A total of $3.56 million in cash and other support will help one of Denver’s top global-aid organizations expand its work providing safe drinking water and sanitation systems in economically troubled African nations.
The Case Foundation and PlayPumps International last week invested $2 million in cash, services and products to help Water for People develop safe-water projects in Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda.
Last month, the European Investment Bank and the European Union funded a $1.56 million sanitation project in Malawi that will be managed by Water for People.
“There’s just real momentum behind these ideas,” said Water for People chief executive Ned Breslin.
“We don’t just build something; we create the business model.”
The Case Foundation, led by former AOL executives Steven and Jean Case, focuses on finding solutions to the problem of water poverty in developing nations.
The money from their investment will be used to take Water for People’s “circuit rider” program, which has been very successful in India, and replicate it in the three African countries.
In West Bengal, India, the nonprofit trained a group of villagers — called jalabandhus, which means “friends of water” — to become mobile mechanics who work for a fee fixing water systems that have broken.
So this summer, when Cyclone Aila pounded West Bengal, wiping out homes and water systems, the “circuit riders went in and got the system operational within about a week,” Breslin said.
The idea is to start in the districts in Africa where Water for People already has a foundation.
“We want to see if we can get every village covered, so there is service for a fee, with water flowing and communities paying,” Breslin said.
The nonprofit also has been hired by Blantyre, the largest city in Malawi, to help entrepreneurs in the crowded settlements outside the city start small businesses that will build urban sanitation systems.
The business model for this is similar to that of the cellphone industry, said Breslin, “where they give you a cell because they want you to have the service contract. The same principle applies.
“That stimulates the local private sector,” Breslin said.
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
