Briefing Prepared for __________ Improving Access to Clean Water Is at the Top of Americans’ Global Health Priorities People in the state of Georgia are leading the effort to solve the global safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) challenge. There are numerous faith-based, civic, and academic initiatives for WASH underway throughout the state. The top programs in the state include:
The Downtown Macon Rotary Club sponsored Water Team International and helped raise over $1.5 million in grants to supply clean drinking water to 240,000 people in Guatemala, India, Panama, Pakistan, Belize, Malaysia, Philippines, Haiti, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mexico, and Honduras.
Coca Cola invested more than $30 million to provide safe drinking water and sanitation to over 8 million people in more than 45 countries.
CARE International, based in Atlanta, has over 927 poverty-fighting programs that deliver safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene to over 3.3 million people.
The Georgia Institute of Technology Engineers Without Borders Chapter designed a water distribution system in Uganda that serves over 1,200 people.
The Rotary Club of Atlanta was awarded the Crystal of Hope Award as the top humanitarian project in the world for their Safe Water and AIDS Project (SWAP) initiative that dug wells and provided clean water to Kenyans in rural villages.
The Seacoast Church of Savannah raised over $350,000 to provide access to clean water in communities in Brazil, Haiti, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Togo.
Dalton Rotary Club funded a water project in Haiti that provided clean water to residents in rural communities.
Other notable efforts include: Rotary Clubs in Georgia
Provided Reverse Osmosis units for 34 schools throughout India
Partnered with Rotary District 3150 in India to install 5,000 hand wells and more than 300 toilets to increase access to water and sanitation facilities for 2 million children
Installed a pump, provided well supplies, and trained community members on well maintenance to increase access to water in a Bolivian village
Partnered with SWAP on the Kenya Water Project Initiative to build 100 water wells, benefitting over 200,000 community members
Hosted Dr. Mark Rosenberg, President & CEO of the Task Force for Global Health, who raised awareness among Rotarians about cholera, onchocerciasis (river blindness), and other global diseases
Rotary Club of Perry
Donated $1,000 to fund the delivery of water filters to Nicaragua
Partnered with ERSLA (Emergency Response Services for Latin America) to deliver 20 water filters to Nicaraguan families living in communities at high risk for waterborne diseases and intestinal parasites
Rotary Club of Alpharetta
Raised awareness at the District 4400 Ecuador Project Fair about the 45 water and sanitation projects being implemented in Ecuador
Partnered with a rotary club in Ecuador to provide training in safe water management and sanitation
Sponsored the construction of a water treatment plant for two villages
Rotary Club of Savannah West
Supports well drilling projects in developing countries to increase access to potable water for rural communities
Provided clean water to children in the Ivory Coast and contributed to the elimination of the guinea worm parasite
Rotary Club of Brunswick
Partnered with Rotary International to fund the repair of 57 pumps and wells, the construction of 800 biosand filters, and the construction of village wells throughout Africa
Provided clean, filtered water to Ivory Coast villagers to reduce the prevalence of parasitic infections and to increase access to potable water
Rotary Club of Chattanooga Breakfast
Funded mechanisms for proper human waste disposal in Dominican Republic villages
Repaired over 120 water wells to provide access to clean water and installed 125 toilets to increase access to proper sanitation in mountain villages in Haiti
Faith-Based Organizations in Georgia
The Least of His, Irwinton
Donated two 10,000 liter water tanks to a secondary school in Northern Kenya to improve health and school attendance
Co-created the Well of Hope Nomadic Shalom Ministry project to build 6 water wells and educate local high schools about water catchments in Northern Kenya
Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, Atlanta
Partnered with Start With One International to supply 2,000 portable water filters to Kenyans living in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp
Educated children and community members living in the Nakuru city garbage dump about how to maintain water filters and practice proper hygiene
First United Methodist Church of Marietta
Led a mission trip to Peru that worked with local community members and increased access to clean water
Co-developed clean water programs in villages in Ghana, including the distribution of water filters and education about clean water
St. Joseph Catholic Church, Marietta
Implemented 18 water filtration systems in a community by working with local parishioners in Guatemala
Trained Guatemalan women on the importance of water filtration and safe water through Water with Blessing’s Water Women program
Impact Church, East Point
Sent a mission team to construct a water well and a ventilated improved pit latrine at a Methodist church/school/clinic in Haiti
Boynton United Methodist Church, Ringgold
Sent a mission team to Nicaragua to distribute over 100 water filters to increase access to clean water
Harvest Light Fellowship Church, Savannah
Collaborates with MorningStar Ministries members on water and sanitation projects in East Africa
Trained communities on proper hygiene and constructed 39 wells, 57 spring water tanks, and 3 rain water catchment tanks in East Africa, India, and Nigeria
Constructed over 250 wells in Kenya and rural Tanzania through Hydrating Humanity initiative
Covenant Life Church, Bremen
Sponsors annual TORCH Missions to Honduras, Brazil, and El Salvador to increase access to basic services, including safe water
Sponsors a child monthly through Compassion International, providing clean water for the child and his or her family
First Baptist Church, Marietta
Funded water projects through its Pure Water Initiative, including digging wells, building water cisterns, and implementing water purification systems in Indonesia, Myanmar, India, and Zambia
Schools & Universities in Georgia
University of Georgia – Engineers Without Borders, Athens
Conducted a community assessment, relocated a 40 year-old well in El Salvador, and constructed a new pump that provided safe water to over 9,000 community members
Consulted on the implementation of a water filtration system in El Salvador
Georgia Institute of Technology – Engineers Without Borders, Atlanta
Designed and constructed inexpensive solar latrine systems to provide basic sanitation facilities for schoolchildren and community members living in Bolivia’s Andes Mountains
Drilled a borehole well and installed a hand pump that provided clean water to 400 villagers in Uganda
Emory University–Center for Global Safe WASH, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta
Conducts applied research, evaluation, and training to promote universal access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions in Trinidad, Bolivia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Brazil, Madagascar, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Mexico, and Mali
Savannah State University, Savannah
Partnered with the Durban University of Technology on a $50,000 research project to design low-cost ultra water filtration systems using locally-sourced materials for use in developing countries
WASH-Focused Organizations in Georgia
Coca Cola, Atlanta
Recruits 5 million women entrepreneurs to operate EKOCENTERs Slingshot water purification systems that promote sustainability by increasing access to clean water in 20 countries throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Launched Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) that provided $30 million in funding and provided 2 million people in 35 African countries with safe drinking water and improved sanitation
Collaborated with Coca Cola India to launch UN-HABITAT, an initiative that aims to improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation in South Sudan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Bhutan
Partnered with WaterHealth International’s Child With Water (CWW) Program to deliver 500 million liters of safe drinking water a year to 1 million schoolchildren in 2,000 schools
Improve International, Atlanta
Facilitates ongoing water services through private sector, local community partnerships, and government investments that fund the implementation of water and sanitation projects
Collaborated with Georgia Tech students on a review of water point mapping and monitoring tools in Nicaragua
Start With One International, Atlanta
Designed a Sanitation-Hygiene Education and Clean Water curriculum focused on waterborne diseases and prevention by using Sawyer Point One filters
World Water Relief, Atlanta
Provided access to safe water and educated youth in 21 schools throughout the Dominican Republic and Haiti about the importance of proper handwashing and sanitation, benefiting nearly 14,000 students and staff
Sponsored trip an orphanage in Haiti that provided the children with drinking water and neighborhood water access
Delivered solar powered water filtration systems and implemented a water system management plan for 3,000 villagers in Nepal
Leave a Trace Foundation, Kennesaw
Tested and analyzed water samples in Santo Domingo and co-developed water access solutions with Buckner International staff in the Dominican Republic
Partnered with Delta Airlines and installed 25 filtration systems in two orphanages in Peru, benefiting 800 children
Installed electrolysis water filtration system at a rural school in Peru and trained school staff and community leaders on system maintenance
Sanivation, Atlanta
Received a $40,000 grant from Startup Chile, a collaboration of Georgia Tech Research Institute, EWB-GT, Emory University, and a Bolivian nonprofit, to research solar sanitation products for low-income residents and low-infrastructure areas in developing countries
Received funding from the CDC, UNHCR, and Norwegian Refugee Council to provide 30 toilets for 300 refugees in Kenya
For more information, please contact John Oldfield at WASH Advocates:
202.293.4049 joldfield@WASHadvocates.org Updated: December 2015
