Celebrating World Water Week With a Look at Our Collective Impact

Since 2019, we've been proud to partner with Well Aware, an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit with a powerful mission: funding and developing clean water systems for communities in East Africa.

To shed light on this special partnership - and how distributors like you are such a big part of it - we invited Dani Daspit, Marketing Manager for Well Aware, to write a guest blog post for World Water Week. Every year at the end of August, World Water Week raises awareness about the billions of people worldwide living without access to safe water, the technologies that are being made to fix it, and the people behind the work.

This week is a great reminder that we can all make a difference.

A Guest Blog From Dani Daspit, Marketing Manager, Well Aware

Every year, the importance of cross-sector collaboration for social impact becomes more and more apparent. As customers and stakeholders seek ways for everyday purchases to make the world a better place, companies continue to respond by investing in social-good initiatives, from grant-making and nonprofit-event sponsorships to employee matching and give-back programs.

As such, a new brand of partnerships continues to emerge, with platforms like 1% For The Planet - a global network whose members contribute at least one percent of annual sales to environmental causes - making it easier than ever for businesses to find causes that match their corporate social responsibility goals.

That's where the Well Aware story with PCNA begins.

In 2019, PCNA discovered Well Aware through 1% For The Planet and became an official Brand Partner, donating a percentage of ongoing sales to our clean water mission.

Since then, in just four years, PCNA has helped provide more than 33,000 people with lasting clean water.

"When we learned about an opportunity to partner with Well Aware, we jumped at the chance! Not only did it align perfectly with our social impact goals, but the organization's commitment to its 100% Success Model was a real eye-opener. We realized that nonprofits need to do more than just initiate a project - it's just as important for them to be a dedicated partner to the communities they serve. We couldn't be more excited about this partnership and to see the impact we can make on future communities and individuals." - Kyle Boronky, PCNA

Not only does PCNA understand the value in giving back as a company, they also realize the importance of using their brand to get others involved in Well Aware's clean water mission.

In partnership with PCNA, the upcoming water system, breaking ground on August 20th, in Ngaremara holds the potential to transform the entire community.

Ngaremara Primary School, located in Isiolo County, Kenya, boasts a student population of 1,200, making it one of the largest primary schools in the region. The surrounding community is comprised of over 500 households, accommodating nearly 5,000 residents who live within walking distance to the school. Until now, the entire community has been relying on a contaminated river as their only source of water.

With a feeding program that provides meals to 1,200 students and 25 staff members daily, along with supplying drinking water to the entire school population and fulfilling all water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs, the school finds itself severely overwhelmed by the lack of access to clean water.

The school was also forced to discontinue a valuable program for at-risk girls due to water limitation. This program supports girls who were coerced into early marriages by providing them with shelter, education, and a secure environment in the school dormitory. However, due to the lack of water and inadequate sanitation facilities, this initiative could no longer proceed.

The scarcity of water has also adversely affected the community in other ways, leading to a decline in livestock numbers (the community's livelihood), a lack of clean water for cooking and drinking, exorbitant charges when purchasing water from vendors, and high occurrences of waterborne diseases due to consuming contaminated river water.

With this new water system, everything will change.

By having access to clean drinking water, community members will no longer be dependent on the river or water vendors. The school will be able to sustain its feeding program, and community members will no longer have to embark on long journeys to fetch drinking water for their livestock. This water system will address all water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) requirements for both the community and the school, and they will witness a decline in waterborne illnesses. With the upcoming plans of the drill, the school is looking forward to reviving the girls' dormitory, along with their program for at-risk girls, offering support and assistance to those in need.

The community is filled with equal parts anticipation and enthusiasm for the promising future that lies ahead. With clean water, students can focus on school, agriculture will support the community's livelihood once again, and overall development will blossom. Ngaremara is poised for an incredible journey ahead.

Together, we look forward to amplifying our partnership, reaching more communities like Ngaremara, and providing more people with the lasting clean water they need to survive and thrive. To get involved, visit wellawareworld.org/worldwaterweek and join our clean water mission.