An awful lot has been happening around here the past few weeks. =)

Some of the juicier news includes: some celebrity endorsements, a go for the WC Benefit CD, and (most importantly) TONS OF NEW PROJECTS!

In addition to a number of very cool projects up on our http://watercharity.org site, our Appropriate Projects Initiative has really taken off. We have already funded and posted 18 low budget, immediate response projects that you can adopt. Some of them are already fully funded, but many still need donors. http://appropriateprojects.com/node/20 This batch of prjojects includes Benin, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala,
Jamaica, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Panama, Samoa, Senegal & The Gambia!

Some highlights include:

This well project in Senegal: Well Construction Project - Senegal
This latrines project in Uganda: Latrines Project in Uganda
This spring protection and tapping in Malawi: Protected Springs Project - Malawi
This school rainwater catchment project in Tanzania: School Water Catchment and Piping Project – Tanzania




As well as:

The Corozal School Project Completion - Guatemala ›
The Conclusion of Kilisa Village Water Project – Kenya ›
The Conclusion of Portland Cottage Water Tank Project – Jamaica ›
& The Completion of Kamsonga Health Center Pump Project – Malawi ›

And, this is just a portion of what we've been up to lately. There is a lot more information up on the AP & WC websites, so check 'em out. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter @WaterCharity

All the best my MySpacers...

We at Water Charity are very proud of our Appropriate Projects Initiative.  It has taken off and been getting rave reviews.  The communities served, the PCVs, their APCDs and Country Directors all have nothing but praise.  A very simple concept, but much needed.

AP cuts through all the red tape and funds pressing, low-budget water & sanitation projects immediately.  Whereas normal charity grants and project funding can be a morass of bureaucratic nonsense, with endless formalities, studies and administrative blah blah blah... Water Charity has always believed in getting things done quickly.  After all, people's lives are at stake.  Someone dies of water related illness every 8 seconds.

Our normal projects are speedy... these AP projects are nearly instantaneous.  We fund the projects that meet our requirements immediately.  Then we put the project up on the AP website and bring people the info and updates, pictures and reports as they come in.  People can also "adopt" projects directly from their pages.  When you adopt a project that we have already funded, it allows us to immediately fund the next project that comes down the pike... and so on.

These 9 projects are all either underway or nearing completion:

http://appropriateprojects.com/node/20

Please consider adopting one in whole or in part.  The broken waterpump fix in The Gambia only costs $62!  You can bring water to a village for the price of dinner & a movie.  All of these projects cost $500 or less, and are not subject to any delays or administrative costs.  WC has always volunteered all of our time and expenses... thus, every single dollar we collect goes directly into a project.  You will be hard pressed to find any other major charity that can say the same.

Thank you for taking the time to check this out.

WATERCHARITY.ORG    [We Are Water]

Wow, so the Appropriate Projects Initiative is taking off well.

In only 3 weeks we have funded 6 projects!  The MO of AP is to solicit inexpensive, needed projects and do them immediately.  No red tape, no lengthy process, no delays.  Upon our assessment that the project is worthy and can be done quickly with a competent volunteer to lead the project, we have the funds their in seconds.  Then, we post the project to our site and ask people (like you) to adopt them.  This can be done in part or in whole.  Should you choose to adopt a project in whole, you can ask to have an element named after someone you care about or have an update email sent to you with photos of the completed project.  And remember, none of these projects costs more than $500... but they save lives.  Repairing a broken water pump is nearly as effective as drilling a brand new well in terms of number of people served.

A list of our projects can be found HERE.

Our new Water Charity Initiative "Appropriate Projects" is up and running:

Appropriate Projects Website

We are very excited about this.  It is a new adjunct to the work we are already doing with the focus on finding and completing small projects very quickly.  We have had a lot of success with projects small and large and will continue to do so, but we began to notice that we were often getting a lot of "bang for our buck" on small projects. 

Funding for such projects is often as difficult for people to find as it is for large projects... lots of red tape, needless delays and assessments etc.  Then, when people actually jump through all of these hoops, they are often turned away because the projects are too small for consideration!!  We have never been like this, and have funded such small projects speedily (often the same day we receive them) because we know that these are the projects that A) have pressing time concerns (must be done before the rainy season starts or whatever)  & B) are often able to have the same effect on the wellbeing of those concerned as much larger projects (fixing a broken water pump can bring as much water to people as drilling a new well)

So, we are proud to present this new initiative and hope that it catches on.   If you know a group, NGO, or individual who has such a small ($500 or less) project that can be done immediately, please send them our way.  We prefer to work with NGOs with a track record or Peace Corps volunteers, but we will consider any project sent to us.

Ciao for now...

WATERCHARITY.ORG    [We Are Water]