The Benefits of Community-Focused Water Projects

Community is at the heart of what we do at Well Aware. We understand that in order to truly confront the challenges that water scarcity presents, long-term maintenance, proper training, and community involvement are three necessary anchors for success.  Every community and geographic area we work in experiences different water access issues, community dynamics, and levels of development. Because of this, we rely on our partner community members to bring us into their fold to ensure the water project provides them with long-term solutions that meet their needs.

Our Community-First Approach

When we begin any sustainable water project, we make sure the voices of the community we are working with come first. We build trust by being upfront about every step of our process and what it takes to get there. 

We build these relationships by working as one community on a mission to bring people clean water for life. Our team also empowers community members to manage, monitor, and evaluate their projects after implementation. This reduces their dependence on external organizations, thus empowering them to independently service and maintain their project moving forward.

By providing ongoing support for water system needs, we are able to ensure the longevity of all of our water projects. While most of our communities are now self-sustaining, we continue to regularly check in to measure impact—plus our local team of experts is reachable for problems as they arise.

Without our community-first approach, we would not be able to maintain our 100% success rate model across all 114+ projects. It is with the support and engagement of our partner community members that we can provide reliable access to clean water—creating a ripple effect of impact that spans generations.

Benefits of Community-Focused Water Projects

Breaking ground on a new water system is often the spark that communities need to grow and thrive in a world that is constantly changing around them. 

Let’s take a look at the benefits of taking a community-first approach to clean water projects!

Empowers communities to take ownership of  their clean water system

When community members have the resources and training they need to maintain their clean water system after implementation, anything is possible! We equip our partner communities with the Well Beyond app, which is designed to help them maintain, prevent, diagnose, and solve issues with their water system. 

The Well Beyond app aggregates valuable data including water system diagnostics, project reporting, and community impact. Plus—this innovative tool provides training on water management techniques and WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene).

Community members are crucial for helping us understand the challenges a water system may face before, during, and after implementation. The long-term partnerships that we create on the ground within our partner communities help boost engagement and keep an open dialogue.

Encourages positive changes in health and hygiene practices

Contaminated water and poor sanitation caused by lack of access to clean water leads to a variety of preventable health risks in communities across East Africa. Public health is directly affected by water infrastructure. When infrastructure is maintained and improved upon over time, it prevents contamination in the water supply. 

Reliable access to clean water increases overall hygiene behaviors, including hand-washing and safe drinking water and storage. Clean water also increases the availability of WASH resources, including proper sanitation and hygiene facilities. Disease rates drop by 64% when clean water is available in a community!

Increases the likelihood of future infrastructure development

At Well Aware, we take the time to understand our partner communities’ future developmental plans. Through a targeted, community-first approach, we can provide not only clean water, but the environment needed to support sanitation infrastructure growth and development in the future. 

This enables communities to grow agriculture, build educational facilities, power medical clinics, and more—all of which is critical to building a thriving economy and healthy society. As a result, our water systems become a long-term anchor for development, and we find that communities congregate around this transformational resource.

It takes a village, but each day we are one step closer to providing clean water for life for more communities around East Africa.

Together, we have the power to create a world where everyone has access to the basic right of clean water. Help us on our mission this year by staying up to date with our current water projects in East Africa.