MAIN FEATURE

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Aqua Clara Kenya Becomes a CAWST WET Centre

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Becoming a WET Centre will enable the H2OPE Accelerator, Aqua Clara Kenya's Capacity Building arm, to train and support NGOs, County Governments and Entrepreneurs to improve and implement Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) initiatives. 

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We are thrilled to share the exciting news that Aqua Clara Kenya has become a Water Expertise and Training (WET) Centre for the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST). Since the founding of Aqua Clara Kenya in 2009, we have been receiving support from CAWST, a reputable Canadian NGO, to improve the quality of our work and to develop in-house capacity to train and support WASH implementers in East Africa. In 2017, we received funding from CAWST to start our capacity building arm- H2OPE (Water Products and Expertise) Accelerator. Since that time, we have trained and supported over 490  WASH Implementers, enabling more than 246,876 people to have improved access to safe drinking water, proper hygiene and sanitation. 

Becoming a WET Centre will provide Aqua Clara Kenya with the funding and technical support needed to continue improving H2OPE Accelerator and to further its work in East Africa.

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In April this year, we joined 19 other social enterprises that have been selected to participate in the inaugural Acumen and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme for East Africa. Participants are drawn from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia and will receive support from the Acumen and IKEA team to develop a scalable business model. 

The 19-week program will see participants:

• Learn to scale their social enterprise business model
• Receive individualized support from IKEA coaches and Acumen facilitators
• Get to be part of a dynamic peer community of social enterprise leaders
• Get to take part in a final summit to network with investors and supporters
• Have an opportunity to be one of two teams who will be selected for $25,000 in seed funding.

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Funding from Acumen to cover income loss due to COVID-19

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In our last issue, we mentioned that our CEO John Nyagwencha had been selected to the prestigious Acumen Fellowship. Due to the effects of Covid-19 on businesses, Acumen set up Acumen Emergency Fund to support organisations run by Acumen Fellows to cope with the challenges of Covid-19. We are happy to report that our application for funding from Acumen was successful and we'll now get much-needed support to cover income lost due to Covid-19. We are very grateful to the Acumen Team for this support. 

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Aqua Clara Kenya is very grateful to Transform International (TI) and Procter and Gamble (P&G) for providing funding for our ongoing Covid-19 response efforts. So far through P&G's generous grant and T.I's support, we have been able to distribute 377,507 water purification sachets enabling over 82,124 people to have access to safe drinking water. Additionally, we have distributed 380 hand-washing stations to health facilities enabling patients and staff to practice handwashing to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and waterborne illnesses. P&G has also extended this generous offer to enable us to support 151 Community Health Workers engaged in our response efforts with income. In Quarter 3, with funding from P&G, we are going to distribute soap- which is critical for effective handwashing- to benefit more than 7,800 people. 

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Presentation at IHE Delft Conference

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Between May 25 and 28, 2020, we participated in the IHE DELFT 6th International Symposium on Capacity Development and Implementation Science. Our Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager, Josephine Orare, presented results from our pilot of the  WASHiriki Model. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education is the largest international graduate water education facility in the world and is based in Delft, the Netherlands. The Institute confers fully accredited MSc degrees and PhD degrees in collaboration with partner universities.

Find our presentation Here

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Aqua Clara Featured in new book by John Dracup 

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John Dracup is a civil engineer and hydrologist. He holds degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge and the University of California, Berkeley. He has taught water resource engineering and hydrology at both the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley for more than fifty years.
The purpose of his book, Clean Water for Developing Countries, is to assist the reader in choosing the best method for providing clean water in a developing country. Various approaches are clearly described, and case studies provided, to illustrate the importance of matching need and method when resources are limited. One of the case studies is on Aqua Clara Kenya's work in East Africa. We hope you're able to acquire the book and that you enjoy reading it. 

Order the book  Here
 

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COVID-19 RESPONSE

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We continue to help in the fight against COVID-19

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In April we released a special edition newsletter titled ACK FOCUS COVID-19,  which detailed some of the work we are doing to prevent the further spread of Covid-19.  With the number of cases still rising in Kenya, we continue to work alongside the County governments of Bomet, Nyamira, Kisii and Kericho to ensure that communities are equipped to practice effective handwashing and have access to safe drinking water. 

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OFFICE RENOVATIONS

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Landscaping at Aqua Clara Kenya's Office & Training Centre in Kisii 

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Last year, with generous support from our good friends Pamoja Texas through our partnership with Transform International, we began work to improve our office and training centre in Kisii. The improvement work has completely transformed the centre, with additional space for staff to work, a new kitchen, new furniture, a fresh coat of paint and the ongoing landscaping work. It's great to see everything coming together so beautifully! Our vision is to have a world-class campus where different WASH technologies are showcased and where people from all over East Africa can receive training and be inspired to improve WASH in their communities. We can't wait to share more when all this is complete.

 

MORE

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Aqua Clara Kenya Launches NEW WEBSITE!

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We are excited to invite you to check out our new website, which  has been upgraded to make it easier for you to learn about us and what we do.

CHECK OUT THE NEW WEBSITE