Florida Working for WASH

Briefing Prepared for ______

Improving Access to Clean Water Is at the Top of Americans’ Global Health Priorities

People in the state of Florida 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 programsin the state include:

a)The University of Florida Engineers Without Borders Chapter raised $16,000to build water supply and sanitation facilities for a school in Nepal.

b)The Global Water for Sustainability Program at Florida International University works on the ground to implement WASH services, improve water management practices, and build local capacity.

c)Rotary Club of Jacksonville Oceanside installed 133 cisterns that provided residents of Guatemala rainforest villages with access to clean water and sponsors the University of North Florida Rotaract, which raises money for clean water projects.

d)Community Presbyterian Church (CPC), Atlantic Beach sponsors annual mission trips to Central America to assist communities with water access challenges.

Other notableefforts include:

Rotary Clubs in Florida

  • North Dade Rotary Club, Miami Shores
  • Provided hygiene relief kits to families during the Ebola crisis
  • Provided Filtroneswater filtration units to 200 Peruvian families affected by disability or living in shanty towns and trained community members on repair of filtration system
  • Rotary District 6960, Southwest Florida
  • Partnered with 9 Rotary Districts to fund the Village Water Supply project in Central Asia, which raised over $160,000 for 13 water projects in Tajikistan villages and 1 water project in Kyrgyzstan
  • Rotary Club of South Jacksonville
  • Partnered with the Rotary Club of Oceanside, Rotary District 7550, and Rotary District 6970 to raise money for clean drinking water, a handwashing station, and latrines for over 300 people in Honduras
  • Rotary Club of Miami
  • Raised $38,000 toinstall a water filtration system in Peru that provides clean, safe water to over 4,000 villagers
  • Collaborated with Rotary International to fundclean water distribution and sanitation projects in Ghana, serving over 50,000 Ghanaians in 18 villages
  • Rotary Club of Orlando Evening
  • Raises money to support well drilling in Ethiopia and educates U.S. citizens about the global water crisis
  • Rotary Club of Belleair
  • Funded the construction of a cistern and water filtration system that provides water to 240 orphans in Peru
  • Rotary Club of Coral Gables
  • Donated HydrAidBioSand filters to families in the Dominican Republic
  • Funded a water filtration system for 105 schools in India aimed at increasing school attendance

Faith-Based Organizations in Florida

  • Community Presbyterian Church (CPC), Atlantic Beach
  • Trains El Salvadorians and provides water filtration systems that increase water access through the Living Waters partnership
  • Palm Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville Beach
  • Sponsors Haiti Outreach Ministry Clean Water Project mission trips
  • Reinstalled a clean water system after the Haiti earthquake and maintains the system on annual Haiti Outreach Ministry trips
  • Journey Church, Jacksonville
  • Builds homes for families in Guatemala, providing them with shelter, clean water, and electricity through the 12x12 Project
  • United Way, Miami-Dade
  • Donated $325,000 to World Vision and $50,000 to the Pan American Development Foundation to provide clean water and fund shelter kits with water purification tablets for Haiti
  • Diocese of St. Augustine, Jacksonville
  • Funds Catholic Relief Services’ development projects that increase access to water and sanitation
  • Christ Journey Church, Coral Gables
  • Collaborates with local organizations and parishes in Nicaragua, India, Haiti, Ecuador, Cuba, Brazil, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic to provide hygiene kits and implementswater projects in underserved communities
  • Malteser International, Coral Gables
  • Implements over 100 programs for disaster relief, livelihoods, health, and water and sanitation
  • Constructed 243 clinic handwashing stations, 39 rainwater harvesting tanks, and trained 126 medical staff on hygiene and sanitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Plymouth Congregational Church, Coconut Grove
  • Installed a water purification system at a Haitian school, providing potable drinking water to more than 750 students

Schools & Universities in Florida

  • University of North Florida–Engineers Without Borders, Jacksonville
  • Designed safe water system for the Tamale Children’s Home in Ghana
  • Installed water storage tanks, repaired existing septic tanks, and installed pumps for older children at the Tamale Children’s Home
  • University of Florida – Engineers Without Borders, Gainesville
  • Collaborated with Dhulikel Hospital and Kathmandu University to conduct a community water assessment in Nepal
  • Installed apiped irrigation system that improves the flow of water to farms in Bolivia
  • Collaborated with Sustainable Cambodia to install latrinesthat improve access to sanitation in Cambodia
  • University of Central Florida –Engineers Without Borders, Orlando
  • Installed four 800 gallon water cisterns and 34 bio-sand filters in Haiti that provide the community with access to clean water
  • Collaborated with UCF College of Medicine’s MedPactand assessed community water needs and water security in the Dominican Republic
  • University of MiamiOne Water Project, Miami
  • Created an international network of journalists whose goal is to increase awareness about the global water challenge through water-focused journalism
  • Developed the Knowater curriculum and 1H2O screening to teach children in India, Bangladesh, and the US about global water issues
  • Florida International University, Miami
  • Leads Global Water for Sustainability Program (GLOWS) consortium that implements WASH services, improves water management practices, and builds local capacity in Africa
  • Trains local WASH practitioners in Burkina Faso and Ghana on local WASH policy development through the USAID West Africa Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program (WA-WASH), benefiting 216 people
  • Supports the provision of increased sustainable WASH services and develops the capacity of WASH entrepreneurs to improve the health of rural Tanzanians through the Integrated WASH (iWASH) Program
  • Provides technical assistance aimed at increasing sustainable access to WASH services and strengthens governance of WASH resources through the Rwanda Integrated Water Security Program (RIWSP)
  • Develops capacity of local WASH community-based organizations and NGOs through the Capacity-Building of Local/National NGOs/CBOs in Africa (Cap-WASH) initiative

WASH-Focused Organizations in Florida

  • Blue Missions Group, Miami
  • Sends Quench Team to local middle schools, high schools, universities, and youth groups to promote awareness about the water and sanitation crisis
  • Facilitated service trips with Florida International University that built gravity driven water systems for 38 Dominican Republic families
  • Sponsored Florida State University Alternative Break that constructedVentilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrines for 27 Dominican Republic families
  • Sponsored immersion trips for Our Lady of Lourdes Academy and Christopher Columbus High School that built gravity driven water systems for 277 Dominican Republic families
  • Sponsors an annual service trip for Christopher Columbus High School to build gravity driven water systems for 126 Dominican Republic families
  • World Water Alliance of Florida, Jacksonville
  • Constructed a water distribution and storage system and facilitated community hygiene education for 350 villagers in Guatemala
  • Constructing a well,a water filtration system,and asolar-powered water treatment systemat a clinic and school in Guatemala to increase access to safe water for 2,316 patients and caregivers and 500 community members
  • Installing well and solar-powered water treatment system at a school in Guatemala to benefit over 500 community members
  • Engineers Without Borders Jacksonville Professional Chapter, Jacksonville
  • Partnered with Agua y DesarrolloComunitario (ADEC) in Honduras and designedwater supply systems and reservoirs for 54 families in Honduras
  • Consulted on University of North Florida’s 2013 Ghana Project, which provided water engineering improvements at the Tamale Children’s Home
  • Worked with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to bring clean water to 25 households, a school, and a church in Guatemala
  • Engineers Without Borders South-Central Florida Professional Chapter, Palm Beach
  • Partnered with Pure Water for Haiti to rehabilitate existing cisterns and rain catchment systems
  • Installedslow sand filters for 200 community members
  • Water for All Nations, Jacksonville
  • Trained Tanzanian residents to dig water wells
  • Conducted community assessment to determine future needs for wells and boreholes
  • Sustainable Cambodia Inc., Gainesville
  • Provides water wells, rainwater tanks, and bio-sand water filters to impoverished Cambodian communities
  • Employs only native Cambodians as paid staff members
  • Offers opportunities for people to sponsor villages and projects
  • Miracles in Action, Naples
  • Placed over 1,200 water filters in homes in Guatemala
  • Raising funds for their 20th village water system project
  • People for Guatemala, Naples
  • Conducts 12 health clinics each month, 8 at the field office in San Martin, Jilotepeque and 4 in remote clinics in rural villages
  • Helps Guatemalan communities implement water projects to provide them with safe water
  • Improves sanitation through composting latrines, the compost from which can later be used to fertilize their crops which negates the need to purchase commercial fertilizer
  • Hope for Haiti, Naples
  • Installs and maintains solar-powered Ultraviolet (U.V.) water purification systems and well in community-accessible locations
  • Educates over 2,400 students and their families on the importance of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene

For more information, please contact John Oldfield at WASH Advocates:

202.293.4049   Updated: December 2015