Kentucky 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 Kentucky 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 programs in the state include:

a)Missions of Love, a Christian mission based in Hartford, implemented the Jolivert Safe Water for Families project that installed 25,000 water purification systems in 25,000 homes throughout Haiti in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Agency for International Development, and Deep Springs International.

b)WaterStep, a non-profit organization based in Louisville, received a $100,000 matching grant aimed to empowerthousands of ordinary people to provide safe, sustainable access to water and sanitation in their own communities in more than 25 countries.

Other notableefforts include:

Rotary Clubs in Kentucky

  • Rotary District 6740
  • The District Governor traveled to Ethiopia to distribute polio immunizations and collaborate with Rotarians on clean water projects
  • Rotary Club of Owensboro
  • Partneredwith the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island, Washington, and Rotary International to start the Uganda Clean Water Initiative that drill boreholes throughout Uganda
  • Rotary Club of Lexington
  • Raised money to support the Rotary Water Project in Thailand, which provides water filters to rural communities
  • Rotary Club of Frankfort
  • Provided a community in the Dominican Republic with potable water
  • Collaborated withthe San Pedro Rotary Club to assess additional communities for new water projects
  • Rotary Club of Louisville
  • Participated in Uganda Rotary Water Plus program to help Uganda achieve its goal of providing 77% of its rural residents with access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene by 2015
  • Supports relationships with District Water Officers in 120 political districts in Uganda, working to provide 5 million Ugandans with access to safe water
  • Rotary Club of East Louisville
  • Sponsored the Shoe, Shred, and E-Cycle event to benefit WaterStep, an organization that provides water treatment equipment for communities around the world
  • Elizabethtown Rotary Club
  • Partnered with First Presbyterian Church to perform maintenance on an existing water system through the Living Waters program

Faith-Based Organizations in Kentucky

  • First Presbyterian Church, Richmond
  • Partnered with Living Waters for the World to train church members on how to provide clean water to communities in need
  • Installed clean water systems in Mexico and Hondurasthat serve 4,500 community members
  • Created ‘Waters of the Living Lord’ initiative to increase water access in Honduras
  • Designed a water system and training programand installed an adapted water systemto improve the health and hygiene of Honduran orphans
  • Partnered with Sparrow Missions, renovated the water system, and installedwater coolers for a girls’ orphanage in Honduras
  • Missions of Love, Hartford
  • Provided chlorine solution for in-home water treatment through production technicians, clinics, and 25 regional resellers for2,141 households in 104 communities in Haiti
  • Calvary Baptist Church, Corbin
  • Collaborated with the Women’s Missionary Union to implement Pure Water, Pure Love project, which provides water filters and wells in Asia, North Africa, and Haiti
  • Partnered with Woodburn Baptist Church to establish the Gunung Kidul Water Project, which provides water filters to 1,000 people in 265 families in Indonesia
  • Partnered with Children’s Hope orphanage in Haiti to dig a welland install a filtration system that provides 50 gallons of clean water per minute tothe orphanage and community
  • Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville
  • Fundraised over $21,000 in its annual Missions Yard Sale for Edge Outreach (now WaterStep), which helped bring clean water to Haiti and other developing countries
  • Maysville Trinity United Methodist Church, Crestwood
  • Trained 177 pastors and laypeople in five Kenyan districts, spanning 1200 miles, on water purification and the benefits of clean drinking water
  • Installed water purification units at a safe house for abused children in Kenya in partnership with the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
  • Kentucky Baptist Convention, Louisville
  • Sponsored theMozambique Borehole Training Project, which trains Mozambicans how to use well digging equipment, install pumps, and maintain equipment

Schools & Universities in Kentucky

  • University of Louisville, Louisville
  • Collaborated with villagers in Belize City to replace damaged water line sections, to repair the chlorination pump, and to implement a two-stage filter system that reduces debris in a service-learning trip sponsored by the International Service Learning Program and Engineers Without Borders
  • East Oldham Middle School, Crestwood
  • Partnered with Water Stepon water filtration system installation for over 6,000 students in schools
  • Installed water purification systems in 7 schools in rural China
  • Integrated global water issues in chemistry, social studies, language arts, and math curricula to increase awareness and activism around water insecurity
  • University of Kentucky – Engineers Without Borders, Lexington
  • Designed agravity-fed clean water distribution system to increase access to safe water, improveschool attendance, and reducethe burden of waterborne diseases in Honduras
  • Distributedpot chlorinators and educated community members on their use and maintenance to purify drinking water in existing wells
  • University of Kentucky, Lexington
  • Hosted an all-day International Youth Water Justice Summitin partnership with the Appalachian Center, to increase awareness about water insecurity and justice issues in Kentucky and around the world
  • Partnered with Global Water to raise funds to build safe water, effective sanitation, and hygiene facilities for rural villages and schools in Guatemala through Healing Waters for Love Saves Lives initiative

WASH-Focused Organizations in Kentucky

  • G.O. Ministries, Louisville
  • Installedwater purification systems in communities throughout the Dominican Republic and Haiti to reduce the burden of dysentery and other diarrheal diseases
  • WaterStep, Louisville
  • Trained local responders in Nepal how to install and use water equipment during earthquake relief
  • Collaborated with theRural Health Care Foundation (RHCF) to dig wells, install household filters, set up water purifiers, build latrines, and implement a community health program that provided 1,300 villagers in Uganda with safe water
  • Partnered with Xaverian Brothers to provide online health and hygiene courses to Kenyan students, who then train local children on properhandwashing techniquesand safe water
  • Installed household filters, provided water storage, installed a central water treatment plant, and implemented a community health program for 400 families in Costa Rica
  • Constructed a well, installed a water purification system, taught health classes, and provided WaterBalls to facilitate water transport in Philippines
  • Facilitates shoe drives in local communities whose proceeds fund clean water projects in Central America, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia

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

202.293.4049   Updated: December 2015