Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma are leading the effort to solve the global water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) challenge. There are numerous faith-based, civic, and academic WASH initiatives underway throughout the state. The top programs in the state include:

a)Edmond Summit Breakfast Rotary Club donated over 800 water filtration straws through Water Is Life, which provide a year of clean drinking water in Ghana and Kenya.

b)Southpointe Church’s water and sanitation project provided latrines to 1,200 Ethiopian students and teachers, wells to 250 Ethiopian villagers, and a borehole to 227 students and teachers.

c)Engineers in Action of Tulsa constructed200 water walls for 12,000 Bolivian families.

Other notable efforts include:

Rotary Clubs in Oklahoma

  • Rotary Club of Tulsa
  • Created the Nicaraguan Water Well Drilling Program, which funds well drilling projects in Nicaragua
  • Rotary Club 29 of Oklahoma City
  • Fundraised over $17,000to provide clean water to communities in Panama through the Club 29 Rotary Foundation
  • Donated over $9,000 that financedwell drilling projects for the Rwandans-4-WaterOne Million Campaign, which aims to provide clean water and sanitation to one million Rwandans
  • Edmond Summit Breakfast Rotary Club
  • Donated $10,000 to clean drinking water projects in India, Mexico, Haiti, Thailand, and Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Collaborated with Rotary District 6110 and the Rotary Club of India to establish water wells in India thatincrease access to clean water
  • Provided 250 clean drinking water straws to Haiti for earthquake relief
  • Norman Sooner Rotary Club
  • Utilized a $25,000 Rotary International grant and collaborated with Engineers in Action, the University of Oklahoma, and local Rotarians on awater treatment systeminstallation project in Bolivia
  • Rotary District 6110, Northeastern Oklahoma
  • Partnered with the Belize Water & Health Committee toprovide 2,400 Sawyerwater filters to 300 schools and 9 orphanages through the Belize Water Project
  • Rotary District 5770, Southwestern Oklahoma
  • Fundraised nearly $75,000 to provide an improved water treatment systemfor communities in Bolivia
  • Rotary Club of Southside Tulsa
  • Collaborated with Engineers in Action to rehabilitate the Konani water well in Bolivia
  • Muskogee Rotary Club
  • Distributed 100 water filters andconstructed awater filtration systemin Nicaragua thataims to provide clean water to 1,000 villagers and medical clinic patients
  • Hosts annual “Party in the Park” wine and food tasting that fundswater projects in developing countries

Faith-Based Organizations in Oklahoma

  • Metropolitan Baptist Church, Oklahoma City
  • Raised $35,000 to install a water purification system in a Dominican Republic community
  • Supports missionaries working in 40 organizations who provide water relief to developing countries
  • Feed the Children, Oklahoma City
  • Installed more than 80 water wells and systems, bathroom facilities, and other clean water sources, benefiting more than 179,000 African children and families
  • Installed large-scale water retention systems that collect rainwater, benefiting more than 24,000 children and families
  • Life Church.tv, Oklahoma City
  • Partnered with Convoy of Hope to providedisaster relief to communities in 109 countries
  • Supported Samaritan’s Purse water, sanitation, and hygiene projects, providing safe water to more than 4,500 families around the world
  • The Guts Church, Tulsa
  • Drilled fresh water wells for four Haitian villages through their Help Haiti Outreach Program
  • First Presbyterian Church, Oklahoma City
  • Sponsored mission trip to Uganda that drilled wells and provided medical care to over 1,000 villagers
  • Southpointe Church, Oklahoma City
  • Partnered with local missionaries and churches to install awater filtration system in Brazil
  • Freedom Church, Owasso
  • Distributed water filters and constructed a well for a village orphanage in rural Kenya
  • Raised $103,075 for its Freedom Orphanage Projectthat funded the construction of an orphanage and water well for children in Cambodia
  • First Presbyterian Church, Norman
  • Distributed 30 water filters and treated 530 villagers for waterborne diseases in the Dominican Republic
  • McFarlin United Methodist Church, Norman
  • Co-hosted an Engineers in Action “Sounds of Bolivia” event that funded projects that provide potable water, sanitation, irrigation, and mine wastewater cleanup in remote areas in Bolivia
  • First United Methodist Church, Owasso
  • Collaborated with Engineers in Action and funded the construction of wells and latrines in Bolivia
  • Rejoice Foundation, Owasso
  • Sponsored theOpen the Floodgateinitiative that funded the construction of a well in the Ivory Coast and the installation of a clean water system in Kazakhstan

Schools & Universities in Oklahoma

  • Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee
  • Sponsored January term service trip to India that served university students, families in the slums, and disenfranchised community members who lack access to water and sanitation
  • University of Tulsa, Engineers Without Borders Chapter
  • Designed and installed a heat exchanger in Bolivia that increases access to water for washing and bathing
  • Educated Bolivian school children on the importance of handwashing and proper hygiene
  • Built seven eco-latrines that improve community sanitation in rural Bolivia
  • Partnered with the Sustainable Energy for Needy and Emerging Areas (SENEA) program and conducted an 8-day community assessment of the Multiple Blessings Orphanage in Cambodia to identify futurewater projects
  • Oklahoma Christian University, Edmond
  • Developed an improved bio-filter that aims to increase access to clean drinking water for communities in the Philippines
  • Oklahoma State University, Stillwater
  • Built biosand water filters for Honduran communities that increased access to affordable and reliable clean water
  • University of Oklahoma –Sooners Without Borders (EWB), Norman
  • Utilized $74,000 Oklahoma Rotary grant and installed a natural filtration system that improves local water quality in Bolivia
  • University of Oklahoma Water Technologies for Emerging Regions Center, Norman
  • Hosts bi-annual International WaTER Conference to discuss research and solutions for providing water and sanitation in remote regions of developing countries
  • Oklahoma City Community College, Oklahoma City
  • Student Austin McAllister developed AMAC Footwear, whose proceeds build water wells in Malawi villages
  • Partnered with Water Wells for Africaand donated a portion of the proceeds from each shoe sale to the charity

WASH-Focused Organizations in Oklahoma

  • Wishing Well: Water for the World, Oklahoma City
  • Developed “One Drop” documentary that raised awareness about the people behind the water crisis statistics in Rwanda
  • Partnered with Rwandan NGOs and Rwandan Presidential Scholars at Oklahoma Christian University to drill15 water wells and facilitate health and hygiene training in rural Rwanda
  • Water4 Foundation, Oklahoma City
  • Trains local men and women to drill wells to stimulate local entrepreneurship and improve community access to water
  • Serves communities in six countries, working to provide water to1,000,000 people
  • Engineers In Action, Tulsa
  • Connects indigenous Bolivian communities to engineers working in Bolivia to develop sustainable solutions for water access challenges in 14 Bolivian communities
  • Partnered with Rotary Clubs of Canada and Bolivia to install 71 hand pumpsand repair existing wells through the Chiquitano Forest Safe Water Project
  • World Neighbors, Oklahoma City
  • Implements water projects and hygiene education to improve health in 13 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean

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

202.293.4049   Updated: December 2015