Blood Water Mission | Empowering communities to work together against the HIV/AIDS & crises in Africa

Handwashing Becomes Habit

2013-05-23T14:24:48Z

In northern Rwanda, the community of Gitaba is taking great care of their new water source. The local water committee keeps the water site clean and assures the fence surrounding the well is strong to keep animals out. They also go to great lengths to educate their neighbors on sanitation and hygiene to keep their homes clean. Previously, many people suffered from malaria and intestinal worms due to gathering water at a stagnant and contaminated water source.

Now, the community is incorporating healthy practices like hand washing into their everyday lives. Most homes have a tippy tap and the children are now in a habit of washing their hands in between use of the latrine and handling food. Basic sanitation steps like this are transforming the health of the community of Gitaba.

Together, they have created a new culture in their neighborhood of knowledge, health and empowerment.

Support communities like Gitaba by becoming a Community:Builder today!

Blandine - Power Mom

2013-05-23T07:06:24Z

Blandine is a mother of five in Cyanika, Rwanda. Her quiet strength as a mother and leader has resulted in her village having 100% access to safe water. She rallied the women in her community to save their money to buy cement and a sheet metal roof for the construction of a rain catchment tank, so they no longer have to walk 18 km to reach a contaminated water source.

Support Blandine and other Power Moms by visiting www.powerofamom.com.

Annie - Power Mom

2013-05-22T07:51:56Z

Annie of Twapia, Zambia is a mother of two, and believes in the importance of knowing her HIV status to live a long and healthy life for her daughters. She encourages others to get tested in her community as well.

Support Annie and other Power Moms at www.powerofamom.com

Mary Goretty - Power Mom

2013-05-20T19:47:23Z

Mary Goretty of Lwala, Kenya is a young mother with a supportive family striving to ensure that she and her daughter, Gift, succeed and thrive. At a prestigious local high school, Mary Goretty works hard to complete her education.

Support Mary and other Power Moms at www.powerofamom.com

Meet Rachel From Nashville - Power Mom

2013-05-20T15:17:55Z

A mother and inspiration to us all, we are pleased to share with you Rachel from Nashville's story of being a mother. Rachel and her husband Mike experienced unimaginable heartache after multiple miscarriages, but now have a bustling home with four daughters!

Rachel 's optimism shines bright in the above video - check it out!

Meet Tiffany from PLUMB - Power Mom

2013-05-20T14:43:43Z

Tiffany Lee is an artist and musician who has sold countless records and filled concert halls, AND Tiffany is a mother. Tiffany inspires us as she balances life, work, and being a mother.

Watch the video above to learn more about Tiffany's inspiration for her music.

The One Drop Campaign Bringing Clean Water to Zambia

2013-05-17T15:28:29Z

As the Wally radio-a-thon on WAY-FM campaign has drawn to a close, we at Blood:Water Mission have been blown away by the incredible outpouring of generosity from Wally's listeners! We are so excited to see how this generosity and support will bring safe water and HIV/AIDS care to the people of Zambia!

In 2012, Wally Show listeners partnered with Blood:Water Mission to bring health and healing to the war torn regions of Northern Uganda. Affecting the lives of over 2,000 families with access to safe water through wells and well repairs and health care for men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS at the New Life Medical Center in Kitgum, Uganda.

This year, support from listeners more than doubled and we will be able to provide communities in Zambia with over 5,000 families receiving access to safe water biosand water filters and HIV education, testing and counseling in Zambia because of the generosity of the Wally Show!

What is a Biosand Water Filter?

If you are new to Blood:Water Mission and to our work in Africa, we want to enlighten you on the incredibly simple, but effective technology of the bio-sand water filter. Bio-sand water filters are an in-home water filtration system that utilizes ancient technologies to purify unsafe drinking water.

The filter, which is roughly the size of a 25 gallon trash can, is assembled to mimic the layers of soil. You see, rainwater is filtered as it passes through layers of soil on its way to the water table (deep below the surface). The bio-sand water filter is assembled with layers of sand and rock to duplicate this process on a smaller scale.

"But what is the "bio" in bio-sand water filter?" You may be asking yourself this. Well, for this, image yourself looking at a pond. If it is a pond with some age and without drainage, it most likely has a rather foul smelling, green scum on top of the surface. This is a bio-layer. A layer that consists of many organisms fight and feed off of each other for survival. These organisms like us, need fuel to survive and the pond serves as a feasting ground - good bacteria eating bad bacteria! (And you thought it was just scum).

Each bio-sand water filter has its own bio-layer on the top of each filter. As dirty water is fed into the filter, it first passes through the bio-layer, where 'good' organisms eat 'bad' organisms! Just like the pond scum! The water then continues down through the sand and rock in the filter to remove the rest of the sediment and pathogens in the water - resulting in safe drinking water!

To learn more about bio-sand water filters you can consult this fantastically silly, but informative video on YouTube:

*source: http://youtu.be/YaOOmaGzx0g

Consider supporting our mission and providing a bio-sand water filter to a family in Zambia by donating $85 today!

Power Of A Mom: Celebrating and Supporting Extraordinary Moms Around the World!

2013-05-16T16:02:14Z

We all know that women and moms make the 'world-go-round' and with Power of a Mom, we hope to highlight stories of a handful of women and moms from the US to Africa who demonstrate this. Women like Rachel from Nashville, TN and Kabale from Cyanika, Rwanda have a lot in common. Their story is a human story, one of hope, love, heartbreak, and trial. We hope that through their stories, you will be able to connect to Africa, to this human story - and ultimately join us in celebrating these women by sharing their story and supporting them and women in Uganda by giving to expand the New Life Medical Center in Kitgum, Uganda.

With your support, we can support our partners on the ground and help build a much needed maternity ward at the New Life Medical Center that will provide expecting mothers in Africa with proper pre- and post-natal care to ensure babies are born free of HIV! Other services include:

1) Home visits and patient transportation to and from the clinic

2) Medication used in the maternity ward

3) Home visits and delivery kits for safe and sterile labor and delivery

4) Ultrasound services

5) Full antenatal and postnatal services

The effects of the expansion of services is vital as it will minimizing the high infant mortality rate in the community, improve the mother care after delivery, increase mother's education on breastfeeding while HIV+, increase the HIV testing and counseling services during pregnancy to enhance the early prevention or diagnosis of infants infected with HIV/AIDS.

Join us by visiting www.POWEROFAMOM.com supporting the clinic today! The first 100 people to donate $100 will have their gift matched by a special matching grant, doubling the impact of your gift! You can also visit our YouTube page to view the Strength in Mothers video series. As well as sharing the Power of a Mom story with your friends and family on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest!

Safe Water in Kaniki

2013-05-15T18:36:46Z

The small rural village of Kaniki, Zambia, sits on the main road in between the two larger cities of Ndola and Lusaka. Home to about 50 families, most people produce and sell charcoal as their main source of income, while others grow and sell vegetables. About an hour from Kaniki, Blood:Water Mission's partner SHIP builds biosand filters, a technology that can provide clean water for a family for up to 20 years.

Families who recently received biosand filters in their homes go through a training to build and maintain the filters to ensure proper use. A mother of six in Kaniki recently explained (and demonstrated, as can be seen above) that during the rainy season, she digs a hole in the ground about three feet deep to retrieve water.

She didn't realize this was making her family sick. Now with a NEW biosand filter in their home, she can purify that same water to remove pathogens and her children will be healthy again. Her family, along with many others in the region, now have access to safe drinking water in their homes thanks to new bio-sand water filters!

To learn more about biosand filters and read about some of the inspiring women who make them at SHIP's factory in Ndola, click HERE. And to support projects like this, click here!

Meet Tigist: A Story of Health & Resiliency

2013-05-07T18:28:41Z

Tigist is a mother of two and lost her husband to HIV/AIDS. She lives in a rented house with her two children who attend a local school. She was admitted under "Category One" care of our new partner's project in Ethiopia where she receives total support including rental assistance food, and assistance with school. When she began to recover and was able to do some work she got engaged in the income generation portion of the program with our partners. She bakes the local Injera bread and sells locally. She is now able to provide food for her children food, and hopefully soon pay her rent. There are plans to increase her stock/inventory so she can do more. She's about to graduate from Level Two of the program so she can fully take care of herself. By the time we visited her she was fearful whether she would make it on her own, but the team continues to encourage her!

Read more about our new project in Ethiopia by visiting our Project Pages.

You can support Tigist and others like her by clicking here.

HIV Training in George

2013-04-29T10:29:04Z

Knowledge is life in the small rural village of George, Zambia. Here, like in much of the country, HIV has had a profound impact on the community. Nearby Ndola has a staggering 18% HIV/AIDS prevalence rate and Zambia overall ranks as the 6th highest country in HIV/AIDS prevalence worldwide. For community members of George, knowledge on prevention and transmission is truly the key to life. In February, Joyce Ndamikwa from SHIP led an HIV class at a local school to educate community members on the disease and how to protect their families. Following the training, 37 women volunteered to be tested to know their status. They dance in celebration of the knowledge they have received.

Click HERE to meet Amina in Marsabit, Kenya, who is taking her knowledge of HIV to counsel others in her community to live healthy, HIV positive lives.

And click HERE to support the projects and community leaders like this in order that they may continue to change the lives of those in their communities in Africa!

Drilling a Well in Twapia

2013-04-23T08:31:27Z

The rural village of Twapia, Zambia, home to about 50,000 people, is located only 20 minutes from Blood:Water Mission's local partner SHIP. On a recent visit into Twapia in February, we watched as community members gathered around to witness a new well being drilled. The proximity of this new well is exciting for people in the community who have been walking 30 minutes each way up to four times daily to fetch water. This new water source will provide safe water for 300-500 people in Twapia.

To read more about the drilling process and how teams work together to find the best location and depth for a new well, click HERE.

Support clean water projects like this by joining us today!

40 Days of Water!

2013-04-15T15:22:09Z

Did you participate in 40 Days of Water this year? Use this handy-dandy infographic to guide your donations! Donate today to bring clean water to those in Uganda!

Safe Water in Giseke

2013-04-15T06:33:02Z

The small community of Giseke in western Rwanda used to retrieve water from the Omale river, which contained harmful pathogens and transmitted various diseases, most commonly diarrhea. Through our partnership with local organization AEE, the community now has a safe water source they use to cook, clean with and wash their clothes. Diseases have dropped drastically and the community grows healthier each day.

Click HERE to read more about our current projects in Rwanda and find out about how you can support communities like Giseke.

Community Empowerment in George, Zambia

2013-04-09T10:32:22Z

In the small rural village of George, Zambia, community empowerment isn't just talked about, its happening. Average people are stepping up as leaders to solve everyday problems. The hand pump well in George had been broken down for about five months, and the community waited for someone to come and fix it. As time passed, leaders realized they needed to take the initiative to repair it. Together, the community saved up 150 kwacha, the equivalent of $30 USD and approached SHIP, Blood:Water Mission's local partner, to repair the damaged pump. Now, the well is in working condition and back to providing the community with safe water.

Click HERE to read more about pump repairs and how local leaders Lawrence and Tony travel on bicycle to repair wells in their community in northern Uganda.

Support projects like this one today by clicking here!