Friendly Water for the World April 2021 newsletter

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Subject: Friendly Water for the World April 2021 newsletter

Welcome to the April issue of our monthly newsletter.

March was a month of ups and downs. We chatted about the future with you, started working with a new Coach in Zambia, began planning a new technology training in Matsakha, and identified new communities to survey near Monze. But we also lost friends of the organization to Covid-19, witnessed a new wave of the virus sweeping across our partner communities, and delayed visiting people across borders. It reminded us of the struggles our community partners face, struggles made harder by a global pandemic. It's why the work you make possible is more important than ever. In our newsletter this month you can read about:

Introducing Coach Lenah
Curved Bricks Make The Rounds
New Filters For Children
Chat About Sustainable Development
April 20th Board Of Directors Meeting
Our Condolences

If you have any suggestions on how to improve our monthly newsletter or have ideas for stories to include, please contact will@friendlywater.org.

Until our next Chat, our next newsletter, or whenever we are fortunate enough to see each other again. Please be safe and kind to others.

-Will, on behalf of our community of staff, volunteers, and supporters

Introducing Coach Lenah

Meet Lenah Simwinde, our new Coach in Monze, Zambia.

Lenah is a retired Government Civil Servant and current Vice Chair for our Monze community partner, Zambia Women and Girls Foundation. She is a trained paralegal who currently helps communities with cases of gender-based violence, child abuse, early marriage, and early pregnancy. She is also the Vice President for the Monze branch of the Zambia Red Cross Society. During this past year she has spent much of her time informing communities about Covid-19 and how they can protect themselves by following healthy guidelines. Lenah joins us as we begin to survey and potentially expand into other communities surrounding our base in Monze, communities that the local Ministry of Health has identified as having significant water and health challenges.

"I have decided to work with Friendly Water for the World as a Coach in the community because I have a passion to help those who are more disadvantaged than myself". - Lenah

We are very grateful that she has chosen to apply her experience and expertise in both community engagement and in understanding her own community towards being a Coach with Friendly Water for the World. Please join us in warmly welcoming Lenah to our worldwide group of friends.

Curved Bricks Make The Rounds

Curved bricks, interlocked together as a rainwater catchment tank, are starting to appear in Kambiri, Kenya. The first 20,000 liter tank using these bricks was just completed near our Kakamega Center at the home of Africa Programs Manager, Eric Lijodi. This tank was constructed as a proof-of-concept to learn new techniques, create building drawings that can be shared with other communities and masons, and optimize design and material selection. It is the first of four planned for the community, with the next three to be placed at local secondary schools.

>> Read the whole story

New Filters For Children

In February of last year, we told you about a project led by Ajmat Khan with Gond tribal (Adivasi) people in Umaria, an area in Madhya Pradesh, central India. 20 filters were initially built for the training. And more was to follow - before a global pandemic started. Ajmat was trained to build BioSand Filters by our Training Manager, Wayne Medrud at a training program in Gandhigram. He returned to Madhya Pradesh to initiate a vibrant clean water program.

Now that the world is making some progress pushing back against the coronavirus, more program work is happening where it is needed most. These are some of the new filters, constructed by Ajmat and his team, headed to 20 state government-run early childhood centers called Anganwadi, in Indore (this particular project was funded and run by the Global Social Service Society). They've taken the extra time and effort to make the filters look beautiful for the children there.

Chat About Sustainable Development

What is the one thing we can do to assist communities in combating not just water scarcity, but also deforestation and infectious disease? We must make the outcomes of our work sustainable. Every technology and training and optimizing action must be designed for sustainability. But what do sustainable Rainwater Catchment Tanks look like? How do you engage communities in sustainable long-term partnerships? Why do so many technologies and solutions on a continent like Africa, which receives billions in aid each year, become unsustainable and fail? Join us this month to chat about these questions and more.

>> Register for the Chat

During the past year, Friendly Water for the World has organized 17 Chats with you. From community engagement to the stories that made us the Chats continue to be an opportunity for people to hear and ask questions about what is happening in the field, learn about new program features, and share how we can work together towards a better world. Our Chat about the future is one part anniversary, one part World Water Day celebration, one part fundraiser, and one big part sharing our vision of the future and what we hope to accomplish together. You’ll hear from our entire team and our new Board Chair.

>> Watch Chat about the future

April Board Meeting

The Friendly Water for the World Board Meeting is OPEN to the public.

On Tuesday, April 20th at 4:30pm, we will be hosting our next meeting online again with a Zoom call. We want everyone to have the opportunity to participate, especially now when most of us are physically distancing at home. To join us, register below. After registering you'll be sent an email with a link to the meeting. If you don't see the email, please check your SPAM folder. If you find it in your SPAM folder, please make sure that in your email client you identify the email as 'Not SPAM'. This will ensure future communications are sent to your inbox.

If you have any difficulties joining, please contact will@friendlywater.org.

>> Register for the Board Meeting

Our Condolences

All of us at Friendly Water for the World are deeply saddened by the loss of David Zarembka and his wife, Gladys Kamonya. It is believed that they both died of Covid-19. Gladys and David lived in Lukamanda in western Kenya and had both been Quakers for decades. David helped start and became the coordinator for the Africa Great Lakes Initiative, working to overcome the legacy of war and genocide in several countries. Eric, our Africa Programs Manager knew David for over 14 years and had the following to share:

"Whenever I met David or Gladys, they would fondly call me 'my son'. I greatly remember this couple for the great peace work they did across East Africa Region. I worked closely with David and Gladys during the post-election violence in Kenya in the year 2007/2008. Through Friends Church Peace Team we traversed the entire western region promoting peace amongst warring communities. David has always been advocating human rights programs through the Africa Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI). As we lay this legend of peace to rest his memories will always be with us. Our love goes to all those children and families that David was supporting locally. I happened to have been with David and Gladys during their last days when I paid them a visit and they visited me too. I will miss this great couple who have done an immeasurable peace work."

FRIENDLY WATER FOR THE WORLD

https://friendlywater.org

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Subject: Friendly Water for the World April 2021 newsletter