Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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)Students at Glacier Creek Middle School in Cross Plains raised nearly $10,000 for water, sanitation, and hygiene projects for schoolsthroughout Uganda, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic through H2O for Life.

b)The Rotary Club of Chippewa Fallspartnered with Rotary Clubs in Menomonie and Eau Claire toraise $90,000 for clean water projects in Bolivia.

c)Members of the Brookfield Christian Reformed Church raised nearly $100,000that supported a welldrilling rig for a community in rural Mozambique through their Dig Deepproject.

d)The Marquette University Engineers Without Borders Chapter was awarded the Engineers Without Borders Premier Project Award for repairing a community chlorination system in Guatemala with Global Brigades.

e)The Water Councilcreated the Global Water Center in Milwaukee that features space for research and policy development on global water issues and transformed Milwaukee into a hub for water research.

Other notable efforts include:

Rotary Clubs in Wisconsin

  • Holmen Area Rotary
  • Funded a $70,000 water and sanitation project that provided a centralized water treatment system and new sanitation facilities in Peru
  • Rotary Club of Wassau
  • Received a $47,000 Rotary Foundation Grant todrill boreholes and installsolar-powered water pumps that will provide water to almost 14,000 people in South Sudan
  • Rotary Club of Berlin
  • Supports the Panama Water Project,whichdelivers safe drinking water to remote villages and establishes water committees to monitor water use
  • Rotary Club of Ripon
  • Raised funds for the Padre Pablo Dam and Reservoir project that will provide potable water to people in Panama
  • Rotary Club of Milwaukee
  • Partnered with the Engineers Without Borders Chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee toraise $4,000 for the construction of a water distribution system that provided 200 community members in Guatemala with access to water
  • Rotarians Mike Paddock and LeniSiker traveled to Guatemala with University of Wisconsin Engineers Without Borders students toconstruct a spring box that reduced water contamination and to install a pipe system that provided water to individual households
  • Rotary District 6220, Northeastern Wisconsin
  • Partners with Etta Projects, a non-profit named after a Rotary International exchange student, to providewater distribution systems,water purification systems, and composting latrines to Bolivian communities

Faith-Based Organizations in Wisconsin

  • Greater Milwaukee Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
  • Organized the 100 Wells Tour that raised more than $250,000 for ELCA World Hunger initiative water projects
  • Martin Luther Church, Milwaukee
  • Hosted a concert for the 100 Wells Tour that supported ELCA water projects
  • Unity Christ Center & Hope United Methodist Church, Eau Claire
  • Organized and hosted It Can Be Done!, an event that raised funds for theUru Water Borehole Project that provided water access to people in Tanzania
  • Brookfield Christian Reformed Church
  • Members organized rummage sales, sold lemonade, and hosted a Water Walk event to increase awareness in the community about the global water crisis
  • Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee Haiti Project
  • Initiated the Gift of Water program that provided Haitian communities with clean drinking water and improved community sanitation conditions
  • Cornerstone Christian Church, Eau Claire
  • Partnered with Vision 360 Ministries to raise funds for aCeramic Water Filter manufacturing facility in Mozambique
  • Hosted Clear Water for Clean Water run/cycling event to raise awareness about the global water crisis and to collect funds for the Mozambique project
  • Spring Lake Church, Green Bay
  • Hosts annual Africa Hope 5K/10K Run that fundraises for water projects that benefit AIDS orphans in Malawi
  • Heritage Presbyterian Church, Muskego
  • David Block, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science and Geography at Carroll University, spoke tothe congregation about the water crisis in Kenya
  • Collected over $700 from members to purchase two water storage tanks for the Kenya Water Project

Schools Universities in Wisconsin

  • Ripon College’s Center for Social Responsibility
  • Students traveled on an Alternative Break trip to assist in Rotary dam-building efforts in Panama
  • University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • EDGE Project raised $6,200to provide household water treatment systems for 3,000 people in Uganda
  • Students in the Engineers Without Borders Chapter provided a Guatemalan community with a water distribution system through the Payuja Water Project and fixed a water distribution system in Ecuador
  • University of Wisconsin – Engineers Without Borders, Milwaukee
  • Installed a water distribution system, pump, and pipeline in Guatemala
  • Installed a gravity-fed water distribution system in Guatemala that provided water for 714 people (102 families)
  • Members assessed a Ugandan community’s water supply and plan to partner with the Village Health Projecton a water purification system project
  • Milwaukee School of Engineering – Engineers Without Borders
  • Constructed a potable water system, including wells, spring boxes, and water storage tanks in Guatemala
  • Constructed alavadero (clothes-washing station) that provided community access to water for washing clothes
  • Clarendon Avenue Elementary, Mukwonago
  • Raised $944 for a new water well at a primary school in Uganda through H2O for Life
  • Fort Howard Elementary, Green Bay
  • Partnered with Procter & Gamble, Green Bay to raise awareness among students about the global water crisis
  • Raised $4,400 that provided an elementary school in Kenya with a rainwater catchment tank, new latrines, handwashing stations, and hygiene education programs
  • Glacier Creek Middle School, Cross Plains
  • Raised $3,850 for new water wells at a primary school in Uganda through H2O for Life
  • Raised $2,863 for new latrines and handwashing stations at a school in in Uganda and a school in Nicaragua through H2O for Life
  • Raised $3,200 for water wells, handwashing stations, and hygiene education at primary schools in Uganda and the Dominican Republic through H2O for Life
  • Holy Rose Catholic School, Darlington
  • Raised over $3,000 that funded two WASH projects at 2 primary schools in Kenya through H2O for Life
  • Monona Grove High School, Monona
  • Environmental science students learned about the global freshwater crisis and raised funds for a water well at a primary school in Uganda
  • Park View Middle School, Mukwonago
  • Students read A Long Walk to Waterto learn about the global water crisis
  • The Park View Ecology Club organized a Walk for Water event that fundraised to support a water well project at a primary school in Uganda
  • Savanna Oaks Middle School, Fitchburg
  • Students learned about the water crisis by reading A Long Walk to Water and raised $586 that supported the construction of a water well at a school in South Sudan through H2O for Life
  • Tiffany Creek Elementary School, Boyceville
  • Raised over $250 that funded the construction of a water well at a school in South Sudan through H2O for Life

WASH-Focused Organizations in Wisconsin

  • Wisconsin Water for the World
  • Raises funds to develop sustainable drinking water and sanitation projects in Guatemala
  • Developed Adventure Kids Learning Expedition, an online youth education program that promotes health and hygiene
  • Madison-Rafah Sister City Project
  • Provided a water desalination and filtration system for children at a kindergarten in the West Bank
  • Global Partners: Running Waters, Elm Grove
  • Implemented nine water projects that benefitted over 5,500 people in communities throughout Haiti, Guatemala, and Honduras
  • Badger Meter Inc., Milwaukee
  • Donated residential water meters to the Rotary Club of Milwaukee for water projects in the Guatemalan highlands
  • Canned Water 4 Kids, Sussex
  • Supports clean water initiatives and uses money collected from canned water drives to support projects that bring clean, safe water to children worldwide

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

202.293.4049   Updated: December 2015