The Safe Water Enterprises (SWE) of Siemens Stiftung and SkyJuice Foundation provide safe drinking water to rural communities in East Africa. The water kiosks are implemented together with local partners and selected communities who ensure the successful integration into existing local structures.
This month, three new Safe Water Enterprises were built in Kenya. The Safe Water and AIDS Project (SWAP) is overseeing operations of the new SWE in Sondu (Kisumu County, Nyanza Province). The second new kiosk was constructed in Kwale (Coast) and will be managed by Howa Mwana Community Water Project to provide safe drinking water to over 4800 people. The third new SWE is located next to Nyangoro Pan in Homa Bay (Nyanza Province). This community was particularly stretched by the cholera outbreaks in 2015. It will be the crucial role of Nyangoro Health Centre, which will be operating the SWE, to inform the community about safe drinking water and health.
Prior to kiosk construction, all implementing partners and future kiosk operators have undergone a thorough preparation process. Trainings have been carried out to ensure a good understanding of all technical requirements and to support the future SWE Teams in setting up appropriate kiosk management structures. Financial and operative plans were drafted. The surrounding communities have been engaged in the relevant decision making processes from the beginning, in order to ensure their long-term support for the project.
The aim of the Safe Water Enterprises is to provide a sustainable solution for access to safe drinking water for communities and to thereby improve the health situation in the region. At the same time, they enable kiosk operators to generate an income. SWE revenues are used to cover operating costs and to support further social programs and entrepreneurial activities in the communities around the SWE. The goal is thus threefold: Better water, better health, better jobs.
“Water and Jobs” is also the motto of this year’s World Water Day on 22nd March 2016. World Water Day 2016 raises awareness about the power that water and jobs have to transform people’s lives. It strives to inform, engage and inspire action to change lives and livelihoods around enough quantity and quality water.