A SMALL RWANDAN VILLAGE NOW HAS WATER THANKS TO MY FRIENDS.

This project has been 2 years in the making, actually, it was supposed to be an 18 month project and it was finally completed 6 months later than scheduled.  But it has now been completed and we have helped a small community of 150 people in the Kabarore (Center) Community in Rwanda.

We changed lives with clean water. 
Now, we get to see the impact of our campaign.

To give you a little background:

Back in September 2012, while I was in Ethiopia, I was watching a local TV station and Will Smith and his wife were in the country opening some water wells for a charity.  I was interested, so I jumped onto the web site http://mycharitywater.org  to see what it was all about.  Reading the information provided was enough to bring a tear to the eye and it made me think, right there and then, that I wanted  to try and make a difference to some-one out there by providing them with clean drinking water.

So what is My Charity: Water all about?

MyCharity:Water’s vision is simple and ambitious: clean, safe drinking water for everyone on the planet.

ALMOST A BILLION PEOPLE STILL LIVE WITHOUT CLEAN WATER. 

4,100 CHILDREN DIE EACH DAY FROM WATER RELATED ILLNESSES. 

One of the initiatives is to ‘pledge’ your birthday.  You sign up for the campaign to ‘Pledge my Birthday’ to help raise funds for a clean water project.  Starting a birthday campaign was easy. Instead of birthday presents, I just asked my family and friends to donate to the cause.  100% of the money raised goes to the building of clean water projects around the world.  It doesn’t get any simpler than that!  I opened my account, passed it onto my friends and family and I got my birthday present money rolling in for some-one in need for a basic we take for granted.

Clean drinking water.    

This was my first fund raising effort and I even though I didn’t reach the 5,000USD target I had hoped for, I did manage to raise 1,085USD, with help from all my friends.  We were updated in August 2014 of where the project was at, and letting us know due to the geographical logistics of where the community was, it was going to take a little longer to finish.  Well the GREAT news is the project has been completed now and I wanted to share with you the final details of where your money for my ‘birthday’ went to.  I also wanted to share the website in the hope that maybe other people would like to pledge their own birthdays and then in turn help more people in the world to have access to clean drinking water.  So again, a big MASSIVE THANKS again to the 31 people who helped me raise the money, you really cannot put a price on such a gift.     

The money we raised was a campaign to bring clean water to the people in the Rulindo District in Rwanda, and more specific, the Kabarore Village.  Almost 11 million people live in Rwanda, and about 35% don't have access to clean, safe drinking water. But in Rulindo, where these projects were being built, is one of the poorest districts in Rwanda, and water access is much lower there, 70% of people live without clean water.  We were just a small cog in a much larger wheel.  There were 7 large scale gravity-fed systems with 106 tap stands that will serve almost 26,000 people. But the solution doesn't stop at the tap. To ensure that water continues to flow long after we're gone, these systems will be built and managed through an innovative public-private partnership. 

THE RULINDO DISTRICT

WORKING IN THE LAND OF A THOUSAND HILLS 

The field partner, Water For People - Rwanda, works closely with the local government, organizations and skilled workers throughout water project implementation in an effort to provide everyone in Rulindo with safe drinking water and improved sanitation. Coordinating with the local government ensures that the work fits with regional development plans. By hiring local skilled workers, these projects are helping to support the economy.  Rulindo's mountainous terrain posed challenges. Large scale gravity-fed systems are required to drag piping schemes into the villages. The community then negotiated land needed to construct pumping stations. Once the pumping stations were completed, the partners constructed retaining walls to safely house the four electrical pumps inside of a pumping station. This station moves the water through a network of pipes to the villages, clinics, and schools.  It is rewarding to know the difference we have made to people that we don’t know and who we will never meet,  but THEY know that people cared enough to help them have a better quality of life with clean water and we know that we have literally changed lives for a village in Rwanda.

We knew it would take at least 18 months to construct our project and report back on it.  During this time, the partners bought supplies, the communities contributed their own labor to build their water projects and formed Water Committees to maintain them for years to come.  Everything has been verified and our online report is completed so we can see the impact we made.  I’m excited to show you where your money went!

KABARORE (CENTER) COMMUNITY IN RWANDA

GPS: -1.842466, 29.987416 

Project Cost: $12,497.74 

Local Partner: Water For People 

Project ID: RW.WFP.Q4.12.131.114

For the full details please follow: http://www.charitywater.org/projects/completed-projects/?fs=1&search=RW.WFP.Q4.12.131.114 

Thanks to you, this community now has access to clean and safe drinking water. This tap stand receives its water from a large gravity fed system serving surrounding communities all over the Rulindo district. Additionally, our local partners trained community health workers and local leaders to disseminate positive hygiene and household sanitation messages to their respective communities.  Each family using the new water source contributed toward their project's construction, a small fee, but one that helps instills a sense of personal ownership for the project. Each family will continue to pay a small amount to use the water; and the community will then save this money for any necessary maintenance and repairs.  The people here, especially women and children, used to walk up to two hours to collect water for their families. The water wasn't safe to drink and often made people sick. Thanks to your help, people here are walking significantly less every day to collect water and MOST importantly, the water they bring home each day is safe enough to drink.

As we had raised only a portion of the money required of the 12,000USD project. The cost of the water project vary by country and by project type, and depend on a wide range of variables such as the local cost of fuel and cement at the time your project was built. This project’s cost includes any hygiene training or community maintenance models for the project’s sustainability.  Our money was combined with 12 other people’s campaigns to get the required amount for completion.  You can see my own campaign and the other 12 who raised money on the following link. 

https://my.charitywater.org/p/myprojectsview?project_id=RW.WFP.Q4.12.131.114&campaign_id=30012

So THANK-YOU individually to the people who contributed money. 

Without you this project could not have been possible.

Colleen Cairns

Anonymous x 2

Andrew Crofts

Hunter Hadley

Laura Gant

Danielle Busuttil

Tracy Carsburg

Michael Sydenham

The Papster

Sean McGrath

Jodie Ryan

Miyuki Sato

Jo Jo C

JoAnn Bradish

Ferraro Massimo

Kate Sladdin

Marina Kadlubowski

Jude Mills

Julia Elton Bott

Pamela Suhr

Robert Poole

Simon Hooker

Jamie Anderson

Paul Mills

Kaitlin Ellis

Lisa Jones

Lisa Farrugia

Michele McEachern

Anyone interested in pledging their birthday, you can do so on http://mycharitywater.org

And I am sure that the people from the Kabarore Community would also like to extend their heartfelt thanks.  It is a small gesture but one I know that will make a BIG difference to 150 people's lives.  Feel good about this, it is a grand gesture. 

Thankyou.