We are excited to announce that Project Waterfall will be starting a new 4-year project this summer to bring clean drinking water and sanitation to 7,000 people in the Jabi Tehnan district of Ethiopia in partnership with WaterAid.
Investing in education – project completed!
'I'm Not Afraid'
When we visited Uganda in May one of our first stops was with pupils at Rwenthuuha and Kikoda Primary Schools. We discussed the changes that they had seen since new toilet blocks and water tanks had been installed. The students, especially the young girls, were eager to tell us something very important, “I’m not afraid.”
How is Christmas celebrated in coffee growing countries?
The Gift of Time
19 November: World Toilet Day
Did you know that there are currently more people with mobile phones that those with access to a working, hygienic toilet? This World Toilet Day we are celebrating the unsung hero, the loo, and turning our attention to some 2.3 billion people who currently live without one. That figure is three times the population of Europe.
Rwanda: Rulindo District Project Completion
We are proud to announce that one of the projects we have been working on in the Rulindo district of Rwanda has now been completed! We’re so pleased to see that the time and effort invested by our partners, charity: water, will have an incredible impact on the lives of 2,378 people. This project was made possible by the funds raised from The New York Coffee Festival 2015.
Local Heroes
The water crisis is one of the most critical issues facing the world today. Bringing clean drinking water into communities is an essential step in breaking the poverty cycle, but creating solutions that last can be challenging without the right local partner. This month we are celebrating the local heroes who work day in and day out to make lasting change possible in their communities.
Investing in Education
Receiving an education is one of the most valuable things we can gain in life, but equally as important is being healthy enough to go out and get it. The funding of water facilities and hygiene programmes within schools can make a significant impact to both students and their wider communities. In 2017, Project Waterfall contributed to funding the final year of a five-year WASH programme spanning Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.
Uganda - A Story of Hope
Located in East Africa, Uganda has a population of over 40 million people. Northern Uganda is still recovering from 2 decades of civil war where more than 1.6 million people were internally displaced, many of whom remain far from their homes today.
The current president, Yoweri Museveni, has been credited with restoring relative stability and economic prosperity to Uganda following the civil war, however there is still a long way to go before the country reaches its full potential.
New York Coffee Festival raises over $75,000 for Project Waterfall
The New York Coffee festival returned to the 69th Regiment Armory in NYC from September 16-18th. Now in it's second year, the event saw thousands of coffee lovers from New York City and beyond all gathered for three days of pure caffeination.
50% of ticket sales were donated to Project Waterfall to bring clean drinking water to coffee growing communities. A total of over $75,000 was raised across the three days which in partnership with charity: water will bring clean drinking water to entire communities in the coffee growing country of Rwanda.
Top 10 Tips for Protecting Local Water
1. Conserve water in any way you can: The less water we use on a day to day basis, the less water we are draining from our local water sources. Take shorter showers, turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, wait to use the dishwasher until you have a full load – anything that avoids potentially wasteful water usage.
Who protects our water?
A watershed is an area of land that collects water or snow runoff into a body of water like a river, lake, or stream. Watersheds provide the clean water that we drink, use to take a shower, wash our dishes and clothes with, and all of the other uses we have for water every day. So if watersheds are so important, who protects them?
Project Waterfall Raises over £500,000
From farm to cup: The Life of a Coffee Bean
Project Waterfall is a charity that aims to bring clean water to coffee growing communities all over the world. You might ask, why coffee growing communities? One explanation is that Project Waterfall gets much of its support from members of the coffee industry. Through events like UK Coffee Week, London Coffee Festival, New York Coffee Festival, and Amsterdam Coffee Festival, Project Waterfall brings members of the coffee industry together around a common philanthropic cause.
Water is the first step
The benefits of going to school to get an education are no secret. Not only does it increase the chances of personal success, but levels of education within a population are also linked to a country’s success in development. Countries with high education levels have decreased maternal mortality and child marriage rates, greater social equality between ethnic groups and between men and women, and better overall health of the population, all of which lead to stronger economies.
Stories from the field: project visit to Ethiopia
The meaning of luck
Luck is an interesting concept. We describe luck as a force that somehow shapes the outcome of events in our lives, but at the end of the day, none of us know what luck really is. This doesn’t stop us from giving luck all the credit for monumental things that happen to us, though. We might say, “It was luck that I won the lottery” or “how lucky that my husband and I met on a blind date so many years ago.” But what if luck extended past these fateful circumstances and became intrinsically linked with our very survival.
Meet Zofia
Project Waterfall would like to introduce Zofia Wootliff. Zofia started interning with us this summer, and has since become an invaluable member of our team. She has worked to strengthen our community relations in London, while also expanding our social media presence by reaching out to our friends in the coffee industry. We look forward to seeing how she spreads the mission of Project Waterfall at her high school this Autumn.
Friday 15th July: National Give Something Away Day
This week we are so excited to share the story of one of our dedicated interns, Zofia. Zofia started working for The Allegra Foundation this summer and has done amazing work helping us expand our social media platform. More importantly though, Zofia is currently on the ground of one of our projects in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she is visiting the Kibebe Tsehay orphanage.