History

Water for Kids was set up as a charity in 1996 after two Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) visited Peru in 1995 as part of an EU sponsored scheme to help eradicate cholera after the outbreak of the early 1990's. Their work was largely concerned with larger scale water treatment and distribution. It was clear to them that many people in the smaller, less formal, settlements had need of environmental health services in general and safe water in particular. They decided they should “do something to help”. They looked for a charity which was addressing these issues, but they could not find one. So Water for Kids was born. Those 3 EHPs were David Clapham, Natasha Franklin and Stewart Petrie.

The name “Water for Kids” was chosen because it is a good description of what the charity does and if the kids have water, so too do all the members of the community. The emphasis on kids also suggests an investment in the future.

The first project at Quebrada Verde was chosen because it was small enough to be completed (eventually) by the EHPs themselves if necessary. They felt it vital that any project that was started should be finished - there are too many examples of half-finished schemes and of broken promises in developing countries.

The charity today is still run by EHPs and other public health practitioners and although it may be small and perfectly formed - it has big ambitions and we like to think that we do things just that little bit differently. From the start, the charity adopted the approach that fund raising should be fun! 5-a-side football matches, South American drinks evenings, a balloon race and donations instead of sending Christmas cards to colleagues have all helped raise the money to work on projects over the years. These days we get larger sums from grants and there is potential for more.

The charity has completed projects in Peru, Tanzania, India and the Gambia. We are now working in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, though we never intended to just focus on Africa. These projects range from the installation of water and sanitation in villages and schools, to health promotion (eg. we have worked with a women's grouping Tanzania to develop a cheese making business) to assisting in setting up Environmental Health Degrees. All the projects are managed by local EHPs or others working in public health. Importantly for us - all our projects are sustainable and are run by the local community and, wherever we can, we use local labour and local materials.