In this month's newsletter, we provide an update on two of World Vision's commitments to help address the global water crisis, as well as a new publication on our work with faith leaders.

Finishing the Job in Rwanda: New Video Update

In March 2018, World Vision and our partners committed to reach everyone, everywhere we work with clean water in the entire country of Rwanda in just 5 years. This means reaching an estimated 1 million people. The effort on-the-ground is well underway and our Rwanda team is confident that we will be able to finish the job. We have secured 70% of the needed funds, and need to secure another $9.3 million to get our team the funds they need. On a recent trip to Rwanda, we received this important update on the effort (VIDEO).

Reaching Health Care Facilities

Recently, World Vision’s commitment to provide basic water, sanitation, and hygiene service in 800 rural health care facilities has been getting quite a bit of attention, including invited presentations at the Stockholm Water Week (SIWI) and the University of North Carolina Water & Health conference. Our commitment will serve an estimated 7.2 million people at a cost of approximately $100 million between 2019-2021. It’s essential work to prevent the spread of disease, help address antimicrobial drug resistance, and help ensure a joyous birth experience by preventing infections like sepsis.  

We train the staff at each health care facility on hygiene, sanitation, and waste management including disinfection during cleaning. We provide hand washing stations with soap in all the areas where patients are seen, waste buckets designed to segregate waste into sharps, hazardous and nonhazardous waste, and an incinerator on premises. We provide gender-specific latrines, and a place for women to wash themselves, including after birth. We provide water points directly into the facility.

Inside Philanthropy recently ran this story summarizing the commitments that have been made, highlighting World Vision’s commitment (LINK).

Adding to the excitement, World Vision Afghanistan was awarded $950,000 for this effort by the German PATRIP Foundation. This award was largely due to the sharing of information provided through a health care facility assessment that was conducted in collaboration with Emory University. 

Water and Our Christian Faith 

Dr Ray Norman from our World Vision International team has co-authored a paper published in Christian Relief, Development and Advocacy entitled, ‘Faith Integration and Christian Witness in Relief and Development’ (LINK). This paper summarizes our work with our own staff, the communities we serve, Christian faith leaders, and other faith leaders to meet World Vision’s strategic imperative to live out our Christian faith and calling with boldness and humility. Through trainings, messaging, and recognizing ‘sacramental moments,’ such as the provision of clean water, we are able to share that the source of our motivation and ability to do this work is Jesus Christ. The water that we are able to provide is a reflection of God’s unconditional love for all people. These faith efforts are now a regular part of our efforts, and resulted in the training of more than 13,000 faith leaders last year.

Staff Updates

We’re thrilled to share that Pauline Okumu is our new Senior Director of Operations for water, sanitation, and hygiene. Pauline most recently served as National Director for World Vision Lesotho, and will move back to her home country of Kenya to lead our field teams. Not only is Pauline the first African to have this role, but also the first female.

Dr Ray Norman will continue as part of our team, moving to a new position as Global Sector Lead for WASH providing oversight of our standards and procedures.

Prayer

• Give thanks that we have raised nearly $20 million for water, sanitation and hygiene in Rwanda in just 18 months.
  
• Pray that we can raise another $9.3 million in order to finish the job in Rwanda and create momentum, so we can finish the job in other countries.
  
• Pray that we can fulfill our commitment to help provide clean and safe health care facilities - ensuring the safe deliveries by millions of mothers.
  
• Give thanks that World Vision is a leading voice in integrating our Christian faith with our work to provide clean water in the name of Jesus.