Rachel Stevens - WaterAid

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Spring/Summer 2013

Your WaterAid magazine

Rachel Stevens

Our new WaterAid Ambassador visits Ethiopia

Madagascar

Where toilets mean education

Water is just the beginning

Let the UK Government know this World Water Day!

For news, films and to have your say, find us on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Welcome to Oasis

WaterAid/Abir Abdullah

This edition is full of inspiring stories from women. The strength of mothers and young girls living without safe water or toilets is truly inspiring – the shocking photos on page 14 show how difficult their daily reality is. We also hear from my colleague Noella in Rwanda and from pop singer and new WaterAid Ambassador Rachel Stevens in Ethiopia. As you know, women and girls bear the heaviest burden in this crisis, so thank you for doing so much to help them break free.

Barbara Frost, Chief Executive

Edited by Kate Whittaker Designed by Progression (progressiondesign.co.uk)

WaterAid transforms lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world’s poorest communities. WaterAid 47-49 Durham Street London, SE11 5JD T: 020 7793 4594 Registered charity numbers 288701 (England and Wales) and SC039479 (Scotland) Cover image: Orke Otta walks with a jerrycan full of water, Konso, Ethiopia, 2012. (WaterAid/Anna Kari) 2

WaterAid/Candice Feit

Dear WaterAid supporter,

Oasis Spring/Summer 2013

Save paper, save money Each copy of Oasis costs 9p to produce plus P&P. Sign up to get Oasis by email at supportercare @wateraid.org

Mali update

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#1in3women

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n World Toilet Day in November, thousands of you used online social media to highlight the plight of one in three women living without safe water and sanitation. By sharing our YouTube film on Facebook and Twitter, and telling your friends and contacts Where your about the crisis, you money goes helped generate a lot of In every £1, we spend noise about this crucial 22p on fundraising and issue. Please keep governance, and 78p on engaged with us online delivering services and (see top of page). influencing decisionmakers.

t time of writing (January 18) the French airforce have struck targets in northern Mali to stop Islamist rebels spreading south towards the capital. Security is uncertain and the health situation in many areas is deteriorating. In some rebel-held areas we are working with our partners to distribute water purification kits. WaterAid staff are safe and in regular contact with the Bamako and London offices.

Contents

4 An illusion of paradise 6 Water is just the beginning 8 Rachel Stevens in Ethiopia 10 Technology: Sand dam 12 Voice from the field: Rwanda 14 World Toilet Day 16 Women without sanitation 18 Get involved Oasis Spring/Summer 2013

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Madagascar

An illusion of paradise For most people, Madagascar sounds like paradise. Our Special Projects Manager Meriel Armson recently returned from an eye-opening trip there.

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WaterAid/Anna Kari

Headteacher Amée Adeline with her class.

transform this area. Amée dreams of a school with toilets. She told me: “I promise you that if there were latrines those pupils of mine would not miss school and would do their best to get the best education they can. I would like a very nice building – real toilets with walls where the children can feel comfortable. Of course the ideal would be one toilet for the teachers, one for boys and one for girls. This is a dream though.” I’m pleased to report that WaterAid has pledged to make Amée’s dreams come true – we hope to start work here before the end of the year. As Andry said, “However great the challenge we will find an answer.”



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tepping off the plane to a vision of white sand, I could almost be on holiday – but that illusion didn’t last long. I was soon confronted with the reality of a desperately poor country, where less than half the population have access to safe water. I visited the town of Morondava, where the population has almost doubled in just four years, and is still growing. With little infrastructure, frequent flooding and complexities around land ownership, there are many challenges here. But Andry, a Local Project Manager with WaterAid partner ECA, is more than ready for the fight: “The challenge here is so big. When we decided to work here it was with the belief that there will be an answer. Sometimes challenges give you motivation. When you see a situation like this you want to change it”. And when I met local people like Amée Adeline, a headteacher, I saw why Andry was so determined to

“If there were latrines those pupils of mine would not miss education” Oasis Spring/Summer 2013

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783 million people worldwide live without access to safe, clean water.

Campaigns

Water is just the beginning... You can help ensure that the UK Government keeps to its commitment on water and sanitation. Please send the enclosed postcard to International Development Secretary Justine Greening MP explaining why you think ‘water is just the beginning’.

To find out more email [email protected] 6

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Our recent Big Dig Appeal in Malawi brought a new beginning to the communities of Bokola and Kaniche.

Thousands support 1 in 3 women on World Toilet Day On World Toilet Day, you stood up for 1.25 billion women. You helped us do something we’d never done before and couldn’t have done without you. By sharing our film, you highlighted the hidden story of the shame and fear suffered by 1 in 3 women worldwide who don’t have anywhere safe to go the toilet.

WaterAid/Candice Feit

are able to learn and play and diseases are prevented – life begins again. WaterAid will be launching a new report on World Water Day. We will urge world leaders to set ambitious new targets that recognise investment in water and sanitation as fundamental to all forms of development.

WaterAid/Jason Larkin

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riday 22 March is the 20th anniversary of the first ever UN World Water Day. To mark the occasion, we want you to join us and tell the UK Government that ‘water is just the beginning’. We know that when communities have safe water and sanitation, life changes forever. Men and women have more time to earn an income, children

You can find out more about our film on pages 14-15. Oasis Spring/Summer 2013

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In Ethiopia, only 44% of the population have access to clean water, and only 12% have access to safe sanitation.

Rachel Stevens in Ethiopia WaterAid Ambassador and former S Club 7 singer and star of Strictly Come Dancing Rachel Stevens visited Ethiopia last year to see for herself the difference WaterAid is making to the lives of communities, particularly women and girls. “The girls can stay clean because they’ve got taps, there’s a toilet for disabled children and there’s a sink to wash their hands – it’s a massive difference. Without WaterAid’s help, people have no choice but to give their families dirty water, fully aware of the risk of illness or even death and sadly, the situation is widespread. Seeing people live in fear like that, looking into their eyes and feeling their despair is something I won’t ever forget.

Rachel with pupils from Shutake Secondary school at the new handwashing facilities

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their help, families become vibrant, happy and alive. Children have better health and enjoy their childhood and women can earn their own money, have independence and are valued.

WaterAid/James McCauley

Rachel with Ajame, a mother of eight, whose husband died from diarrhoea. Ajame told Rachel she struggles to keep her family healthy as she has no access to clean water. WaterAid/James McCauley

“I

t was incredibly humbling to see how people carve out an existence, living in such poverty” says Rachel. “I was welcomed so warmly by everyone I met, sharing their experiences and issues, many of them heart breaking, and all of them hopeful for change.” Rachel visited schools, family homes, local businesses and water sources in Jeldu, one of Ethiopia’s poorest rural communities, and also in the capital, Addis Ababa. One of the main issues women and girls face is a lack of water and sanitation facilities in schools. Many girls miss school when they are menstruating, with some dropping out altogether. Rachel met students from Shutake Secondary School where WaterAid have installed a sanitation block and handwashing facilities.

“Seeing the difference that WaterAid makes, transforming lives when there is easy access to safe water and proper toilets, is what made me want to work more closely with them. With



Ethiopia

Update on our Christmas appeal for Ethiopia We’ve found water! Thanks to your support, drilling in Lahyte has been successfully completed. Our team are now busy constructing the water supply system, which will provide a source of safe, clean water for the people of Lahyte by the end of March 2013. Thank you to everyone who supported the appeal.

Ethiopia

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Read more about sand dams and all our technologies at www.wateraid.org/technology

Technology

Sand dam W

John Tukei, Napak district, Uganda. 10 Oasis Spring/Summer 2013

The sand protects the water from evaporation and contamination. Water can be collected via a shallow well, dug in the bank side, with a handpump attached. Alternatively, a drawoff pipe with a control valve and filter box can be built in the dam wall.

Illustration by peter-mac.com

“During the dry season all other water sources like boreholes and valley dams dry up quickly or get silted. Sand dams store lots of water for both humans and cattle. Collecting safe water from a sand dam is very easy, it’s less than a metre deep; it is like our traditional wells rejuvenated. Sand dams can also boost agriculture as well.”

Sand collects behind the concrete dam while most of the lighter silt flows over the wall.

WaterAid

e are working with our partners in East Africa to construct and maintain sand dams. In areas where hydrogeological conditions are appropriate, a reinforced concrete dam is built during the dry season across a sandy river. In the rainy season, a river forms and carries silt and sand downstream. Within one to four rainy seasons the river channel fills with heavy sand, with water stored in the spaces between the grains. Water is filtered and collected either via a shallow well or draw-off pipe built into the dam wall.

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Find out what else is happening in Rwanda at www.wateraid.org/rwanda

Noella Urwibutso Our Programme Manager in Rwanda describes her role.

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miracle.” It was so inspiring to know we had reached those most in need. Innovation plays a big part in what we do. There is a lot of rain in Rwanda but it is not being used. We are currently in the piloting stage with rainwater harvesting. We are looking to make the tank cheaper still and looking to improve the filtration process to improve the water quality. We need to think of the future – if we use clean water to flush our toilets, wash our cars, water the garden – then this is connected to why people in Bugesera district don’t have any safe water, or only enough for using once a day. In my work for WaterAid I have grown and feel more professional and confident. I know I am involved in essential activity – making a difference to some of the poorest people. Rwanda’s future is bright.



“M

y job is hard work as my time is so full! I sometimes have to stay at the office until 9pm during busy periods. We currently work in one district called Bugesera where there is a great need for our work. I spend a lot of time in the field to check actual progress on the ground, and to solve any problems that occur. WASH [water, sanitation and hygiene] is very important to communities but you don’t see it being discussed. We have a limit of what we can achieve without the support of government. What we want to do is to get them to understand the voice of the community and to invest more in solving their problems to change things. Recently I met a woman whose village had been forgotten for many years. After we built a safe water source, she said, “Now you can see how clean I am and my kids are using clean water since they were born – this is really a

“We have a limit of what we can achieve without the support of government.”

WaterAid/Zute Lightfoot

Voice from the field: Rwanda

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World Toilet Day

1 in 3

On World Toilet Day last November, we made a short film that put a British woman in the shoes of the 1.25 billion women in developing countries who have nowhere safe or private to go to the toilet. 1 in 3 women worldwide face the risk of disease, shame, harassment and attack every single day for want of a proper toilet.

Illustration by elliotelam.com

Watch this thought-provoking film at www.wateraid.org/1in3

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Women without sanitation

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WaterAid/Juthika Howlader

Across the world, 1 in 3 women worldwide risk shame, disease, harassment and even attack because they have nowhere safe to go to the toilet.

Justinea Nasanga lives in a Kampala slum, Uganda. Without sanitation, people use buckets or plastic bags. Justina’s house floods regularly. One of her children died recently from a water-related disease.

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Raju, 25, lives in Motijharna slum, Bangladesh. She says, “When the new latrines come the old one will be destroyed. I will feel safer because there won’t be men walking past, like there are now.” 2

WaterAid/Layton Thompson

WaterAid/ Des Willie

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Patuma Mbande, 40, Mwenyekondo, Malawi, outside her makeshift toilet. “The toilet is not private. I worry that people will attack me. The children are afraid to use the toilet so they go outside the house.”

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We need you! Come along and help at WaterAid events! We are always looking for volunteers to cheer on and support our teams. Call 020 7793 2232 or email [email protected] for information.

Get involved in 2013 22-28 April

Email [email protected] to volunteer.

Water of Life 10k and half marathon

22-28 April is UK Coffee Week 2013. A week where the UK coffee industry and coffee lovers come together to support WaterAid’s work in Tanzania. See how your daily caffeine fix can make a difference at www.ukcoffeeweek.com

Run either 10k or a half marathon along the scenic banks of the River Thames!

WaterAid

With thanks to sponsorship and support from our friends at Ecover, WaterAid’s team are well into their training ahead of this year’s Virgin London Marathon. Come along and join in by cheering on our dedicated runners!

UK Coffee Week

WaterAid/Toby Roberts

Ecover put in marathon effort to support WaterAid

24 March

WaterAid/Becky Simiser

8 June

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Register and join us in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, on 24 March to celebrate World Water Day and bring safe, clean water to 37,000 people in Hadiya Zone, Ethiopia. WaterAid/Tim Bishop

21 April

To register, visit www.wateraid.org/ wateroflife2013 or email [email protected]

J.P. Morgan

WaterAid 200

Support WaterAid as you save

Conquer a mountain for WaterAid! Join the WaterAid200 Mountain Challenge this summer.

For every ISA that is opened and funded, J.P. Morgan will donate £40 to WaterAid, enough to restore two water points in Bangladesh. To find out more, including how to invest in a J.P. Morgan ISA, visit www.jpmorgan.co.uk/wateraid

www.wateraid200.org [email protected]

Belu

Belu has collaborated with WaterAid Ambassador Rachel Stevens on a limited edition pack, available in store and online at Sainsbury’s from 22 March, World Water Day. All bottles and multi-packs sold will help raise money for WaterAid’s work. We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve agreed to extend our partnership with Belu to 2020. Since the partnership first started in January 2011, Belu has raised over £300,000* for WaterAid. Such has been the partnership’s success that we’re thrilled to announce our plan to extend our agreement with Belu until 2020.

*includes profits and donations

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Want to change the world?

Change the water. Dirty water is one of the world’s biggest child killers. Change it and you change everything.

*Texts charged at standard network rates and calls charged at local rate.

WaterAid/ Eva-Lotta Jansson

To give £2 a month please text WATER to 83010 Visit wateraid.org/changeit or call 0300 123 4341*