Kenya: our newest program

Of the 2 billion people on our planet who lack access to safe water at home, nearly half live in Africa. Based on that fact alone, we could not imagine a better place for us to invest our resources.

We’re also committed to our model of toilets and piped water at all homes, everywhere. We know from our metering data that only when water is piped home, do people use enough for important activities like handwashing.

Although the United Nations has officially adopted household water service as one of the Sustainable Development Goals, investments in water flowing out of a faucet in African homes remain extremely rare.

With our expansion to two new partner organizations in Kenya, we will continue to show the world what is possible in African communities once the burden of water-fetching is in their past.

ABOUT KENYA*

Population: 54,027,487
Poverty rate: 45%
Partners: Kenya Water for Health Organization and Community Asset Building and Development Action

COMPLETED PROJECTS

3,990 projects
190,724 people with clean water and toilets

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

1 project serving 740 people

*Source: World Bank and UNICEF

About our new partners

Kenya Water for Health Organiation (KWAHO) is Kenya’s oldest non-profit organization focused on addressing the water, sanitation, and hygiene needs of Kenyan communities. KWAHO was founded in 1976 following the UN-Decade of Women conference in Mexico City addressing the needs of women around the world. The women’s delegation from Kenya made a presentation on a concept for providing easy access to safe water for Kenyan women. UNICEF decided to fund the project and the women from the delegation formed an implementation team. The work was so successful that the team decided to create an organization to replicate the outcomes throughout the country. Since that time, KWAHO has continued to implement projects that address the water and sanitation needs in Kenya, impacting over 3.5 million lives.

KWAHO is based in Nairobi, but they have projects throughout the country. KWAHO is focusing Water1st’s funding in and around Kisumu, a county in Western Kenya on the shores of Lake Nam Lolwe (renamed “Lake Victoria” by colonists). The county contains the city of Kisumu, Kenya’s third largest city with a population of about 500,000. The first Water1st project will serve the community of Kokelo, which is a small agricultural community about 20 miles west of the city.

Community Asset Building and Development Action (CABDA) was founded by a Kenyan women, Ephy Imbali. CABDA works with thousands of orphans, vulnerable children, and their families who have been significantly impacted by the HIV pandemic in Western Kenya. In their initial application to us, their values statement was striking: “Service to all members especially the disadvantaged, Fairness in exercise of our mandate, Humility with those we interact with, Honesty of purpose, Love in the true sense of word.”

CABDA is based in Kakamega and plans to focus Water1st funding in Busia county.
Slum residents have no legal access to public water supply or sewer systems

Water1st works in urban slums in Bangladesh’s three largest cities—the capital, Dhaka (population 18 million), Chattogram, (4 million), and Khulna (1 million). They have no legal access to public water supply or sewer systems. Adding to the crisis is the rapid increase in urban slum populations in Bangladesh: 150,000-400,000 new residents arrive each year from rural areas seeking a better life for their families.

In these squatter settlements, renters are forced to buy water of unknown quality at very expensive rates. There are no sewer pipes in these neighborhoods, so waste from ‘open’ toilets flows right through the community, making living conditions extremely unhygienic, and sanitary toilets a high priority.

Bangladesh train tracks
Piped Water
Water1st encourages the adoption of piped water networks, which provide the best results at the lowest long-term cost. In our piped network systems, water is pumped to an elevated storage tank. From the storage tank, water flows to one or more locations in the slum settlement, providing ample water to residents for drinking, cooking, bathing, and laundry.
High-quality toilets
DSK incorporates high-quality toilets that are easily distinguishable from most other toilets built by NGOs around the world. They use a porcelain pan for easy cleaning and a water seal that makes them odorless. Water faucets are placed in the stalls for flushing, cleaning, and hand washing.
Hygiene education
A comprehensive hygiene education program addresses the community’s most challenging health issues. Various trainings are targeted to those who care for young children, to adolescent girls entering puberty, and to special groups like food and tea vendors. These trainings result in dramatic changes in hygiene behavior and significant gains in health indicators.

Sustainable Programmatic Strategy

Community organizing
Our local partner, DSK, takes a participatory approach to project implementation. The process starts with a community mapping exercise to identify local housing, shops, roads, mosques, and of course, water sources and toilets. Communities vote on their highest-priority issues and then create an action plan to solve them. Water supply is commonly identified as the most critical need; not surprising when slum communities report spending up to 40% of their annual income treating water-related illnesses.
REVOLVING LOANS
Users of the water systems and toilets are required to pay 100% of the construction costs via a long-term, low-interest loan. The loan approach insures water systems and toilets are built for those who really want and need them. With repayment rates exceeding 96%, we have nearly doubled our reach and rate of project completion.
Water is the catalyst
Once neighborhoods have organized themselves to solve their water and sanitation problems, they are prepared to tackle other high-priority issues, such as trash collection, roads, and improved drainage. Water committees have organized household garbage collection for a small monthly fee. Each day, a paid garbage crew collects waste and transports it to a government-approved dump site.
Independent rating
Received an independent evidence-based evaluation from the Water for Life Rating System and scoring “Recommended for Future Funding.”
cocepradil rating final2
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Stories from the field

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Water from Wine is a very small winery and unable to benefit from competitive shipping rates that larger wineries enjoy. Wine is shipped via UPS, which adds additional fees for shipping alcohol because an adult over 21 must sign for delivery. Water from Wine does not profit from shipping costs. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Wine sales tax and shipping fees

Sales tax: Sales tax is based on your address. We’ll send you a receipt that includes your sales tax and shipping fee (if applicable).

Approximate shipping costs:
Fall 2021 promotion – Free shipping of orders of 12 bottles (1 case). You may order as many cases as you want. Free shipping promotion is limited to 2 cases/person/month.

Please note approximate shipping costs vary depending on destination. Due to shipping fees that are beyond our control, our suggested minimum order is 3 bottles:
1-3 bottles $24-28
6 bottles $27-37
12 bottles $37-57
*If shipping to Alaska and Hawaii, please call the winery for a quote at (509) 875-2211

Shipping available to the following 36 states + Washington DC: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Water from Wine is a very small winery and unable to benefit from competitive shipping rates that larger wineries enjoy. Wine is shipped via UPS, which adds additional fees for shipping alcohol because an adult over 21 must sign for delivery. Water from Wine does not profit from shipping costs. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns..