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We are excited to share with you another newsletter featuring our work in Quarter 1, 2021. As an organization, we are grateful that all our staff members and their families remain healthy, even as the world continues to grapple with the covid pandemic. We are also grateful that despite the prevailing challenges and restrictions, we are able to continue functioning and serve our communities. We are also continually grateful for all our partners, suppliers, and customers who make our work possible.
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Main Feature | Rotary Global Grant Project Launch
The Rotary Club of Gachie team and school representatives pause for a photo after the Rotary Project Launch Event on February 25, 2021.
Last year in our Q4 Newsletter we shared the exciting news that we received funding from the Rotary Global Grant to support 37 Schools and 70 Health Care facilities in Nyamira, Bomet and Kisii Counties. This project is in partnership with the Rotary Club of Gachie (Nairobi, Kenya) and the Rotary Club of Lacey (Washington, USA) and has been made possible through the continued support of our partner, Transform International.
On February 25, 2021, the project was officially launched at the Aqua Clara Campus in Rigoma. Representatives from the Rotary Club of Gachie as well as representatives from 10 schools participated in a stakeholder launch that included a brief preentation of the project as well as the official signing of an MOU with each school.
   
Activities during the launch included some learning sessions, handover of water filters by Rotarians to the schools as well as tree-planting at the Aqua Clara Campus.
On March 25, 2021, it was the turn of health care facilities to get started. Representatives from 20 Health Care Facilities participated in the session, culminating in the signing of MOUs and hand over of water filters.
Representatives of Health Care Facilities receiving their water filters from Institutional WASH Manager, Douglas Makora (standing, fifth from the right)
Over the next 2 years, ACK is going to work with these schools and health care facilities to ensure improvement in their WASH situation. Additionally, each center will serve as a demonstration site for WASH technologies, influencing their uptake in surrounding communities. Technologies to be demonstrated include water filters, foot-pedaled hand-washing stations, SaTo (Safe Toilet) innovation, and rainwater harvesting systems.
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HELP US IMPROVE WASH IN SCHOOLS AND HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
Kindly reply to this email to find out how you can work with us.
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Distribution | Filter Distribution in Laikipia and Isiolo
ACK's Distributor Sales Executive, Benson Nyandusi (right), trains two school representatives about the water filter they will be using to make their water safe for students and teachers.
Our wonderful collaboration with Kenya Health Care Initiatives (KHCI) continues. In Q1, we worked together to support 16 schools with water filters in Laikipia and Isiolo Counties. Over the next few months, our collaboration will support at least 650 households to acquire water filters.
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Partnership | Tiny Totos Kenya
We are excited to announce a new partnership with Tiny Totos Kenya (TTK), a social enterprise that is improving informal daycares in slums. This partnership will see Aqua Clara Kenya train & support TTK's Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) to promote water filters in the slums of Nairobi.
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Monitoring | Field visit to Africa Hope customers in Narok
In February, our Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Manager Josephine Orare supported our partner Africa Hope in evaluating the usage of water filters by their customers in Narok County. The visit also served as an opportunity to understand other gaps in the water, sanitation, and hygiene practices in the community, forming a basis for future interventions.
 
ACK Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Manager, Josephine Orare (first photo, standing), monitoring some of the filters in use by Africa Hope customers in Narok County.
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H2OPE Accelerator | Capacity Development Activities
Thanks to the continued support from our partner CAWST, we have been able to train 120 Community WASH Promoters (CWPs) just this last quarter. This brings the total number of CWPs we have trained and are supporting to 270. The plan is to have a total of 500 CWPs by the close of 2021. With this number, we will be able to reach at least 250,000 community members, helping change behaviour and increase adoption of WASH technologies leading to the reduction of waterborne diseases.
A group of Community WASH Promoters with ACK's CWP Officer Rose Kiptoo (front row, fifth from right) after a training session.
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New Employee | Valbett Adera
We are excited to welcome our newest member of staff, Valbett Adera, to the Aqua Clara Kenya family. Val joined ACK in March having worked with Sanergy over the last 5 years. Val will be our new Community WASH Promotion Manager and will be instrumental in helping us scale our distribution of WASH technologies across East Africa. The whole team at ACK is thrilled to have Val onboard and wish her the very best as she undertakes her new role.
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International Conferences | Sankalp Africa Summit & Global Festival of Action
In Q1, Aqua Clara Kenya was privileged to participate in two international Conferences. In March, our CEO, John Nyagwencha, was part of a panel of WASH implementers that presented at the Sankalp Africa Summit, 2021. In April, John was also a presenter at the UN-organized Global Festival of Action focusing on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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