Happy New Year from the 2014 Winter Fellows!
Global Leadership Program
First Day in Tamale with the 2014 Winter Fellows!
After a long few days of travel, today was the first official day of the 2014 Winter Fellowship Program! After an all-night bus ride and a 7am arrival into Tamale the Fellows (and the CWS staff!) were all eager to eat breakfast, shower and nap for a few hours. We then all gathered for lunch and started orientation. After a few icebreaker games in an effort to get to learning each others name it was on to the first lesson: Ghana 101. After getting a lesson about Ghana and Tamale, the fellows teams were announced and they were sent off on a scavenger hunt around town– putting their new knowledge to the test.
It will be a early morning tomorrow with continued presentations about the global water crisis, water and disease, different water interventions and finally the nitty gritty of CWS and what we do! After a break for lunch, we will all head out to the field to see our current water treatment centers in action. Everyone is very excited to get out to the villages for the first time!
Meet 2014 Winter Fellowship Leader Michelle!
I am so excited to introduce to you to our 2014 Winter Fellowship Leader, Michelle Butler. We can’t believe it has already been two years since she was a fellow in Ghana implementing a water treatment center in Kurugu Vohoyili. Michelle’s upbeat and fun personality will be a great addition to the CWS Winter Team! Michelle we can’t wait to see you in Ghana!
I’m a fourth year student at the University of Virginia (yes, we call students first through fourth years instead of freshman through seniors, and no, I do not attend Hogwarts). I am finishing up my Foreign Affairs major and Art History minor. I will be staying in Charlottesville next year to study International Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. I love traveling and cannot handle the cold—needless to say, I’m counting down the days to return to Tamale.
I was a Winter Fellow in 2011 and have been absolutely dying to go back to Ghana ever since. When I returned home, I signed up for a program that would alert me of the cheapest flights to Ghana, ignoring the fact that, as a jobless student, I was about $1,400 short of the best $1,500 ticket deal at any given time. I also knew that I really wanted to go back to Ghana as a member of the Community Water Solutions’ team once again.
Community Water Solutions has always been so appealing to me because it is clearly at the forefront of international development work. I have studied many different development projects, as a Foreign Affairs major with a concentration in Africa, and am cognizant of the main problems most organizations face. Community Water Solutions has built a model that is explicitly designed to overcome the pitfalls of projects that lack adequate monitoring, on-the-ground staff, awareness of the local context, accessible materials, and sustainable plans. You, as Fellows, will be able to make an actual, lasting difference in the villages in which you work because of Community Water Solutions’ model. 30,000 people have already been served in the Tamale region with an incredible success rate, and you will help us add to this number!
2013 Campus appearance updates!
We are headed out onto campuses and into the classrooms these next few months! As we continue to get things scheduled we will continue to update you on our whereabouts! Come out and learn more about fellowship program and how you can be involved!
- Nov. 5th 9:00am Wesleyan University Environmental Resource Economics class
- Nov.7th 11:00am Colby College Natural Resource Economics class
- Nov. 7th 8pm Colby College Amnesty International Meeting
- Nov. 7th 1pm Grove City College Social Entrepreneurship Class
- Nov. 7th 4pm Grove City College Info Session at PLC 115
- Nov. 12th 4pm Wesleyan University Info Session, Allbritton Center; Room 004
- Nov. 14th 4pm St. Mary’s Info Session, Location TBD
- Nov.19th 4:10pm Lehigh Univeristy Info Session, Location TBD
See that we will be at your school but can’t make the event? We’d be happy to meet for coffee! Email Sam at [email protected]
2013 CWS appearances on campus!
We are headed out onto campuses and into the classrooms these next few months! As we continue to get things scheduled we will continue to update you on our whereabouts! Come out and learn more about fellowship program and how you can be involved!
- Oct. 22nd 3:30pm to 7:00pm Boston College Service Career Fair
- Oct.24th 9:30am Colby College Developmental Economics class
- Oct.24th 7:00pm Colby College Information Session, Location: Lovejoy 213
- Oct.24th 8:00pm Colby College Amnesty International Club Meeting
- Oct. 27th 11am-2pm Mount Holyoke – Information Table in the Blanchard Campus Center
- Oct. 27th 5:00pm Mount Holyoke Information Session at the Career Development Center
- Oct. 29th 10:45pm American University Global Health class
- Nov. 4th 1:15pm Trinity College Global Political Ecology class
- Nov. 4th 4:30pm Trinity College Without Borders Meeting
- Nov. 4th 7:00pm Trinity College African Development Coalition Meeting
- Nov. 5th 9:00am Wesleyan University Environmental Resource Economics class
- Nov.7th 11:00am Colby College Natural Resource Economics class
- Nov. 7th 8pm Colby College Amnesty International Meeting
- Nov. 7th 1pm Grove City College Social Entrepreneurship Class
- Nov. 7th 4pm Grove City College Info Session (location TBD)
- Nov. 12th 4pm Wesleyan University Info Session, Allbritton Center; Room 004
See that we will be at your school but can’t make the event? We’d be happy to meet for coffee! Email Sam at [email protected]
Returning to Ghana
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!
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
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!
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!
Voices from the Field: Team Wahab (Renee, Bryant & Dori)
Greetings from Team Wahab aka the Gideon Soldiers! For the past week and a half we have been implementing CWS’s clean water treatment center in the village of Cheshegu. After a big opening day we started to monitor the households in the village. With such a large community (approximately 175) monitoring can take some. However, our village is full of many supportive and progressively cooperative individuals who have made the process go smoothly for our team.
Our village is broken down into four neighborhoods…so that is how we decided to tackle the monitoring process each day. Additionally, visiting more houses during each trip has allowed us to cover more ground, interview more families, and collect additional samples for our laboratory tests. Fussina and Candy, the women in charge of the business in Cheshegu, have mentioned that only one person in the village has had a complaint about the quality/taste of the water from the polytank (alum). However, everyone else in our village has given us very positive feedback about the water from the polytank. The individuals of each household are excited to talk about their safe drinking water that they were able to retrieve in their new, bright, blue safe storage containers. A particularly encouraging moment during the monitoring process occurred when a woman welcomed us into her household, tipped back her cup of clean water, smiled, thanked us for what we have done for her family, and allowed us to continue with the rest of our process.
In addition to monitoring the households, we have kept a keen eye on the polytank and blue drums located adjacently to the dugout. During each visit to the dugout we have found that our four blue drums have been completely full and treated with alum. Prior to our departure on the first day of monitoring, the women came out that afternoon to scoop the alum-treated water, apply the Aquatabs, and refill the blue tanks before heading back into the village to their households.
Recently, CWS has begun to stress the importance of drinking clean water and practicing healthy habits by visiting the schools in the villages to educate the children. By providing the schools with interactive activities, we provide a hands-on approach to a healthier lifestyle. The size of the school in Cheshegu is well…intimidating. Getting over 200 children to stand outside side-by-side to attentively listen to what we had to say was quite the task. However, with the help of the school’s headmaster, several teachers, and of course our energetic translator Wahab, we were able to maintain get our point across to the children. By using volunteers for a taste test with a bottle of clean water from the polytank and another with an ungodly amount of salt diluted into it we were able to conclude to the children that “clean does not mean clean!” That is, some dugout/rainwater might not look like it has bacteria in it, but it can still be very unsafe to drink. Treated water from the polytank is always the best option! After our presentation, we corralled enough volunteers together for several rounds of “Healthy Habits Tag.” Here, the children who were “it” wielded signs that displayed various waterborne illnesses (cholera, typhoid, etc.). Those who were tagged had to immediately sit out and recover at the hospital (a shady area under a tree). However, individuals who held signs displaying health habits (washing your hands, drinking polytank water, etc.) were able to play longer since they were given 2 additional “lives” for the game.
