Perreault Magazine - 44 -
Everyone celebrates when the community gets clean water for the first time in its history. However, it takes months of research and preparation to turn a project into reality. The process starts when a community with a water or sanitation need contacts Water.org’s local partners. Water.org believes that rregardless of whether the project is funded entirely by a grant or involves WaterCredit (small loans for water and sanitation), community ownership is at the center.
Water.org believes people in developing countries know best how to solve their own problems. That's why we forge partnerships with carefully screened, in-country partner organizations that understand, and are part of, the local culture. The result is a solution tailored to the needs of each community, instead of a technological fix the community has no way of maintaining.
For Direct Impact programs, the community participates in the solution one of several ways: by providing 10% of the cost, through procuring building material or by providing labor. After the local partners assess the submission and agree to the community’s request an overview is sent to Water.org for financial support. Once Water.org approves the application and agrees to undertake the project, they work with funding partners to find a match between a grantor and a project.
While receiving professional advice from Water.org’s local partners, the community selects the type of project, its location, what equipment to use, where they can procure that equipment and assess the cost. Once all those elements are established, the community forms a local water panel, acting as a mediator between the local partner and the community where the water project is being undertaken. In addition, members of the water panel help in teaching the hygiene program and decide how to distribute the workload among different people in the community. “Water.org is open-minded and answers our questions quickly”, says Nanda Vardhan, Society for Integrated Development in Urban and Rural Areas. She continues, “They always make sure that the local people and Water.org are on the same page when approaching an issue, therefore local people aren’t left confused”. Thus, their attitude provides the locals with a sense of compassion and security. Lastly, members of the water panel learn how to use and look after a water system along with providing it with a solid fiscal foundation.
Local partners are selected based upon a best in class Partner Certification program the Water.org International Programs team devised. This certification involves
1) Background screening;
2) Field visits and evaluations of completed and in-progress projects;
3) Interviews with the field staff of potential partner organizations, community leaders, district leaders and households that will benefit from the projects; 4) staff and potential partners’ surveys as well as surveys of the community members served through past and present projects.
Before implementing a water project, Water.org institutes a hygiene education program. Without proper hygiene habits such as washing hands prior to food preparation, water illnesses continue to persist.
Safe water and the dignity of a toilet for all
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