Welcome to the Global Water website.  I’m glad you found us. 

If you are interested in finding out what Global Water is all about, please read our “Statement of Philosophy” under the link entitled “Who We Are” and “Our Approach” under its link (through the link column on the left-hand side of this page).  To understand what we actually do, please read one of our Progress Reports from past years or one of our Trip Reports accessed through “link-boxes” here on the website homepage (or through the link column on the left-hand side of this page). 

But let me start off by saying – Global Water is an international, non-profit humanitarian organization focused on creating safe water supplies, sanitation facilities and related health programs for rural villagers in developing countries.  We believe the lack of safe drinking and agricultural water and lack of access to sanitation facilities are the root causes of disease, hunger and poverty throughout the world today.

Global Water is also a volunteer-based organization and therefore none of us receive a salary for what we do.  All the money that is donated to Global Water goes right into water projects implemented by non-profit organizations in the developing countries, themselves (often referred to as non-governmental organizations or NGOs).  Working directly with NGOs, Global Water provides funding for specific projects (either partial or total), program management assistance, and technical support with water treatment technologies and equipment.  Our technical support includes initial cost of equipment and follow-on help with repair parts and operational & maintenance training.

I just returned from trips to Nicaragua and Guatemala.  I visited villages in both countries where Global Water had funded water projects last year, as well as potential spring locations for gravity-flow water supply systems and potential locations for groundwater wells in the future.  What’s more significant is I met village residents that desperately want to have safe water supplies for their families and neighbors.  You can read details of my visits to Central America in the latest Trip Report – Spring 2007.

There have been some very encouraging things happening in the world of philanthropy recently that has given me reason to believe that significant help may be coming to the rural poor in developing countries.  We’ve all read that Warren Buffet has donated a very large sum of money to be spent towards humanitarian projects in the developing world.  Although water projects have historically been grossly underserved by international aid organizations and traditional foundations, some of this new funding will hopefully go towards water projects in developing countries and we assumed some would be spent on the neediest of all, the rural poor. 

But for all the talk, by far most international foundations do not fund water projects.  It seems they fund everything else, with scholarships being the most common philanthropic gift.  But water projects have been notoriously underserved by all measures of international aid.  And yet when one creates a set of priorities for helping people in need, safe water is always at the top of the list.  Without safe water, all other forms of help, including food and such important health factors as medicines and vaccinations, pale in significance.  Many health practitioners will agree, generally speaking children are no better off with vaccinations if they are drinking microbiologically contaminated water everyday of their lives.  But setting up a temporary clinic to give vaccinations is much easier than supplying a safe water supply for the life of a child.
Ever since the beginning of international aid, the rural poor have been neglected by almost everyone in a position to help them, especially their own political leaders.  It was startling for us to first realize that many leaders in developing countries do not wish to help the majority of their own country’s population specifically because they live in rural areas of their country (rural residents often make up 70% of the population of a developing country, although this demographic is changing as it becomes harder to live a rural life in many parts of the world). 

Why, you might ask?  The simple truth is that many leaders in developing countries do not trust rural populations because, historically, rural areas have been associated with supporting rebels aimed at overthrowing past regimes.  Consequently, rural areas are often looked upon with suspicion and distrust by their political leaders.  In fact, many leaders in developing countries do not appear to mind natural disasters, such as droughts, that devastate their rural populations.  Droughts are a double-edge sword for these leaders, however, since droughts bring world press and international aid organizations to remote locations in their countries in order to find out what is actually going on.  No one wants to look too uncaring or foolish in the international press, although clearly, some leaders are more concerned about this than others.

But that is why people living in many rural areas in developing countries are still living basically as humans did thousands of years ago in our technology-advanced world of the 21st Century. 

The bottom line to this letter is the fact that the rural poor living in developing countries desperately need safe water projects and a voice in the international aid community.  Global Water will continue to fund water projects specifically to benefit the rural poor and will continue to help give them that voice. 

Lastly, I would like to thank the Clearly Canadian Beverage Corporation for providing funding for water and sanitation projects in rural villages in Central America in 2006.  The Clearly Canadian Beverage Company is an amazing company that wants to contribute to society in the most significant area possible – bringing safe water to those who desperately need it.  Their management is truly progressive and we hope they become a model for other corporations doing business throughout the world.  As our latest Trip Report and Progress Report (2006) explains, the management of Clearly Canadian came with us to inaugurate a new water and sanitation system for a rural village in Nicaragua that they helped fund.  Everyone had a great time and I could see that the executives of Clearly Canadian appreciated seeing where and how their money was actually spent.  I’d love to talk to other corporations (and individuals, as well) that might want to fund water and sanitation projects in developing countries with the idea that they, too, could visit a completed project so they will also see how their money is actually being spent.

Thank you for listening and my

Best Regards,

Ted Kuepper
Executive Director

P.S.  If you would like to help Global Water continue our water project work, please consider donating to our Water Supply Fund; mailing information can be found through the link entitled “How You Can Help” on the left side of the Global Water homepage.