Putting our Learning into Practice!

Well, we have received a report from the field that the CAWST training has been a success! The trainings have allowed the RWI team and attendees to develop essential relationships as well as gain some key knowledge from CAWST (Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Treatment)in respect to the BSF technology and share best practices in production and outreach for WASH projects like RWI’s. We are excited to see how some of these new ideas and relationships will materialize in the future.

Here is what Isaac our RWI Kenya Country Representative had to say about the training-

"In general the training has been beneficial to the organization through the sharing of the knowledge and challenges with the experts (CAWST) and the participants from other organization. The training was successful because our staff got an opportunity to undergo this comprehensive training. This has really motivated the team and is currently to start implementing what was learnt. The participants were also very pleased with the whole logistics in training preparation and facilitations not forgetting accommodation for the boarders in the Hotel."

Conducting Trainings in Kenya with CAWST

RWI is hosting a couple of trainings this May in partnership with CAWST. CAWST - The Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Treatment is a Canadian NGO with the mission to address the Global Water Challenge with education and training to build local capacity. CAWST's co founder is Dr. Manz, the inventor of the Biosand Filter (BSF). We are excited to be a part of this training as it legitimizes our presence and experience in regards to the BSF and the local water and sanitation issues within the region.
The two trainings will take place in Nakuru, Kenya. To RSVP please email us at: RunningWater.RWI@gmail.com

Training Topics and Dates:
May 3-7 Project Implementation for the Biosand Filter Workshop
May 17-21 Community Health Promotion for Trainers

Here's CAWST's website: http://www.cawst.org/

Some News Updates for Kenya

Hey guys, need to catch up on some of the news in Kenya? Here are a couple of good ones that I have come across.

Is it scalable? That is my question for Mr Sachs. But pretty phenomenal. A must read.
Shower of Aid Brings Flood of Progress

In this one, a friend of a friend is being interviewed about the destruction in Samburu.
Safari tourists rescued by helicopter from Kenya flood

RWI News Brief

Full steam ahead! Some developments are in the works for RWI and we are excited. RWI has been chosen as semifinalists in the Dell Social Innovation Competition. We were selected among 50 teams out of 700 teams! Next step is to update our business plan, and put together a video. If any of you know how to work with multi-media and communications, we could use your help!


Also our team has been selected to be a part of the International Development Design Summit, which will take place in Colorado this year. As the Kenya Country Representative for RWI, Isaac will have the opportunity to visit us here in Colorado and participate fully in the three week summit. We will collaborate with experienced people in design and development from all over the world.
Thanks for the support!

2 Legit

So we're moving forward and finally have been able to create a web presence for Running Water International. Thanks to Scott Fedak, Becky's brother. Things may change on this site, but for now we have something. Check it out: http://runningwaterinternational.org/


We welcome any feedback. THANKS!

Deliverables...

Becky and Tanisha have returned back to the US, while Isaac is leading the efforts for RWI on the ground in Nakuru. I compiled all of our accomplishments from this most recent visit to Kenya, and a lot has been accomplished.
Some of the highlights of our outcomes include:

Received authorization and endorsement for our business and activities regarding the education and sale of RWI’s flagship product the BSF from the provincial office of Public Health for the Rift Valley Province.

Trained and mobilized about 20 additional sales agents who will represent RWI in their communities and hopefully stimulate sales in rural and remote regions. These people are grassroots leaders in their communities.

Changed our legal entity to a Limited Liability Corporation in Kenya. We are discussing what the future will look like, but felt that registering as a bona fide LLC was super duper important.

Hired another team member to step in as the Operations Manager to allow Isaac to focus on PR and relationship building to market and sell our business and our products.

Took orders from friends, and local community members. People want these biosand filters. There is a market out there, we just need to figure out how to build a well oiled distribution network.

The picture in this post, is from Mogotio (one of the towns where we work), this is the Molo River where many of the local people go to get their water.

Leaving on a Different Note

We are preparing to leave Kenya once again, and must leave the project in the capable hands of our trusted colleague and friend, Isaac. There have been some hickups along the way as we continue to learn about how to create a sustainable enterprise selling household water treatment systems in Kenya. We have conducted a sales training with the hopes to mobilize active community members to partner with us and sell. Lets hope that we were able to get some people on the ground to sell BSFs!




We have also been learning what it means to "bootstrap" during this most recent trip, due to our lack of outside funding. We did not have our own vehicle, and have learned that using public means for transport may be financially cheaper, and yet very costly with our own time. This has also meant that we have eaten Ramen for dinner and lived more simply than our other trips. :)We have been able to empathize and experience first hand the barriers and hardships our local staff have to face in order to get the work done with limited resources.
Additionally, after our third trip to Kenya, we are so grateful for the friends we've made and look forward to our next trip.





Tanisha, Isaac, & Becky and Lake Bagoria

Public/ Private Partnerships?

We have met with various local public health offices and other stakeholders in specific communities in hopes to build relationships and promote our main product, the Biosand Filter. We are encountering that it is difficult to position ourselves in such a way that we are able to differentiate ourselves from other NGOs or charitable organizations working in the same arena here in Kenya. When we are introducing ourselves and our mission, we want to emphasize that we are a social enterprise that attempts to stand in the gap where conventional development and charity has failed. This is a challenge, and some questions we are asking ourselves at this point are:

How much do we want to collaborate with the local governments and ministries? Of course we know that we need to work within the given systems and maneuver in the proper channels to be successful. But how much do we collaborate? We are considering the idea of giving one or two filters away each to local Public Health Offices in order to promote the Biosand Filter. How much of our product do we give away to these Public Health Offices in order to market ourselves? Would our collaboration become just another bureaucratic system that may lose effectiveness over time? Or would our collaboration strengthen the organization and position among our target market? Are there more appropriate stakeholders that we can “donate” a filter in order to get a better return on our investment- in respect to BSF sales? We believe an issue like clean water in rural areas can be addressed by a private social enterprise, but the questions is who and how do we partner with stakeholders, and how much do we collaborate with local ministries? Perhaps we’ll find the answers to these issues as we continue this work in Kenya, but when resources are limited and time is precious, how much do we want to invest in these partnerships? Any input from our readers and friends is much appreciated!


A Captive Audience for Installation of a BSF

Getting Down and Dirty

On previous visits to Kenya we had the support of the our initial project partner who provided a vehicle for us to go to commute to the major city center, Nakuru, as well as reach outlying areas. Now we are on our own (our former project partner is no longer in operations), we have to rely on matatus (the local public transportation- which are mini-buses), and our two legs to get to our various appointments. This change has caused us to gain a greater understanding of the daily routine of our fellow Kenyans which may often feel, to us westerners, like we’re moving in slow motion. I guess that is why the local people commonly use the term, “pole pole,” which means, “slowly by slowly.” This saying can be used in many contexts, but has often been used to chide western visitors to understand how things get done here in Kenya, slowly by slowly. In a way this reminds us to appreciate the small things and to take care of the things that matter most. At lunch today we overheard a native Kenyan admonish his western visitor that the visitor was too impatient. It is good to be reminded that although we have come in hopes to bring something new to Kenya, we still have a lot to learn from our local friends, partners, and even our interaction with the daily grind here in Kenya.

Progress is being made in respect to the business. Becky and I spent most of the day at the Polytechnic working with our hands and getting down and dirty with our RWI- Maji Salama Staff. We were able to de-mold 2 BSFs, and mold 2 more BSFs. We were able to exhaust ourselves and truly appreciate the work that our team is doing here. Isaac (Kenyan Country Representative) was preparing a batch of 50 BSFs that will be picked up tomorrow and delivered to our customer in Eldoret.

We will be working hard this week and next to identify and develop appropriate sales and marketing strategies. Many meetings have been set so we can start asking local people about potential partnerships in the dissemination of our BSFs Tomorrow we meet with an NGO that may be a potential customer. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, and hope for the best!

Look at all those BSFs!



Tanisha and Becky de- molding a BSF

Back to the Grind in Kenya

So Becky and I (Tanisha) have arrived here in Nairobi and will be making our way to Njoro this afternoon. We are definitely jet- lagged and tired... but energized as we discuss the project to develop creative solutions to tackle some of important things that we want to address with the business while we're here. The familiar language, smells, sounds and people bring back great memories from our previous two trips in the past year, which is somewhat comforting. We'll keep you updated, there is lots to do!!!

Kenya- bound

Well 2010 has arrived and Becky and I are headed to Kenya! This will be a bittersweet trip since two of our teammates, Sanghamitra and Aseel will not be with us. Thank you for all of your support, and we will continue to update our blog as we travel.

We will be in Kenya from January 6th until the 27th. We look forward to getting back to the equatorial weather!

Graduation!

As you may know, the founding members of Running Water International are all students in the Global Social Sustainable Enterprise program at Colorado State University, and we are graduating!
Becky and Tanisha are planning a trip back to Kenya January 2010. Please contact us if you would like to make a financial contribution.

Becky- bfedak13@gmail.com
Tanisha- tanishaqui@yahoo.com

Meet Running Water International

The team at Colorado State University had our first presentation of the school year to recap and report to faculty and classmates about our progress on our project during the summer trip in Kenya. So if you're catching up, enjoy the slideshow! Cheers!

Leaving Something Behind…

We spent the past week in Nairobi and Mombassa. In Nairobi we were able to practice our pitch to some contacts from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Acumen Fund. Our project and all its start up costs are a fraction to what the aforementioned organizations deal with when deciding to fund projects- a minimum of $500,000 in capital. We simply have appreciated the opportunity to meet these people as well as practice our pitch especially after our summer work!

The entire team except me- Tanisha- has left Kenya and I am left here to finish some remaining business and will be off on a jet plane this evening. I was able to visit our site for the first time since Becky and I left Nakuru for Nairobi and our mini-vacay in Mombassa. I was pleased to see a huge dump truck at the Polytechnic delivering gravel and sand! I spent the day meeting with Isaac and discussing the way forward and managing the project in our absence. The main bottleneck still remains to be the mysterious KRA pin which is basically our registration with the Kenyan IRS. We are learning to maneuver around this irritating constraint and hope and pray it will be processed by Aug 15th.

This summer has definitely been eventful! Establishing an enterprise has proved to be quite exciting! We weren’t quite sure what the outcome would be when we embarked on this journey-- now we are leaving and fully intend to return with lifelong relationships and a manufacturing facility here in Kenya. For some of those inquiring minds out there, Becky and I (Tanisha) fully intend to come back in January to see how this real pilot project is going.

Thanks for reading this blog, we hope to keep it updated as we pursue this project and try to get something moving while in the US.

The Final Stretch- Finishing Well

We are preparing to leave Njoro tomorrow! We will be spending the next week or so on the road meeting people in Nairobi as well as trying to take a few days out for some much needed R & R in Mombassa. The past few weeks have been power packed with a lot a great things and events. We leave Njoro feeling like we have accomplished a lot and yet, feel like there is still so much to do.


RWI-Maji Salama Official Registration.


The RWI-Maji Salama Office on the Nakuru Youth Polytechnic campus.


The students at the Nakuru Youth Polytechnic.


Becky and Tanisha taking care of business on a "boda-boda"-- motorbike taxi.

The check is in the mail...

After two weeks of waiting, and waiting... we have received our first check! This is our first down payment for our order for 200 filters. We’re hoping to use this down payment to buy raw materials and start production prior to our departure. We are experiencing some snags with bureaucracy and all that it takes to start a business. In order to open a business bank account we need a mysterious PIN number from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Nevertheless, since we registered a mere 11 days ago our business is not in the KRA database which takes 2 weeks to populate newly registered businesses. We’re trying to contact some people in Nairobi to see if we can get our business populated in the KRA database earlier. We’ll see. Ahhh, the beauty of working in a foreign system. As Becky so eloquently stated today, “Toto, We’re not in Kansas anymore."

Photo taken June 19, 2009 at Yasha Mission School, Njoro, Kenya (May seem like a random post with the above blog entry, but these kids are so cute. I thought we would show some of the local kids.)

Moving Forward and Introducing RWI-Maji Salama- Its Official!

Our team has hit a fork in the road on this journey. Aseel and Sanghamitra will be leaving Kenya on Monday to head back to their home countries (Iraq and India respectively) for a bit before starting the fall semester this August. Meanwhile Becky and Tanisha will remain in-country for about two more weeks. As we prepare to bid our teammates goodbye we are also reflecting on how fruitful this trip has been. We started this journey and calling this a “Feasibility Study” and quickly came to the conclusion on week two that this was “very possible.” Since then we have been trying figure out what is the most appropriate strategy for our team.

Isaac our local Kenyan representative has helped us in registering the entity RWI-Maji Salama. “Maji Salama” means, “Safe Water” in Swahili. We are official, and are awaiting our first down payment for a big order of 200 BSFs. Once we receive the down payment we are hoping to start production!


"Give me a R- Give me a W- Give me an I... what's that spell??? RWI!!!"

The highlights of our time in Kenya:
 Going on Safari in Masai Mara and seeing tons of wildlife!
 Visiting urban slums in Nairobi, and understanding the sanitation and water situation there.
 Visiting communities in the Njoro Watershed and understanding how the BSF has impacted households already.
 Installing three BSFs in a local secondary school and going back to see the progress and implementation of the BSFs.
 Visiting local microfinance institutions and even having the possibility to partner with one!
 Establishing a partnership with the Nakuru Youth Polytechnic Institute for production and manufacturing.
 Experiencing frustration and trying to understand how things get done in Kenya especially registering a business entity.

These are just a few of our highlights… and there has been much more!
We wish our dear teammates a safe journey and a restful time with their families.

Partnership Established with Nakuru Youth Polytechnic Institute

Well, we all managed to survive past June 30th, and are proud to announce that we have established a partnership with the Nakuru Youth Polytechnic Institute. The institute trains local teens in various vocations such as carpentry, masonry, welding, hairdressing, automotive mechanics, dressmaking etc. We will be able to manufacture the Biosand filters (BSF) in their facility while using the student man-power to manufacture the BSFs. An equitable agreement has been struck for both parties and we are excited to see the possibilities for our partnership. June 30th was a big day for us we feel like we have accomplished something big. Now we have to implement and make sure everything is in line prior to our departure in late July.

In addition we are also happy to introduce you all to Isaac the local Kenyan Representative for Running Water International. Isaac has been a part of our team since we interviewed him during our trip over spring break in March, and he will be working with our local Kenyan partners and making sure the project runs smoothly on the ground for the next 7 months here in Nakuru. The RWI team has identified the next 7 months as a trial period as we prepare to manufacture the BSFs with the Nakuru Polytechnic to fulfill an order of 200 BSFs. Also we would like to mention that we are in the process of registering our business in Kenya and should be official soon.




*The pictures featured were taken June 30th, the day the MOU was signed and an agreement was made with Nakuru Youth Polytechnic. The picture of Isaac is from the same day when we were invited to a "baraza" (village meeting) in a community called Lare.

A New Method for Promotion. (Hire these guys!)

So we were out and about in Nakuru town running errands. We ran into these guys promoting a new restaurant opening in town. We were impressed with this method of guerrilla marketing!









We have been busy and will update more after tomorrow which is our big deadline. We're hoping all things go as planned... and will let you know how things turn out. In short we have an interested partner and may have a solid partnership by the end of this week. Details to come.

Pushing the Possibilities

We have been visited by our project partner from the US who has been our main contact for SUMAWA. She has come to make sure that the transition from the research project into an enterprise goes smoothly. We have been learning in real life how development funding must be spent and how to allocate funds and assets when a USAID funded project is ending. We are nearing June 30th the date in which the SUMAWA project’s funding will end as well as the work established from many years of research in the region will be handed over. Handed over to whom you may ask? Well these are the same questions we are asking ourselves. We are working on acquiring some of the assets.

Another project in Eldoret (in western Kenya) conducting research on nutrition and its impact on the health of individuals infected with HIV has put in an order for 200 filters, and will need an invoice from RWI or the entity that we establish by June 30th. They need to have evidence that they have allocated and “used” the funds by June 30th -- because they are funded by the same source as the SUMAWA project (which is ending). This is part of the learnings mentioned above, and has put a fire under our butts!

This situation has pushed our team to evaluate the viability of this enterprise and measure our commitment to this project. This has also pushed us to look into the registration process in order to establish legal entity. Additionally we are working hard to identify local private partners who can help us build manufacturing capacity for such a big order. We have visited two potential partners today and will continue to look for more as we progress.

The picture posted is from the day we visited the Teret Secondary School to install 3 filters. The students treated us like celebrities and we now know what it feels like to be chased by a mob of excited teenagers. Its hard to believe that was just last week so much has happened!