TapStand | Volume 3 Edition 2

Volume 3

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Edition 2

Give Water

Grow Resilience

“It is a challenge for me to retrieve water because I live up on the hill and I walk so far down to get water. This takes me 2 hours and the water I do fetch is dirty. I don’t do much for myself because I am weakened by the hill to fetch water. But I am so happy for the good news that Acts has brought to us by giving clean water that I can access close to home!

Thank you very much!”

- Miria, Muhaha Village Beneficiary

This year, we’re learning more than ever how critical it is to build systems and processes that stand up during stress. We’ve seen this in our hospitals, in the grocery stores and probably in our own daily lives at home. We’ve been obsessing about this a great deal here at Acts for Water and are so thrilled to release our Strategic Plan. It is a new direction for our organization and so you will see some new themes in this TapStand and in other materials to come. We’re deeply committed to learning from our past as we launch into the future, and I’m so excited to do this alongside you.

A Word from Jeff

I hope you enjoy this full TapStand, overflowing with impact!

Jeff Golby | CEO

Breaking the Limits for Kisabo Village The limits of life in Kisabo Village are about to be broken.

Last March we introduced you to one of Kisabo’s residents, Florence, and shared how he struggled daily without access to clean water. His neighbour, Turyahebwa, a 40 year old mother who supports her family through coffee farming, also knows this struggle well.

“What we don’t have here in Kisabo is water. After gardening, I go down this valley to fetch water with my kid on my back. By the time I reach home with a jerry can of water and after climbing the hill, I feel like my heart is bursting. I surely request if there is any merciful person to help us truly and we also have access to water nearby our homes.”

- Turyahebwa And Patricia, a 14 year old student, endures the additional work of sourcing water in Kisabo too: “There's no water at school and the little we collect from a distance is very dirty. Being a student, all the time we are in class and find ourselves without time to go down the hill and fetch water. If I and my fellow pupils try to go and collect water, we find a lesson already passed. Failure of water at school affects us girls as we feel the need to bathe most of the time, but we cannot because of water scarcity.”

- Patricia But you gave generously for World Water Day which means the news to send back to Florence, Turyahebwa, Patricia, and their entire village is the kind dreams are made of! The Tap Stands for Kisabo Village and Nyamabaare Primary School are fully funded and the excavation for the piping for Kisabo began at the start of May. Soon Patricia’s village will have access to your gift of clean, disease-free water! Soon, her walk to fetch that water will be reduced to walking outside her house and turning on a tap. And very soon - Patricia will have the water she’s dreamed of. Thanks to you - our community - for breaking limits and helping dreams come true!

Did you know?

Acts for Water is turning 50 in June 2022!

Clean Water Delivered the Right Way As one of Canada’s oldest water charities, you have helped us focus on perfecting the Gravity Flow System (GFS) - a specific form of sustainable, scaleable water delivery technology. Together, we’ve built more GFS than any other NGO in North America or Uganda! It is a resilient technology, but the clean water it produces is only as good as the knowledge that surrounds it.

When clean water is delivered the right way, it’s complemented by a whole system of WASH (water, hygiene and sanitation training) for the communities receiving that water. When clean water is delivered the right way, we know through the data we mine in our monitoring and evaluation process that it is making an impact. When clean water is delivered the right way, it’s done through sustainable systems that empower healthy communities.

When the GFS and WASH are done well, communities experience increased time savings for more productive work, reduced prevalence of diseases, better education outcomes for children and dignity for women and girls. Clean water plus community knowledge around hygiene and sanitation is what enables the water to truly reach 100% of its potential and produce a lasting change towards thriving communities.

The Future of Sustainability Imagine for a moment that the city where you live installs a new water system in a new subdivision, turns it on and tells its residents it is theirs to care for, to govern and to collect taxes on for repairs down the line. Even the most determined communities would need support from time to time to ensure that the water system is sustained. Even the longest lasting water systems would benefit from upgrades and new technology to enable them to last for generations to come.

We spoke with Rawlings Akamanya, who has been our Engineer in Uganda since 2014, to ask him about the future of sustainability and how it relates to Acts for Water. Here’s some of what he had to say.

“What good is an abandoned water system or a failed sanitation facility in your community?”

Every system that impacts human life positively should be sustained… including our Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) systems. However, to achieve sustainability, local communities need to connect and work together, so they can operate and sustain WASH systems, even under stress; adapt to changes in their environment2; be self-reliant if external resources are limited or cut off and learn from experience to improve themselves over time without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs3.

This year we’re set to complete our 30th Gravity Flow System increasing the rural population served, to approximately 270,000. This is a great resource - one too great to put to waste. Many dollars and hours of labour have been invested and Acts for Water is poised to tackle the challenge and embrace the opportunity to aid the sustainability of these systems.

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Uganda Ministry of Water and Environment, Sector Performance Report 2020 Physical, Social or Economic environment - Arbon et al. 2012 Sustainable Development

Did you know that in rural areas in Uganda: 3 in 10 people lack access to an improved drinking water source About 6 in 10 people have no handwashing facilities At least 2 in 10 people practice open defecation

100,000 People Served Our Blueprint for Resilience Acts for Water is committed to a better way of bringing clean, accessible water to those in desperate need. We have the most incredible foundation to build on as one of Canada’s oldest water charities, and we’re at a critical juncture where we can now lead the way in leveraging the past, while launching into a future filled with tremendous hope and potential.

PILLAR ONE:

PILLAR TWO:

PILLAR THREE:

Build Sustainable Systems

Empower Healthy Communities

Partner with A Thriving Uganda

We invest new technology into old systems so they can reach new communities, and have the capacity to meet the growing population of the area for generations to come. We will also extend these systems upwards to reach brand new communities while working in these regions - giving more leverage out of the existing infrastructure! When we do build systems, we do it with slightly more expensive infrastructure that is proven to last.

To ensure 100% of the water reaches 100% of the impact it’s designed to create, we invest heavily into teaching hygiene and sanitation essentials. We partner with schools to equip the kids with the latrines and sanitation training they need to influence their community.

We provide our water solution to other charities who need a sustainable water solution in their region. We also partner other charities with complimentary services, like healthcare and education, with the communities we work in to help them truly thrive.

Today we are soft launching our Capital Campaign to raise over $4.5 million dollars in 5 years to serve 100,000 people in a radically comprehensive, new way - changing the face of Ugandan communities: forever.

Learn more, and join us at www.GiveWater.ca

A Look Inside Our Annual Report

Our 2020-21 Annual Report was released at the end of April.

If you missed it, visit https://acts.ca/annual_report to see the impact your support made this past year.

The Future of Sustainability continued If we are to achieve sustainable development, we have an incredible opportunity to partner together with communities around the world, putting together available resources to develop capacities and resilience of these communities to escape WASH poverty without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

You can be a part of this future.

To read the full article online, visit: https://acts.ca/future-of-sustainability/

Meet Us At the Source!

Protecting the source of water is critical to this work. Every other step flows from that one. We feel the same about our monthly membership community, which is why we named it The Source Supporters.

Delivering clean water in a better way to those in desperate need requires people like you to partner with us in an ongoing, sustainable way. Your consistent commitment through monthly giving does just that. In fact, it’s the only way we can reduce our overhead, get off the fundraising treadmill and focus more on creating lasting impact in the communities we serve.

Real change takes time. Will you join us? This summer, our goal is to build a community of 250 Source Supporters, collectively committed to $15,500 in recurring giving - approximately the cost of monthly operations for our team in Uganda.

We’d love for you to join the 185 other Source Supporters today. Some studies have shown that your gift will go four times further because it allows us to be so much more effective! Not only this, but we’ll be sure to give you exclusive access to project updates and events, all while building the most resilient water systems in the world.

Meet us at the Source today by using the enclosed envelope or visiting www.acts.ca/donate-monthly.

This month only, you will also receive a free bottle of Life Lather, our limited edition hand soap by K’Pure Naturals.

PO Box 30044 Moncton PO Richmond BC V7E 0A6

P | 778.855.4352

E | info@acts.ca