The Kalebuka community, in the country’s southeastern Katanga province, is currently enjoying clean water from our first project with the Georges Malaika Foundation and Solutions for Africa, at the site of the GMF School for Girls, the first girls’ school in the region. After the school opens later this month, however, that well will be solely for the school’s use, so the new well will serve the rest of the residents.

This project will be funded through our Give A Drop partnership with Jewel’s Project Clean Water and Virgin Unite.

Members of the Kalebuka community enjoying water from our first well in the region.

See more photos from our first project with GMF here. Our first well in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the Georges Malaika School for Girls, was funded by Women Helping Women.

See above and below great photos from our partner CHF International showing our wells in the Gode and Kelafo zones in Ethiopia!

Here is the completed well at Niri

The shallow wells’ construction is based on a design incorporating both hydrological engineering best practices and  local preferences. Each well has a one meter high wall around it apron to avoid outside contamination and protect against flooding. Each well also has two watering troughs for livestock. All of the wells are fitted with rope and washer pumps. Everything was constructed using hand held tools and locally-source materials.

Each well is monitored by a 12-person Water Management Committee, comprised of community members, half of which are women.

We are so happy to see the members of the Hadhawe, Niri, and Waylasidig communities enjoying facilitated access to clean drinking water!

*Photographs courtesy of CHF International

It’s Blog Action Day 2010! This year the focus is on our global water crisis and we are so excited that all around the world today bloggers will bring attention to the Global Water Crisis much like the Voss Foundation has been doing since our inception in 2008!

Did you know that a child dies every 20 seconds from a water-related disease? This statistic is astronomical, shocking and heartbreaking — but also preventable.  Access to clean water is not just an environmental issue. It’s a human rights issue. Water is a global concern, and it affects all of us.

Obviously the makers of one of the world’s purest waters realized it was their responsibility to bring attention to the lack of availability of clean drinking water in third world countries.  In 2008, the then-CEO of Voss of Norway ASA founded the Voss Foundation after a trip to Africa where he saw firsthand the magnitude of the global water crisis.  And so the pivotal work of the Voss Foundation began.\

Can one person really make a change? Our founders thought so. Jewel and Sir Richard Branson thought so, when their charities, Project Clean Water and Virgin Unite, invited the Voss Foundation to join their Give A Drop partnership as the key project management partner.

The Voss Foundation has also attracted hundreds of women whose conscience motivates them to help women around the world in their struggle for a better life. Under the leadership of the Voss Foundation, this group of women became “Women Helping Women” and committed themselves to improve the lives of mothers and children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Contributions go to help women and girls in a chosen village to achieve improved health and hygiene for themselves and their families.  Women Helping Women, which started as a grassroots operation in 2009, has grown into the most successful initiative for the Voss Foundation to date.

Want to join us? 

On November 3, 2010 Voss Foundation will hold our annual Women Helping Women Luncheon in New York City to solely benefit the water system for one Sub-Saharan village. The generosity of our sponsors will allow 100% of all ticket sales to go directly to the water project. With the help of our founders, supporters and other partners, the Voss Foundation will continue to bring clean water to the rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa that need it most.

If you’re in the New York City area and would like to attend the luncheon or join us by making a contribution to Women Helping Women of any size, visit our Women Helping Women website.

 Donors can also donate to support the Voss Foundation’s vital work in other projects in Kenya, Mali, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on our website here.

Spread the Word!

Voss Foundation is now using social media to get the word out about aiding the global water crisis, partners across the world and what you can do now to make a difference. Follow us on Twitter @vossfoundation or join our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/vossfoundation)

 Tell Us!

What are you doing to bring awareness to the global water crisis – above and beyond your own community? If you would like to get involved contact us via email at info@thevossfoundation.org

 *Images courtesy of Blog Action Day 2010 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VOSS FOUNDATION HELPS CHF INTERNATIONAL PROVIDE CLEAN WATER IN RURAL ETHIOPIA

Donation Will Increase Access to Safe Water for More Than 100,000 People

Silver Spring, MD (June 3, 2010)— Continuing its long-term commitment to Ethiopia and its successful partnership with CHF International (CHF), the Voss Foundation has donated $25,000 to the Silver Spring-MD-based international development organization. With its first donation, the Voss Foundation joins CHF in diversifying livelihoods and increasing access to safe water for more than 100,000 rural Ethiopians by building three wells in rural communities.

“We help these communities to meet their needs through a unique approach which ensures local ownership and long-term sustainability through partnerships with trusted organizations on the ground, like CHF,” says Kara Gerson, Executive Director of Voss Foundation.  “It is critical to use appropriate technology that assesses the multiple water requirements of a community; in large pastoral communities in Ethiopia, this meant shallow wells with hand pumps for drinking water. Thanks to our Give A Drop partnership with Virgin Unite and Project Clean Water, and our Sammen for Vann Norwegian campaign, Voss Foundation is able to join CHF in changing lives with the provision of access to clean water.”  Funded by USAID, CHF began working in Ethiopia in 2004 to help mitigate the impact of extreme drought and floods on rural, agricultural communities and decrease their dependence on food aid. Activities have focused on improving food security by increasing household assets such as livestock, supporting livelihoods through access to economic opportunities, and improving health and hygiene through access to clean water and sanitation.

The work developed together by CHF and Ethiopian communities proved to be in line with Voss Foundation’s vision to provide access to clean drinking water to rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Voss Foundation’s donation will allow CHF to expand its existing program to include three additional villages Gode, Mustahil, and Kelafo, all of which have large pastoral communities, by building three wells. The project is part of CHF’s USAID-funded Sustainable Humanitarian Assistance Program for Ethiopia (SHAPE) program in the Gode zone of the Somali Regional State.

Michel Holsten, CHF Vice President for Business Development, sees these corporate partnerships as vital to CHF’s work in the developing world. “Relationships such as the one we have built with the Voss Foundation are crucial to CHF’s work and guarantee the effectiveness of our programs in the region. The goal of the program is to help drought-affected communities meet their emergency needs for water, food and income while assisting them to build their resources and capacities to respond to future crisis.”

ABOUT CHF INTERNATIONAL:
CHF International (CHF) is an international development organization founded in1952 that works in post-conflict, unstable and developing countries.  CHF partners with communities around the world to help them to improve and direct their lives and livelihoods.  The organization believes that those best suited to decide what a community needs are the community itself.  CHF is a politically neutral, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, visit www.chfinternational.org

ABOUT VOSS FOUNDATION:
Voss Foundation is dedicated to providing access to clean drinking water to rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.  We employ a unique approach that ensures local ownership and long-term sustainability through partnerships with trusted organizations on the ground, use of appropriate technology, and through systems that align environmental consideration with the diverse water needs of a community.  Founded by VOSS of Norway ASA as an independent 501(c)(3) public charity,  the Voss Foundation has offices in New York and Oslo, and is currently working on projects in Kenya, Mali, Ethiopia, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. For more information, visit www.thevossfoundation.org

Contact:

Danielle Duran Baron, 301.587.4700 x1821

dbaron@chfinternational.org

Tina McCormack, 301-585-5034 x116

tina@cfoxcommunications.com

*Photographs courtesy of CHF International

By providing clean water in Pel, Mali, we have doubled women’s average income!

Thanks to the five wells we are rehabilitating in the village, women no longer spend their days searching for clean water. They can devote more time to growing healthy and inexpensive food for their families and generating their own incomes…by selling the produce. To support the women and ensure water is used responsibly, we installed an irrigation system in the Women’s Association garden.

• Before irrigation, almost 30% of the land was undeveloped, only 60 women could farm, and the average cash income was around 20,000 CFA.
• After irrigation, up to 100 women can farm, with an average cash income of between 35,000 and 50,000 CFA.

Below you can see what the garden used to look like, before the irrigation system was installed.

See what a little clean water can do?

The Pel project is funded by all of you who Give A Drop through our partnership with Virgin Unite and Jewel’s Project Clean Water.

Progress in Pel is well underway, with three of our five wells already rehabilitated!

Above is a photo of Well No. 2 after rehabilitation; below, you can see what it looked like before:

Notice how much safer and more secure the new well is, with sturdier construction, protective enclosures, and a cover to keep people, animals, and germs from getting in.

On the 40th celebration of Earth Day, show you Give A Drop:

• Donate online at www.giveadrop.com or text the message DROP to phone number  85944 (US mobile users only)
• Purchase a limited-edition Pennyroyal silver necklace designed by inger/songwriter Jewel
• Attend one of Jewel’s benefit concerts at Nashville’s legendary Bluebird Cafe

For more ideas on how you can help the Voss Foundation combat the water crisis in Africa, contact us at info@thevossfoundation.org or info.europe@thevossfoundation.org.

Did you know that more children die each year due to unclean water and inadequate sanitation than from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and measles, combined?

Those are 5000 deaths a day from diseases that could be prevented with access to clean water.

Today, World Water Day, serves to remind us all that clean water cannot be taken for granted.

Luckily, there are many ways you can help:

• Make a donation to the Voss Foundation

• Show you Give A Drop by visiting www.giveadrop.com or texting  the message DROP to phone number 85944; you can also purchase a limited-edition Pennyroyal silver necklace designed by singer/songwriter Jewel

• Join one of our Women Helping Women groups — or start your own!

For more ideas on how you can help the Voss Foundation combat the water crisis in Africa, contact us at info@thevossfoundation.org or info.europe@thevossfoundation.org.