For the second year running, students at the American International School of Guangzhou, China have completed their own Walk for Water.

The students, in Grade 2 at the school, are taught by Rebecca Twitchin. She and the students, aged 7, are working on a study all about water – how we use it, how our use effects other people around the world, and how we can help people who don’t have enough water. Inspired by their studies, the students have twice completed fundraising walks in aid of WATSAN projects.

In March 2016 Rebecca and her students raised 10,000 Chinese Renminbi, or $1,500. In May 2017 they completed a second walk and raised around $2,000!

Rebecca says: “Our Grade 2 students learn about how water is vital to life on earth and it is limited to many, and we decided to take action again to do what we can for people in need.”

WATSAN is extremely grateful to Rebecca and her students for their initiative and generosity.

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We are delighted that around 50 intrepid walkers have agreed to take part in this year’s big fundraiser, the Walk for Water, which will take place along the Ridgeway and spring-line villages in Oxfordshire from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th June 2017.

Most participants will join us for the whole weekend of this year’s Walk for Water at Court Hill Centre, Letcombe Regis, near Wantage, and a few just for the 24th June, the day of the walk. Walkers who have signed up already should this week have received a letter from us with full logistical details.

There’s still time to sign up for the Walk for Water – please download the leaflet for full details, including a map of the route, and email Ian and Ellie at bensted@easynet.co.uk to sign up.

We do still have a few places available for both the accommodation at Court Hill, as well as the evening meal on the Saturday, which will be prepared by two Cordon Bleu cooks! Friends and family are encouraged to join us, either to walk or as part of the support team, where we would welcome a little more help.

Now is also a good time for walkers to start gaining sponsorship for the walk. This year we are aiming to raise £18,000 in order not only to complete the essential water and sanitation programme planned for Rumbugu School, but also some money to go towards a much-needed replacement vehicle for the team in Uganda.

Download the sponsorship form

In early March 2017, WATSAN trustee Graham Piper visited Rukungiri and caught up with the staff team on the ground, calling on several of the completed and live projects.

Graham, who is a chartered chemical and civil engineer with nearly 40 years of experience in the UK and in Uganda, reports being impressed by a number of very positive things he saw and experienced in Uganda. Graham says: “We were really heartened by the way the NKKD WATSAN team seems to be operating well, as a happy cohesive unit under Eric Baingana‘s direction. Eric shows wisdom and determination in carrying out his duties. We were impressed by the professionalism of some of the staff when we visited, including some of those who had joined the team more recently.

“It was also good to see the way that the three dioceses (North Kigezi, Kinkiizi and Kigezi) were sharing new ideas and best practice, and specifically how they might roll out the ‘Church and Communities Mobilisation Process’,  which was started by the Water Programme in Kigezi Diocese.”

Overall Graham and Philippa visited 20 different locations/projects, encompassing springs, gravity flow schemes, Compassion International Child Development Centres and primary and secondary schools. It was encouraging for Graham to meet the people heading up these groups and see the passion they had for the people and children they were serving.

One outcome of Graham’s visit is that WATSAN’s trustees will be considering how to produce proposals for integrated schemes that aim to provide for sustainability and other community benefits, as well as simply focusing on water and sanitation outputs. This will be raised at the next trustees meeting, to take place in late April.

Find out more about WATSAN’s projects

A team of people of all ages is preparing for the trip of a lifetime, aiming to raise funds to visit and assist with labour and materials for WATSAN’s Rumbugu project in rural Uganda.

St Peter’s is a Church of England church in the heart of the small town of Bishop’s
Waltham, Hampshire, in the UK, part of the Anglican diocese of Portsmouth. Eighteen members of the congregation and friends have committed to raising £1,550 each, in order to pay for the tour and to support WATSAN’s Rumbugu project. Sanitation facilities at Rumbugu School are grossly overloaded and dilapidated, and there is only one water tap with an intermittent supply for the 400 children and staff.

The planned support for Rumbugu could therefore be a matter of life and death as well as continuity of educational outcomes for the children of Rumbugu, in addition to a source of tremendous encouragement to WATSAN’s Ugandan team. The tour will benefit from the experience of the WATSAN teams in the UK and in Uganda, who have successfully hosted several other groups, including the Girl Guides in August 2013.

Led by Reverend James Hunt, the visiting team plans to pitch in with hard work and manual labour to help the project, as well as bringing £7,200’s worth of financial support to fund the materials and skilled labour required to make the project a success. This will be matched with other funds raised by WATSAN, including £1,100 raised by a “Walk for Water” in China, and a substantial pledge from a loyal supporter in the UK.

The funds and help offered by St Peter’s will contribute to the construction of two rainwater collection tanks; three new latrine blocks for pupils and staff; supporting facilities such as bath shelters, dish drying racks and a community compost pit; all in parallel with a dedicated health and hygiene education programme to ensure ongoing sustainability.

The St Peter’s team are working hard to achieve their fundraising target, and plan to take part in Watsan’s Walk for Water, a fundraising banquet and quiz and bag packing, alongside their individual fundraising activities.

To give money to the St Peter’s team, please visit their MyDonate page.