The first day of orientation consisted of a crash course of information about Ghana, the global water crisis, waterbourne disease, different water technologies, and finally the nitty gritty details of how we do it! It was a great day with lots of great discussions.
Presentations were broken up by a midday Scavenger Hunt– a great way to get our fellows out there and comfortable in the hustle and bustle of the Tamale Market. Both teams came back with only three missing items (Obama paraphernalia and a Diet Coke posed to be the hardest to find) but because Wahab’s team made it back first they took the crown!
After some orientation the fellows were off with Sam, Shak and Wahab to get a look into the village lifestyle while also getting to see the water treatment centers working within a community. First stop was Kurugu Vohoyili! Kurugu Vohoyili is one of the smaller villages that we work in, with about 30 households, but the personality of this village is huge! The men, women and kids welcomed the new fellows with smiles and were so excited to hear that they would be implementing into a new village. Fusiena, one of the women that helps run the water center was especially excited and wanted to take a picture with each individual fellow!
Next stop Kaplung! Kaplung is a great example of how the project is one that can be tailored to what’s going to work best in the community. The women who run the center wanted their center in the middle of the village, as opposed to being next to the dugout. As we can explain why most villages put it near their dugout, in the end it is always the communities decision. With the help of donkey carts to transport the water, having the center in the village has turned out to work just fine for Kaplung!
At this point in the day the sun was coming down hard and we were all starting to run low on fuel, it was time to head back into town to grab some grub! After lunch, it was off to the lab for training on water quality testing.
Today was the official start of the 2012 Fall Fellowship Program! After a day of traveling from the States to Ghana, and then another full day riding the bus from Accra up to CWS’ headquarters in Tamale, Tiffany, Brittany, Steven, Lauren, Lubna, Nicole, Joe, and Jessie arrived at their home for the next three weeks: GILBT guest house! Stay tuned for more updates as our Fellows complete orientation and then start work in their villages!
So far, 2010 has been a great year for Community Water Solutions! Here are some of the things we are excited about:
The CWS Fellowship Program
CWS has just launched our new fellowship program, a three-week leadership training and water education experience in Northern Region Ghana. The purpose of the fellowship is to teach individuals about the global water crisis, and inspire them to become leaders in the field of international development.
The field of international development can often be a hard to break into. Post college, I was constantly looking for jobs abroad with non-profits and international aid organizations, and ran into many roadblocks. Most jobs in international development require years of “field experience,” but how can you get this experience if no one will hire you?! Its frustrating. Through the CWS Fellowship, we are hoping to provide individuals with some of the field experience necessary to start a career in international development, while also teaching them about the global water crisis.
We believe that this program is going to be the future of CWS. It will not only allow us to reach more villages more quickly through the help of our fellows, but also help us spread awareness about the water problem. We hope to inspire others to join us in providing clean water for the world, either by staying on with CWS, joining another organization working on water treatment, working in public policy, or starting their own non-profit or social enterprise!
CWS is now accepting applications for our Summer Fellowship (June 6th – 28th). If you are interested in applying for the CWS Fellowship Program, please our website and download an application!
Look like fun? This could be YOU!
The Medfield Fundriaser
On Saturday Feb. 6th, we are holding our first fundraising event of 2010 at the Kingsbury Club in Medfield, MA. As I mentioned in the previous blog, the event will feature a fun African drumming performance by the Rhythm Room Live! We will also be showing a movie with pictures and videos from our past year in Ghana, so that past donors can see how much they have helped to make a difference. The event is going to be a blast and I hope to see you all there! A big thanks to Alyse Shorland for putting together the movie for us, and to Jill Moran for volunteering her time and event-planning skills to help us put this together!
We’re Getting a TRUCK!
For the past year, one of our biggest fundraising goals was to raise enough money to buy a truck in Ghana. In the past, we used taxis to get out to our villages, which was extremely expensive and time consuming (the amount of time wasted just waiting for our taxi drivers to show up is ridiculous!) Thanks to all of the support we received over the holiday season (especially from the MIT-Sloan Auction and the Global Giving campaign) we are finally able to get our truck! This will save us enormous amounts of money in transportation (all of which can now go towards helping more villages get clean water!) and will allow us to reach villages in more rural, secluded areas! Peter is currently working on getting his drivers license so he will be ready to drive the truck when I come back in February. Be on the look-out for a post sometime next months with pictures of our new ride!
In a couple of months, CWS could be sporting a truck very similar to this bad boy!
Echoing Green
For the second year in a row, CWS is a semi-finalist for the Echoing Green Fellowship. We are so excited, and honored to have made it this far! With all of the work we’ve done since last year, including in the addition of the fellowship program we think we have a better shot than last year!
Heading Back to Ghana
My plane ticket has officially been reserved and I will be heading back to Ghana on February 15th! I will have a very busy winter and spring, implementing in at least five more villages (sponsored by the Clopecks, our Facebook causes group, Gerry and Judy O’Connell, iContact, and one anonymous donor), while also preparing for our fellows to arrive in June. While fundraising, like online fundraising as well as physical events, and administrative work is a necessary component of working for a non-profit, I, like many others in my position I’m sure, truly love working in the field. I can’t wait to get back to Ghana and start doing what I love!
After some orientation the fellows were off with Sam, Shak and Wahab to get a look into the village lifestyle while also getting to see the water treatment centers working within a community. First stop was Kurugu Vohoyili! Kurugu Vohoyili is one of the smaller villages that we work in, with about 30 households, but the personality of this village is huge! The men, women and kids welcomed the new fellows with smiles and were so excited to hear that they would be implementing into a new village. Fusiena, one of the women that helps run the water center was especially excited and wanted to take a picture with each individual fellow!
Next stop Kaplung! Kaplung is a great example of how the project is one that can be tailored to what’s going to work best in the community. The women who run the center wanted their center in the middle of the village, as opposed to being next to the dugout. As we can explain why most villages put it near their dugout, in the end it is always the communities decision. With the help of donkey carts to transport the water, having the center in the village has turned out to work just fine for Kaplung!
At this point in the day the sun was coming down hard and we were all starting to run low on fuel, it was time to head back into town to grab some grub! After lunch, it was off to the lab for training on water quality testing.
