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Welcome to Ghana 2011 Winter CWS Fellows!

Posted on December 28, 2010 by communitywatersolutions

This week’s blizzard on the East Coast made for quite an interesting couple days of travel for our Session 1 CWS Fellows. Luckily, 14 of our 16 fellows safely arrived in Accra as planned and other 2 will be landing in a couple of days! The 14 fellows will officially start their Ghananian adventure tomorrow morning when they hop on the bus with Shak and head up to Tamale. We are so excited for the start of Session 1 and can’t wait for the fellows to arrive in Tamale and start their fellowship orientation!

Thinking about Giving to Charity This Holiday Season?

Posted on December 9, 2010December 9, 2010 by communitywatersolutions

Support the CWS Fellows!

This winter, 7 teams of volunteers (28 people!) will be traveling to Ghana to help CWS implement new water businesses in 7 new villages in rural communities! The fellows are currently raising funds to support their projects and would really appreciate your support. Check out their fundraising websites:

Team 1 – Luke, Mira, Heather and Catherine

Team 2 – Cam, Hannah, Nathan, and Sarah

Team 3 – Lauren, Elsie, Jim and Kathryn

Team 4 – Alexandra, Chris, Kevin, and Marlene

Team 5 – Adelina, Pranav, Sarah, and Shalyn

Team 6 – Karla, Hannah, Annie, and Samantha

Team 7 – Eleanor, Rachel, Fabiola, and Sanita

Thank you!!

Support the CWS Fellows!

Posted on November 1, 2010November 3, 2010 by communitywatersolutions

The Community Water Solutions Winter Fellows are hard at work raising the funds needed to come to Ghana this winter. Each team of 4 must raise $10,000, which covers all of the materials costs for implementing a CWS water treatment center in a village in Ghana (which the fellows will be doing this winter), as well as their in-country travel, lodging, food and insurance. As many of you know, fundraising is an essential component of working for a non-profit, and we believe it is an important skill to teach the CWS Fellows. If you are interested in supporting one of the teams please check out their fundraising websites!

Team 1 – Luke, Mira, Heather and Catherine

Team 2 – Cam, Hannah, Nathan, and Sarah

Team 3 – Lauren, Elsie, Jim and Kathryn

Team 4 – Alexandra, Chris, Kevin, and Marlene

Team 5 – Adelina, Pranav, Sarah, and Shalyn

Team 6 – Karla, Hannah, Annie, and Samantha

Team 7 – Eleanor, Rachel, Fabiola, and Sanita

The 2011 Winter Fellows!

Posted on October 25, 2010October 25, 2010 by communitywatersolutions

CWS is excited to announce our 2011 Winter Fellows:

Mira Thompson

Heather Vereb

Luke Sperduto

Catherine Betances

Camilo Velasquez

Hannah Hill

Nathan Bernard

Sarah Ghali

Lauren Wilson

Elsie Thomson

James East

Kathryn Padgett

Alexandra Barry

Chris Mehrvarzi

Kevin Anderson

Marlene Cedeno

Adelina Huo

Pranav Aurora

Sarah Fletcher

Shalyn Getz

Karla Franco

Annie McBride

Hannah Stonebraker

Samantha Derrick

Eleanor Horowitz

Rachel Goodgal

Fabiola Miakassissa

Sanita Dhaubanjar

Welcome to the Community Water Solutions Team! We are so excited for the two fellowship sessions this winter and can’t wait to start working with you in the field!

CWS on the Road!

Posted on September 14, 2010September 22, 2010 by communitywatersolutions

For the next three weeks, the CWS will be on the road, recruiting students and young professionals for the CWS Fellowship Program! We will be holding information sessions at colleges an universities all around the East Coast, and we would love to see you there! Although these info session are taking place at schools, they are open to anyone who would like to learn more about the Fellowship Program – so if you’re in the area, come on by!

Community Water Solutions Fellowship Program, Fall Information Sessions:

9/10 – Connecticut College, 4:30 pm, Blaustein Rm 203.
9/13 – University of Virginia, 7:00 pm, the Kaleidoscope Center, Newcomb Hall
9/14 – Georgetown University, 4:00 pm, the Leavey Center, Seminar Room 1
9/16 – Virginia Tech, 7:00 pm, Randolph Rm 331
9/20 – Amherst College, 6:00 pm, Career Center, College Hall, First Floow
9/21 – Middlebury College, 4:30 pm, location TBD
9~~/23 – Yale University, 5:00 pm, location TBD~~ rescheduled for the first week in October! We’ll let you know when and where soon!
9/24 – MIT, 1:00-3:00 pm, MIT International Development Fair, Student Street, Stata Center
9/27 – Tufts University, 6:30 pm, Location TBD
9/28 – Boston University, 5:00 pm, SMG, Rm 222

Applications Posted for the CWS Winter 2011 Fellowship!

Posted on August 18, 2010 by communitywatersolutions

Applications are now posted for the 2011 Winter Fellowship Program are now posted on our website! Apply now and come join us in Ghana for 3 weeks!

questions? email kate at [email protected].

Mark Your Calendars: The 2011 CWS Fellowship Dates are Set!

Posted on July 19, 2010July 19, 2010 by communitywatersolutions

We are very excited to announce that in 2011 CWS will be offering four Fellowship sessions in Ghana! The first two sessions will take place this winter, from December 27th – January 14th and January 8th – January 29th. The second two sessions will take place this summer, from May 27th – June 17th and June 10th – July 1st. Applications for the winter sessions will be be available soon. In the meantime, please email [email protected] if you have any questions!

A Successful First Fellowship Program

Posted on July 10, 2010July 14, 2010 by communitywatersolutions

The CWS Fellows, now seasoned development veterans

The CWS Fellowship was a great success for all those involved. The Fellows learned a lot about water treatment, experienced an insight into what life in development is like, and became great friends, with each other, with their translators, Shak and Peter, and with the villagers in the process. Most importantly, they left behind a permanent business which will provide access to clean drinking water and improve the quality of life for a village of almost a thousand people. The CWS community grew by five incredible individuals this summer and we are grateful for the opportunity to have shared our experience with them. We hope Amaia, Ben, James, Molly and Sarah will return to visit us and Wambong one day. They will always be a part of CWS and as we support and monitor the Wambong center over the next year, we will continue to update the Fellows on the success of their project. We are excited and look forward to many more Fellowship Programs in the future and would like to thank our Fellows once more for helping us shape and improve the program for our next Fellows.

Thank you,
-The CWS Team

Some fun moments from the Fellows’ free time

Posted on June 27, 2010July 3, 2010 by communitywatersolutions

The Fellows didn’t miss any Ghanaian World Cup games while they were in Tamale. They made sure to work their schedules around watching the big games!

The CWS Fellows supporting the Ghanaian team in their new jerseys!

Ben remaining neutral for one of the Ghana World Cup games.

On one of their free days, the Fellows trekked out to Kintampo Waterfalls for some hiking, lounging, and cooling off.

Amaia, Sarah, and Molly in front of one of the waterfalls

As a going away gift, and a thank you for all of his help, James and Ben gave Shak a beautiful baby goat!

During the downtime, James also introduced baseball to some children from the village.

Opening Day in Wambong!

Posted on June 24, 2010June 26, 2010 by communitywatersolutions

Last Monday was a big day for the CWS Fellows; the culmination of all their work. The newly established treatment center (assembled by the Fellows) was opened for business and the villagers all came out with their new CWS storage containers (given to them by the Fellows) to fill them and start drinking clean water. The center was run by Abiba and Monera, the two women the Fellows had trained to run the center. Shak, Peter and the Fellows all made sure things ran smoothly and monitored the opening day sales.

The Fellows prepare the site for the busy day ahead

Sarah shows the dugout and treatment center water tests to several of the men that come to the site.

The Wambong Assemblyman followed Sarah's lead and showed the tests to some of the village elders.

The first blue bucket is spotted off in the distance!

The Fellows all play it cool as they excitedly watch the buckets approach.

James did a great job tracking every household that came for clean water.

Shak and the Fellows made a point of drinking the clean water in front of the villagers to show that it was indeed safe.

The opening became quite the event when these drummers showed up to entertain!

Wambong woman with her newly filled storage container

The CWS Fellows, Shak, Peter, Abiba and Monera after the big opening

The Fellows survived the long day and left with smiles on their faces. Almost the entire village had come to fill their containers and so began their permanent access to clean water!