWS is currently accepting applications for our winter fellowship program! Applications are due ~~October 3rd.~~ October 7th. Click here to learn more and apply!

Winter Fellowship Application due in 1 week!

Posted on September 26, 2013 by communitywatersolutions

Applications for the 2014 Winter Fellowship Program are due in 1 week! Click here to apply now!

What is the fellowship? Watch this short video to learn all about how the CWS Fellows help us train women entrepreneurs to start sustainable water businesses!

InnovaSun Update: Turning Plans into Action

Posted on September 9, 2013November 22, 2013 by communitywatersolutions

Around this time last year, Community Water Solutions announced the kick-off of their Social Enterprise Competition at their annual benefit; an opportunity to bring new and innovative solutions to rural communities in Ghana and to expand the CWS model and brand to more than clean water.

After interactive workshops and valuable mentorship sessions, Ben Powell and Mark Moeremans decided to team up, bringing together a diverse set of skills and knowledge. And while there are a plethora of challenges and opportunities facing the people of Northern Ghana, the duo decided they could make a difference in the region’s lack of electric power, which results in poor health, limited education, decreased productivity, and traps the region’s people in poverty.

The team – also known as InnovaSun, proposed an entrepreneurial solar power business that leverages several of the ideas of CWS’s successful water business model – providing demand to a community in the form of rechargeable lanterns and charging individuals to recharge their appliances. The team went on to win the competition and the $10,000 prize as seed money to turn their idea into reality.

Since then, Ben and Mark have worked diligently to refine their project plan, test solar equipment, find local vendors in Ghana, develop contingency plans, and coordinate with the CWS ground team to ensure their success. Now with just one month before their departure, the team is finalizing their strategy and beginning to order the solar equipment that will hopefully bring electricity to a region that is almost entirely “off the grid.”

Ben and Mark will be arriving back in Ghana in late October – a year after presenting their social enterprise to a panel of judges. They will spend three weeks setting up a solar power business, training a new group of female entrepreneurs, and monitoring their progress / success in hopes of expanding their model in the future. Stay tuned to hear how their project goes, and who knows, maybe you’ll see an application for the InnovaSun project on the CWS page in the future!

Fall Fellowship Application due tomorrow!

Posted on September 1, 2013 by communitywatersolutions

Applications for the 2013 Fall Fellowship are due tomorrow at 5pm EST. Help us bring clean water to hundreds of people this October! Click here to apply now!

Lucas, Katie, Step and Sandra by the new water treatment business in Namdu!

Voices from the Field: Team Sharifa (Sharifa: Katie, Stephanie, Sandra, and Lucas)

Posted on July 10, 2013July 10, 2013 by communitywatersolutions

**Quick note: Team Sharifa wrote this post a few days ago. All the Fellows are back in Accra and are headed home today!**

Team Sharifa visited Namdu’s school yesterday to educate the children of the village about hygiene practices, waterborne illnesses, and use of the water treatment center. When we arrived, the teachers had already set up desks outside for the about 200 students so that we could present to them all at once. With the help of our translator Sharifa, who is also a school teacher, we explained the differences between dugout water, polytank water, and rainwater. Using a demonstration in which we asked one student to taste test two clear bottles of water, one of which was polytank water and one of which was salt water, we emphasized that ‘clear does not always mean clean.’

Clear water is not the same as clean water!

Sensing the children were getting a little restless, we decided a more physical activity would be a good idea. We explained the rules of Healthy Habits Tag, assigned the diseases and healthy habits to several of the children, and watched the chaos. The children had been very attentive and engaged when we spoke to them earlier, but it was clear they had built up a lot of energy. After all the children had contracted one of the various waterborne illnesses, we called them back to their seats and talked with them about why getting tagged by one of the illnesses meant you had to go to the hospital. We were thrilled to find out that many of the children had already made the connection between the healthy habits and the waterborne illnesses that the game was meant to demonstrate.

After the rousing game of tag, we introduced the concept of the safe storage containers. Each classroom received one bright blue bucket solely for polytank water. We explained to them the importance of keeping the bucket, their hands, and whatever cups they use, clean. We also demonstrated the use of the tap so that they would not dip their hands into the top as they are accustomed to. Following this quick lesson, the children all asked very good questions, addressing the issue of drinking water when working at the farm and who would be responsible for refilling the safe storage container in the classroom. The older children in particular demonstrated interest in the issue, which was great to see.

Katie, Steph, Sharifa and Lucas with some of the kids after an awesome round of Healthy Habits tag!

All in all, it was a great day for Team Sharifa. We had a blast with the kids and taught them the importance of safe drinking water. Students and teachers alike were extremely grateful for their new safe storage containers, and we look forward to see them enjoying clean water in the future!

Voices from the Field: Team Peter (Carole Anne, Lilly and Taylor)

Posted on July 7, 2013July 10, 2013 by communitywatersolutions

We feel so fortunate that we got to be one of the two teams based in Salaga. Our team consists of Lilly Prince, Taylor Kirby, Carole Anne Spohn, and our translator, Peter, and we have been working in the village of Kideng for the past twelve days.

Carole Anne, Peter, Lilly, and Taylor with the chief of Kideng

We have had quite an adventure in Salaga:
• Fighting off scorpions
• Being accused of kidnapping a child in the village next to Kideng. (of course we didn’t!…confusion cleared-up after an hour or so…)
• Holding newborn babies of all kinds
• Carrying water on our heads from the stream (it is even harder than it looks)
• Worrying for our lives because of our adventurous tro-tro driver (just kidding Moms… it wasn’t so bad!)
• Making new friends in the village
• Cooking gourmet meals – burgers, grilled cheeses, salads, and kabobs.
• Chilling at local spots with our translators

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Team Peter with one of our awesome women entrepreneurs!

Today was unfortunately our last day in the village. It was bittersweet!
It was sad leaving everyone behind knowing we may never see them again, but we are happy that the community has clean drinking water. We started our morning out monitoring house to house wearing our awesome fanny packs. We have to wear these stylish fanny packs because they incubate our water samples taken from each house to measure for bacteria. As a group, we passed out all our gifts to the children, the chief, and the ladies who work the water business. To finish off the day, we painted a wall for the entire community.

Our time in Salaga is coming to an end; we are packing up and leaving for Tamale in the morning! The life of the party is coming back to town!

Day 2 Success!

Posted on June 22, 2013June 22, 2013 by communitywatersolutions

We just finished up another fantastic day of orientation here in Tamale! Sam and Kate started off the morning by giving the final orientation presentations about water-related disease, water treatment, and the Community Water Solutions’ model.

Kate teaching the fellows about water treatment

After a couple hours of sitting, listening, and learning, the Fellows got outside and and moving around during another round of team-building exercises. We started with the infamous “spiderweb.” The Fellows had to get everyone from one side of the “web” to the other without touching the rope. Each hole in the web could only be used twice. The Fellows did an awesome job and got everyone to the other side in just over an hour. It wasn’t easy, but they rose to the challenge and had a great time!

Bryant attempts the spiderweb first. Be care not to touch the rope!

We finished off the morning with one final team exercise: The Senses Game. The Fellows’ competitive spirit definitely came out a little during this game – it was hilarious!

Maxine rushes after ball after Sam accidentally dropped it from the hiding spot in the tree!

Carole Anne and Casey searching through the trees for the ball. They had to rely on their teammates to send them in the right direction!

We started off the afternoon with a presentation by the CWS field staff (Shak, Peter, Wahab and Amin) who spoke about CWS’ long-term monitoring program. These guys are in charge of monitoring all of our communities throughout the year and now that we are in 49 villages, it’s quite the task! This was the first year that our field staff put together a powerpoint and formally spoke about the work that they do after the Fellows leave Ghana. They did an awesome job!

Wahan explains how CWS analyzes our monitoring data by showing the Fellows a graph of our monitoring results from April 2013.

Sharifa teaching Lucas, Stephanie, Sandra, and Katie some basic Dagboni greetings.

Amin explains how CWS identifies new partner villages.

After the presentation everyone broke into their teams and practiced Dagboni with their translators. Dagboni is the local language spoken in the villages in Northern Ghana. Its a very difficult language to pick up, but our translators did a great job teaching their teams some basic greetings.

Shak teaching his team Dagboni, the tribal language spoken in most of the villages in Nothern Region Ghana

We finished off the day with “healthy habits tag” a game that the Fellows will teach the school children in their village as a way to talk about good hygiene practices. It was a fun way to finish off a long but awesome 2nd day in Tamale!

Welcome to Ghana Summer Fellows!

Posted on June 19, 2013June 19, 2013 by communitywatersolutions

Its official: the 2013 Summer Fellowship Program has begun! As of tonight, 23 of our 24 Fellows have arrived safely in Accra and Stephanie, our final group member to arrive, is just one flight away!

Some of our 2013 Summer Fellows hanging out at the hotel in Accra. They will all head up to Tamale tomorrow! (By the time everyone got in from the airport it was a little dark! Better pictures to come!)

Once Stephanie arrives tomorrow afternoon, she’ll hop on the bus with the rest of the Fellows (Angela, Dori, Sandra, Brigid, Carole-Anne, Lilly, Taylor, Bryan, Bryant, Caroline, Casey, Hailey, Eda, Ethan, Jacob, Jhanel, Katie, Lucas, Kirsten, Maxine, Renee, Sarah, & Victoria) and our CWS staff (Sam, Shak & Peter) and head up to Tamale. This group has traveled from ALL over to get to Ghana. Some have been traveling for over two days already! We can’t wait for them to arrive in Tamale and get settled for the next few weeks!

After a few days of orientation in Tamale, I’ll be bringing, Brigid, Caroline, Carole-Anne, Lilly and Taylor to our new office in Salaga where we’ll kick off our first Fellowship Program in this new-to-us region. Thank you again to all of our Indiegogo donors who helped to make our Salaga expansion a reality. We are so excited to get started!

Stay tuned for more updates!

-Kate

The Countdown is on!

Posted on May 29, 2013 by communitywatersolutions

The 2013 Summer Fellowship Program is just 3 short weeks away and I could not be more excited! While our team in Ghana works hard to finish up the last minute preparations, here in the States Sam and I are putting the final touches on our Fellowship Handbooks, placing last minute orders for lab supplies and finalizing our packing lists. June 19th will be here before we know it and we just can’t wait for our 25 new Fellows to arrive in Ghana!

This morning in Ghana CWS staff loaded Shak's jeep with safe storage containers for the Summer Fellowship villages! — This morning in Ghana CWS staff loaded Shak’s jeep with safe storage containers for the Summer Fellowship villages!

I am especially excited for this Summer’s program because I am going to be leading our new program in Salaga! it’s been over a year since I was with Fellows in Ghana and that is way too long. Sam has been doing a great job running the Fellowship, so my recent trips to Ghana have been more focused on our expansion. Although planning the CWS expansion has been exciting, I have to admit that over the past year I’ve been a little jealous of Sam. Working with CWS Fellows is so much fun and I’ve really missed it! I love everything about the Fellowship: getting to know everyone during orientation, teaching new people about the water crisis, the awesome discussions during our nightly debriefs, and of course, the Fellows themselves! It is awesome. Caroline, Brigid, Taylor, Lilly, and Carole-Anne – I hope your ready for an enthusiastic leader, because I will be bouncing off the wall with excitement throughout our time together in Salaga!

Summer 2012 - The last time I lead a Fellowship Program. Its been way too long! — Summer 2012 – The last time I lead a Fellowship Program. Its been way too long!

As you may be able to tell, the CWS Fellowship Program is awesome! Leading the program is a blast but being a Fellow is even better! This Fall, we’re having our first-ever 2 week program. We know it can be tough to take time off of work and we want everyone to have the chance to come work with us in Ghana!

So, young professionals, friends, family, everyone that’s ever told me that you want to come to Ghana: This Fall is your chance! The program is taking place from October 12th – 26th. Applications are available now so click here and apply now! We will be accepting Fellows on a rolling basis – the earlier you apply, the earlier you can get started fundraising. Learn more here!

Cheers!

-Kate