Blog

Summer Fellowship Application due in 2 weeks, Update to March Tour dates & a VIRTUAL Info Session

Posted on March 6, 2014March 12, 2014 by samreilley

The Summer Fellowship application deadline is just 2 WEEKS AWAY and spots are filling up fast! Get your application in today for an opportunity to join the CWS Team in Ghana and bring clean drinking water to an entire community!

We’ve had some updates to our March tour list! CWS representatives will be on campus talking more about our organization and the fellowship program. We would love to meet you!

Tuesday March 11th 4:30pm Goucher College Chemistry Club Meeting, Location: Huffberger 223

Tuesday March 11th 8:15pm Goucher College International Student Association Meeting in the Welsh Piano Room

Wednesday March 12th 7:30pm St. Mary’s College of Maryland Amnesty International Club Meeting, Location: TBD

Wednesday March 12th at 8:15pm St.Mary’s College of Maryland Sociology Club Meeting, Location: TBD

Thursday March 13th 6:00pm University of Maryland, Global Health Planning Class in SGUMD Bldg lll Room 5129

Tuesday March 18th 3:00pm MIT Drinking Water Treatment in Developing Countries Class, E25-116

Wednesday March 26th 5:00pm Loyola University of Maryland Info Session, Location: Maryland Hall Room 241

Don’t see your school listed or can’t make it to the scheduled times? Join us for our first ever VIRTUAL info session! Executive Director and Co-founder Kate Clopeck will be hosting a live info session on Tuesday March 11th at 7:00pm EST. Tune in from where ever you are to learn more about the program! You must REGISTER beforehand!

Updated March Campus Tour Schedule!

Posted on February 28, 2014March 5, 2014 by samreilley

What an eventful month of February! It was such a blast running around to different universities to talk to more students about how they can get involved. Take a look and see where will be this March to learn more about the fellowship program and meet past fellows!

Monday March 3rd Georgia Tech Engineers Without Borders Meeting, Location: TBD

Monday March 3rd 5:00pm George Washington University Info Session in Ross Hall, Room 116A

Tuesday March 4th Georgia Tech Engineers World Health Meeting, Location: TBD

Tuesday March 4th West Virginia University Info Session Mountain Lair, Blackwater Room

Tuesday March 11th 4:30pm Goucher College Chemistry Club Meeting, Location: TBD

Tuesday March 11th 7:00pm Goucher College International Student Association Meeting in the Welsh Piano Room

Wednesday March 12th 7:30pm St. Mary’s College of Maryland Amnesty International Club Meeting, Location: TBD

Wednesday March 12th at 8:15pm St.Mary’s College of Maryland Sociology Club Meeting, Location: TBD

Thursday March 13th 6:00pm University of Maryland, Global Health Planning Class in SGUMD Bldg lll Room 5129

Tuesday March 18th 3:00pm MIT Drinking Water Treatment in Developing Countries Class, E25-116

Wednesday March 26th 5:00pm Loyola University of Maryland Info Session, Location: TBD

Don’t see your school on the list and would love to host CWS on your campus?

Contact Sam at sreilley@communitywatersolutions.org to set it up!

Although applications for the Summer Program are due on March 21st, we are accepting Fellows on a rolling basis and the program is filling up fast! Early applicants not only have a better chance of securing a spot in the program, but they also have more time to fundraise their Fellowship Fee. Apply now!

Want to learn more about Community Water Solutions? Follow us on Instagram and Facebook! We update both accounts daily with pictures from the field and other updates from Ghana. You can also learn more about the Fellowship by reading this FAQ.

Campus Tour Schedule

Posted on February 10, 2014February 26, 2014 by samreilley

We are so excited to announce our campus tour schedule for this semester! For the first time ever, CWS’ Director of Operations, Sam Reilley, will be heading out to California to reach out to students on the West Coast! We are so excited to share more about our work and to get more awesome students involved in the fellowship program!

Tuesday Feb.11^th 10:30am MIT, DLab Class, Rm 1-138

Thursday Feb.13^th Saint Lawrence University, Location: TBD

Thursday Feb.13^th 1:00pm Goucher College Nonprofits class

Thursday Feb.13^th 7:00pm Clark College Global Health Info Session, Sackler S121

Thursday Feb.13^th 8:00pm Clark College Amnesty International Meeting, Sackler 122

Monday Feb.17^th 5:00pm Skidmore College Info Session, Emerson Auditorium

Tuesday Feb. 18^th 11:00am St. Joseph’s University Info Session, Barbelin Room 306

Tuesday Feb.18^th 4:00pm University of Maryland class, Location: TBD

Wednesday Feb. 19th 12pm University of Pennsylvania Lunch Presentation hosted by the Wharton Social Impact Club, Location: TBD

Wednesday Feb.19^th 4:15pm Pitzer College Info Session, Avery 226

Wednesday Feb.19^th 3:00pm University of Pennsylvania Info Session, Stiteler Hall, Classroom B21

Wednesday Feb.19^th 5:30pm Sewanee: The University of the South Info Session, Spencer 173

Wednesday Feb.19^th 8:00pm University of Pennsylvania Engineers without Borders Meeting, John Hunstman Hall

Thursday Feb. 20^th 11:00am Waterworks Museum Boston, MA

Thursday Feb. 20^th 5:00pm Occidental College Info Session in Johnson Hall 302

Thursday Feb.20th 7:00pm Brown University Info Session, Sayles Hall 105

Monday Feb. 24th 11am Fairfield University Economic Development Class, Location: TBD

Monday Feb. 24^th 12:30pm University of Pacific Info Session, Raymond Lodge 2nd floor Conference Room

Monday Feb.24th 5:00pm Sonoma State University Model UN Club Meeting, Student Center, Erin Fisher Room

Tuesday Feb. 25th 2:30pm Fairfield University Info Session, the Kelley Center

Tuesday Feb. 25^th 4:00pm University of Southern California Info Session, ACC 312

Tuesday Feb.25^th 8:45 am Fairfield University Environmental Science Class, 332 Bannow Science Center

Wednesday Feb.26^th Claremont McKenna College Social Enterprise Initiatives Meeting, Location: TBD

Monday March 3^rd Georgia Tech Engineers Without Borders Meeting, Location: TBD

Monday March 3rd 5:00pm George Washington University Info Session in Ross Hall, Room 116A

Tuesday March 4^th Georgia Tech Engineers World Health Meeting, Location: TBD

Tuesday March 4^th West Virginia University Info Session Mountain Lair, Blackwater Room

Tuesday March 18th 3pm MIT Drinking Water Treatment in Developing Countries Class, E25-116

Don’t see your school on the list and would love to host CWS on your campus?

Contact Sam at sreilley@communitywatersolutions.org to set it up!

Problem Solving with Water Business Owners leads to Sustainability

Posted on February 10, 2014 by admin

At the CWS Ghana office in Tamale, the field staff and I talk about “problem villages”. These are CWS partnership communities that need help troubleshooting issues at their water businesses. The issues range in severity as the problems could be anything from the entrepreneurs having low sales because community members are busy on their farms. In this case, the use of Sales Tips could come in handy here, to improve sales and push customer expectations. On the other hand, it could also range to something as far fetched as a community believing there is a baby who comes out at night and puts evil spirits in to the polytank (this actually happened in the village of Tunga).

Let’s rewind to exactly 1 year ago and take a look at the project summaries for the communities Gbung, Jerigu and Galinzegu. This time last year the staff deemed these communities to be “problem villages”.

Jerigu- Al Hassan — Al Hassan – water business entrepreneur in Jerigu

January 4, 2013 – Jerigu. The polytank was empty. Al Hassan’s wife said her husband is busy which is why he hasn’t been treating water. He also ran out of Aquatabs (chlorine tabelts) and did not buy more until a few weeks too late. Beginning of February 2013, community members in Jerigu complain they never know when the center has water because Al Hassan is not around.

January 8, 2013 – Gbung – Wahab went to Gbung and saw the water business was empty. He went and spoke to Fati and Amina who reported they are trying to move the polytank from the market back to the dugout. Later in January, Amina said they are paying donkeys to come fill the blue drums in the market with water for 3 GHC ($1.50)! She needs to increase her price of water to make up for this added cost.

January 18, 2013 – Galinzegu – Amina’s polytank has been leaking, so the water she treated had dripped out. She lost 3 Aquatabs worth of water. Two weeks later in February 2013, Amina ran out of alum and had not planned to buy more, and then had to travel for a funeral before she could treat water. The center was empty during this time.

Gbung-Amina — Amina (top) and Fati (bottom) from Gbung

Gbung-Fati — Amina (top) and Fati (bottom) from Gbung

One year later, these communities have all made progress. CWS staff members would even say Jerigu, Gbung and Galinzegu are currently three of the highest performing water businesses.

In Jerigu, Peter recently reported visiting the water business early one morning and monitored sales for 16 households that came out to buy water! Household visit results from January 2014 were: 10 out of 12 households visited had clean water in their safe storage containers, which is 83% and well above CWS household visit average!

Gbung also showed improvements since last year. On February 3, 2014, Amina and Fati said that sales are going well, people come to buy water whenever they run out. They have kept their center at the market and community members pay 20 pesewas ($.10) per 20 L of water.

In Galinzegu, Amina has added Massamata to her water business team. When one of them travels, the other will be there to treat water. Massamata told CWS staff in January 2014 that she is always treating and selling water. Households told field staffer Shak that they no longer have stomach pains or diarrhea because they drink the clean water!

Monitoring Sales with Amina — Monitoring sales with Amina in Galinzegu!

Galinzegu - Massamata — Water business owner Massamata from Galinzegu

Business is not always easy for the CWS entrepreneurs but monitoring helps. By frequently visiting the water businesses, the CWS field staff is able to consult the entrepreneurs and give them business strategy. For example the strategies used in Jerigu, Gbung and Galinzegu: having a CWS field staffer come to monitor sales, discussing a price increase of water to make up for added treatment costs, or encouraging the community to have at least two women running the water treatment center at all times, are just a few of many ideas given to the entrepreneurs. In the future, CWS hopes the business owners will be able to make these decisions on their own by learning from experience. Through the use of monitoring and meeting with the entrepreneurs to work through issues in these “problem villages”, CWS is ensuring that the water businesses will be sustainable and independent in the long run.

-Brianán

Entrepreneurs in Wambong open Rural Bank Account!

Posted on February 3, 2014 by admin

Abiba & Salima matching — Abiba and Salima outside of Bonzali Rural Bank with their first deposit slip!

What an exciting day it has been at the CWS Ghana office! This morning Shak and I accompanied Abiba and Salima, water and solar center entrepreneurs from Wambong, to open their first bank account!

Since the solar center opened in October 2013, Abiba and Salima have been saving up their profits from mostly cell phone charge sales. They want to save their money in the bank to prevent theft, to acquire savings interest, to have money in the bank in case anything breaks at the solar center and in their own words, “to save for something big”. They also hope that the bank will offer a free checking account that would allow them to manage their money more effectively. You can learn more about Free Checking accounts here.

Salima & Shak — Salima and Shak (top picture) — Abiba fills out bank account application with Bonzali Rural Bank employee (bottom picture)

Abiba - bank helper — Salima and Shak (top picture) — Abiba fills out bank account application with Bonzali Rural Bank employee (bottom picture)

After doing some rural banking research, Peter, Shak and I decided that Bonzali Rural Bank would be the best fit for Abiba and Salima. They have a bank branch at the University of Development Studies in Nyankpala, which is close and accessible to the women from Wambong. The bank conducts business in English and Dagbani and has employees help illiterate customers fill out deposit or withdrawal slips, which means Abiba and Salima can go to the bank on their own.

We are so proud and excited for Abiba and Salima and hope to help more entrepreneurs open bank accounts in the future!

-Brianán

2014 Winter Fellows bring clean drinking water to 2,608 people!!!

Posted on January 31, 2014January 31, 2014 by samreilley

It was just 2 weeks ago to the day that our 2014 Winter fellows were headed into their communities to say their last goodbye! The office life is now a lot quieter without them busting in to fill us in on their exciting days out in the field! Whether it was laughs about a taxi driver attempting to pump up his flat tire with a bike pump, an awesome day in the schools teaching kids about the importance of drinking clean water, a thrilling soccer game played amongst two neighboring villages or the fellows explaining the eagerness of their communities to taste the clean water for the very first time! Your enthusiasm and passion will continue on within CWS and in the communities that you worked in!

We had such a blast with all of you and can not think of a better way to ring in the new year than to bring clean drinking water to more than 2,608 people!! You should be so proud of what you accomplished. We thank you for your hard work and dedication and wish you the best in your life adventures! You most definitely will be missed by all of us!

Many Cheers,

The CWS Team

Alex, Sara, Thalia, TJ & Emily in Kuldanayili/Yapalsi

Kallie, Brittany, MJ, Danielle & Nestor in Gurumanchayili

Jimmy, Serena, Amin, Caroline & Miriam in Namdu

Rachael, Anna, Wahab, Jenna & Bimala in Chandanyili

Meet Chelsea, CWS’ New Ghana Country Director!

Posted on January 29, 2014 by communitywatersolutions

Next fall, after two great years working for CWS in Ghana, Brianan will be heading to Ireland for Graduate School. We could not be more proud of her or more grateful for all of the work that she has done for CWS! We are also very excited to welcome Chelsea Hodgkins to our team who will be taking over as Ghana Country Director this summer!

We first got to know Chelsea when she came in Ghana as a 2012 Spring Fellow. I think it’s safe to say that Chelsea fell in love with this amazing country because she quickly returned to Ghana to study abroad for a semester and is now back again for 9 months as a Fulbright Fellow! We’ve really enjoyed getting to know Chelsea throughout her time in Ghana and are thrilled to officially have her on the CWS team next year! Without futher ado, meet Chelsea:

I’ll begin this post in the same way Kathryn, Brianan, and Sam all began theirs: by expressing my enthusiasm and joy to be joining the CWS team as the Ghana Country Director this June! I feel incredibly privileged that my first ‘real’ job out of university is to work with such an amazing, dynamic organization impacting the lives of thousands of Ghanaians and US college students/young professionals.

I graduated from West Virginia University with a dual Bachelor of Arts in Geography and International Studies with a concentration in International Development. Prior to taking part in the fellowship program in April 2012, I had vague thoughts of pursuing a career in international development; after a month-long program studying climate change and livelihood systems in Malawi with WVU’s Geography department, I knew that being in the field and working collaboratively to solve challenges that would improve the lives of others was exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I had yet to find a specific area of development where I felt I could make the biggest contribution. That all changed over the three weeks I spent in Ghana with CWS.

I can still remember how emotionally jarred I was when I and my teammates Rich, Colleen and Nick entered Sakpalua with Shak for the first time and saw the community’s water source: a dugout shared by livestock and community members alike, heavily contaminated with fecal matter and so turbid one could not see an object submerged an inch under the water. Going back and forth every day between the bustling streets of Tamale to the more tranquil setting of Sakpalua to implement the water treatment business was exhilarating. Opening day was one of the most amazing, fulfilling and rewarding experiences of my life: as I watched the line grow of people waiting to fill their blue buckets for the first, of many times to come, I saw two pregnant women heading back to their homes, carrying the clean water on their heads. Their children would be the first generation to have access to clean water and all of the health benefits that it brings. It was an ‘aha’ moment for me, as I realized that water is the most fundamental key to living a life of dignity. When I went back to the US, I left Ghana knowing that CWS was an organization I wanted to stay a part of because the work that the team does is really serving a critical need.

Since the fellowship, I have been very fortunate to have had more than one opportunity to return to Ghana. Each time I have visited Lydia and Damu, the women entrepreneurs that are running the business I helped establish in Sakpalua. During every visit, I am reminded of how CWS is providing sustainable, not ‘band-aid,’ solutions to the water crisis in Ghana when I am told by Lydia and Damu of how much the treatment center has improved the health of everyone in Sakpalua and how grateful everyone is to have clean water. And there are thousands of more stories like this from each of the communities where CWS has established centers! I cannot describe how truly excited I am to work with everyone at CWS and how much I am looking forward to June!

– Chelsea

Cell Phone Sales Take off at Solar Center in Wambong, Entrepreneurs Discuss opening Bank Account

Posted on January 17, 2014January 17, 2014 by admin

Since the solar center opened in Wambong , Salima and Abiba, the solar center entrepreneurs, have charged more than 1,000 cell phones, earning more than 200 GHC (about $100) in profit. Abiba, known by friends and family as “Chang Chang”, reports cell phone sales are high. When people run out of cell phone battery, they immediately come back to charge. Abiba can also help out her customers by looking into cell phone parts wholesale just in case their phones break, making her business more open to other avenues if required. However after reading some of the latest phone security statistics, it might be time for people to understand the risks associated with having a cell phone and look into how to get their phone, and consequently any of their private data and details, safe and secure from any harm.

Phones charging — The scene inside the solar center — phones charging with the entrepreneurs sales book and payment box on the right

Even people from neighboring communities travel to Wambong to charge their cell phones. At 20 pesawas (about $.10), it’s a bargain deal! The only community in the area with electricity is Sankpala, a much larger community, about 6 miles from Wambong located on the main road to Kumasi. They charge 50 pesawas (about $.25) per cell phone charge.

Lining up to charge phones! — Wambong community members line up to charge their phones!

Peter Panels — CWS Project Manager, Peter, stands next to the solar panels — 270 watts/hour in direct sunlight!

Yesterday morning, CWS Project Manager, Peter and I monitored Wambong. We drove up to the solar center only to see customers pouring out of the InnovaSun door with Abiba seated, taking payments and rearranging cell phones. She was almost too busy to meet with us! Customers kept coming. After a half hour, sales slowed and she had time to chat. She told us that people always come with their cell phones but lantern sales have been low. Only 2 people had come to charge their lanterns in the last 10 days. The quality of the lanterns that were distributed is not great, the battery lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours. So families do not think it is worth the 10 pesawas (about $.05) and 12-hour charge time to get only 30 minutes of light. CWS is in the process of researching better quality lantern options for future pilots.

Cell Phone use Jan 16, 2014 — This graph shows the percent of households visited during monitoring that were able to show the field staff at least one charged cell phone that had been charged at the solar center

Lantern use Jan 16, 2014 — This graph shows the percent of households visited during monitoring that were able to show the field staff a lantern that had been charged at the solar center

Abiba and Salima have also been talking to the CWS field staff about opening a bank account with the money they have saved so far. They will be the first CWS entrepreneurs to do so! While the center has been running smoothly, there has been some backlash from men in the community who are interested in getting a cut of the pie for themselves. In Wambong, the men are the family breadwinners, so the fact that these female entrepreneurs have been raking in the profits, seems threatening to some. CWS field staff offset initial interest from the men by informing them that the solar panels are expensive and if anything breaks, the women need to have money set aside to fix them. In the near future, CWS hopes to work with men and women who are interested in using the solar center to start businesses of their own, which will take some of this negative attention away from the entrepreneurs.

Solar center use Jan 16, 2014 — Solar center use since November 15, 2013 — numbers should be even higher if looking at solar center use since opening night on October 31, 2013. Monitoring did not start until November 15, which is why there was a delay in data recorded.

Abiba - Sales book — Abiba records phones in her sales book as people come to charge!

Chang Chang and Fahina — Abiba hands back a fully charged cell phone to Fahina, one of her female customers!

Men own the majority of cell phones in Wambong, which makes them Abiba and Salima’s biggest customers. Most households report during monitoring that the phones in the house are owned and used by men. CWS field staff usually sees men at the solar center picking up or dropping off phones. There are a few women who own their own cell phones but female participation at the solar center could be higher. The CWS field staff is making women’s access to cell phone use a priority during household monitoring through survey questions and family dialogue.

For more information about the solar center in Wambong visit the CWS Crowdmap page: https://ghanawaters.crowdmap.com

-Brianán

Voices from the Field: Team TJ

Posted on January 14, 2014January 14, 2014 by communitywatersolutions

Greetings from Emily, Sara, Thalia and Alex aka team TJ!! TJ is our friend and translator, also known as T to the J, Teeg, or 2Chainz. For the past two weeks we have been implementing a shared water treatment center that will serve Kuldanali, a village of 58 households and Yapalsi, a smaller village of 25 households. Both use the Volta River as their water source, which we have found to be contaminated with E. coli among other things. Our two most recent visits to the two villages have been for opening day as well as the first day of monitoring.

Our opening day, in which water sales officially began, was a huge success. With over a 90% household turnout it was clear that the two villages were excited about their new access to clean water. The day began as we viewed the first group of women walk down the hill towards the treatment center with their staple CWS blue buckets. It was encouraging for us to see their excitement in the impending purchase of clean water. The enthusiasm spread across generations—middle-aged mothers arrived confidently balancing the safe storage containers on their heads and small girls ran down with multiple buckets. We were extremely impressed by the confidence in our three women entrepreneurs – Florence and Akweeya from Kuldanali and Adamoo from Yapalsi. The day began somewhat hectically as this was their first day as business owners. While it was somewhat chaotic for the initial sales, the women entrepreneurs quickly organized the process along with the assistance of the young girls who washed the safe storage containers. From then on the business owners meshed together as they successfully distributed the day’s worth of buckets.

We were thankful to have our first day off after our opening day! We ventured to the Fuller Waterfalls with TJ and attended a lively concert in the evening.

We were enthusiastically greeted by our women entrepreneurs upon arriving at the water center—this was easily the most excitement we have seen from them so far. Our team got a strong sense that the women were taking ownership of the center. As we asked them questions about their sales they beamed and seemed confident about the future of their business. After visiting the center, we started our first day of monitoring. We visited 13 households, all of which were using the safe storage container correctly and were enthused about their access to clean water. As we monitored, there were a few leaky buckets between the two villages but they were quick fixes by TJ. It was fun to chat with each household and ask them about what they thought of the taste of their new water.

Voices from the Field: Team Wahab

Posted on January 11, 2014January 14, 2014 by samreilley

A Haiku:

In Chandanyili,

Opening day was SUPER.

Clean water for all!

Yesterday was opening day for CWS’s new water treatment center in Chandanyili. Several Fulani women (a nomadic group from Mali and Nigeria) were the first to arrive at the center near the dugout. The two entrepreneurs, Abiba and Zaharawu, were excited to begin filling safe storage containers and began right away. At first, only ten or so households arrived, but before we knew it, a large crowd formed near the Polytank, all ready to fill their buckets with safe, clean drinking water. Bimala helped several women clean their safe storage containers with soap and clean water from the Polytank before filling up, while Rachael and Anna helped record the number of customers at the center, and Jenna and Wahab distributed the last few safe storage containers on the list. Since some of the Fulani women don’t speak Dagbani, Jenna and Wahab worked to triple- and quadruple-translate the proper way to use each safe storage container.

Excitement amongst the women grew as the first few safe storage containers were filled with clear, clean water. Several women filled their lids with clean water and passed it around to get a taste. Abiba and Zaharawu quickly got into a rhythm – one would fill safe storage containers while another collected money and helped others lift the buckets to carry on their heads. After three hours of successful clean water distribution, the Polytank was empty and we counted our sales. We filled 64 (of 67) safe storage containers! We can’t wait to check in on each household and see how they like the water next week!

~Anna, Bimala, Jenna, Rachael