Texas Working for WASH
Briefing Prepared for ___________
Improving Access to Clean Water Is at the Top of Americans’ Global Health Priorities
People in the state of Texas are leading the effort to solve the global safe drinking water,
sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) challenge. There are numerous faith-based, civic, and academic
initiatives for WASH underway throughout the state. The top programs in the state include:
a) A First Baptist Church member from Athens launched Hope Springs Water, a bottled
water company that gives 100% of their profits to well drilling and sanitation projects.
b) Elsa England Elementary School in Austin raised over $8,000 for water wells,
handwashing stations, and latrines for schools in Uganda and Kenya.
c) Living Water International, located in Stafford, has implemented 16,247 sustainable
water projects in 26 countries, including Honduras, India, Ghana, Ethiopia, Angola, and
Zambia.
d) The Wells Project at Texas A&M University has raised over $247,000 to fund 12 water
projects that provided over 2,000 people in Rwanda with clean drinking water.
e) Water to Thrive, headquartered in Austin, has funded more than 500 water projects in
Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda and has provided more than 250,000
people with clean safe water since 2008.
Other notable efforts include:
Rotary Clubs in Texas
 Rotary Club of Corpus Christi
o Partnered with the Choluteca Rotary Club to provide water filters, latrines, and
water education to villagers in Honduras
For more information, please contact John Oldfield at WASH Advocates:
202.293.4049  [email protected]  Updated: December 2015
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o Works with Choluteca Rotary Club to install a water well and water storage tank
project in Honduras
Rotary Club of Fort Worth
o Sponsors the Neighborhood Flag Program, whose proceeds benefit international
water and sanitation projects
o Purchased 100 water filtration systems for partners in Honduras
Rotary Club of San Antonio
o Partnered with the Rotary Club of Danli to implement a well drilling project in
Honduras
Rotary Club of Hutto
o Rotarian Bob Hildreth traveled to the Dominican Republic to install bio-sand
filters in homes, schools, and clinics
Rotary Club of Northwest Austin
o Financially supports the International H2O Collaboration, which builds
rainwater tanks and latrines and educates students about hygiene practices
Athens Rotary Club
o Rotarian Carroll Greenwalt of the Longview Rotary Club educated Rotarians
about his efforts to distribute 4 million doses of medicine to fight waterborne
parasitic infections in Guatemala
Dallas Rotary Club
o Partnered with a Rotary Club in Ghana to implement 9 water projects that
benefited over 45,000 women and children
o Facilitated sanitation and hygiene training in Ghanaian communities
Bellaire & Southwest Houston Rotary Club
o Provided grants to Living Water International and Pure Water for the World that
funded the implementation of international clean water projects
o Dr. John Freeman of Rice University designed a solar-powered water system and
two Bellaire Rotarians traveled to Haiti in 2010 to install the system at a school,
benefiting more than 400 children
o Raised $2,750 for a water purification system and $6,000 for a well-drilling
project implemented at a school in Haiti
Rotary International District 5790, Fort Worth
o Awarded a $95,000 Rotary Global grant that funded the installation of 600 filters
in 500 homes throughout Honduras
Faith-Based Organizations in Texas
 First Baptist Church of Athens
o Sponsors mission team trips to Ethiopia through the E-Team (East Texas
Ethiopia Aid Mission) initiative that provide medical care to Ethiopian children
suffering from parasitic infections
o Sent members to Ethiopia to implement a procedure that encases wells and
prevents water supply contamination
 Springcreek Church, Garland
o Partnered with World Vision on the Katito Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
(WASH) project that trained 64 villages on the importance of sanitation and
hygiene and provided 7,813 children with safe water access
For more information, please contact John Oldfield at WASH Advocates:
202.293.4049  [email protected]  Updated: December 2015
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First Baptist Church, Houston
o Raised $120,000 that supported Living Water International clean water projects
Triumphant Love Lutheran Church, Austin
o Member Dick Moeller founded Water to Thrive that aims to raise awareness of
the global water crisis
o Raised funds to construct water wells for rural communities in Ethiopia, Sierra
Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda
Covenant Presbyterian Church, Austin
o Partnered with third grade students at Great Oaks Elementary School to raise
funds for a Water to Thrive well project in Ethiopia
Bear Creek United Methodist Church, Houston
o Sponsors collections for the Shoeman Water Project, which sells shoes to
exporters and uses the funds to provide water well drilling rigs to Kenyans
Lakewood Church, Houston
o Sponsors annual mission trips to El Salvador and Haiti to provide clean water to
communities through Living Water International initiatives
University Christian Church, Fort Worth
o Hosted Wine to Share: Water for All fundraiser that supported clean water
projects in Kenya, Cambodia, and the West Bank
HELP, Inc., Hurst
o Sponsors short-term HELP trips for individuals to establish sustainable water
systems in Nigeria
o Partners with Texas churches and non-profits to implement water projects in
rural Nigerian communities
Water Harvest International, Fort Worth
o Drilled more than 400 fresh water wells for nearly 140,000 villagers in South
Sudan and northern Uganda
o Trained over 35,000 community members about proper hygiene and sanitation
using the UN-approved Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation
(PHAST) method
Catholic Diocese of Dallas
o DECATS third through fifth grade academic camp participants raised over
$8,200 for the construction of water wells and latrines in Mozambique, Ethiopia,
and Uganda through H2O for Life
Schools & Universities in Texas
 Texas A&M University - Engineers Without Borders, College Station
o Constructed latrines for a school and established a community water
distribution system in Costa Rica
 Texas A&M University, College Station
o Hosts The Wells Project, a student organization that raises money for Living
Water International clean water well projects around the world
o Sponsors annual 10 Days initiative which encourages students to drink water
instead of soda for 10 days and donate the money saved to The Wells Project
o Organization members traveled to El Salvador to drill a clean water well in
partnership with Living Water International
For more information, please contact John Oldfield at WASH Advocates:
202.293.4049  [email protected]  Updated: December 2015
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o Produces and distributes research focused on ceramic water filter technology
for rural communities worldwide through the TAMU Water Project
Southern Methodist University, Dallas
o Educates engineers on humanitarian issues and liaises between rural
communities and organizations that are developing innovative solutions to
combat poverty through the Hunter & Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering
and Humanity
o Focuses on providing clean water and sanitation to communities most in need
University of Texas-Austin GlobeMed Chapter
o Collaborated with Clinica Ana Manganaro and constructed 47 latrines in El
Salvador
Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas
o Sponsors Cultural and Service Immersion Program in Nicaragua
o 3 students partnered with “Amigos for Christ” and promoted community rural
water and sanitation
Rice University – Engineers Without Borders, Houston
o Partnered with the National Water Company of Nicaragua and local government
officials to construct a water distribution system for 1,200 people in Nicaragua
o Collaborated with the NGO Fundación Santa Helena to improve community
water quality, water access, and sanitation for over 500 people in Nicaragua
Texas Wesleyan University, Fort Worth
o Professor Gabriel Eckstein directs the International Water Law Project, which
provides resources to international water law and policy-makers and educates
the public about global water resource management
Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
o Partnered with UT-Dallas engineering students to design a solar-powered water
purification system
o Received Education Award in the 2011 International Future Energy Challenge
(IFEC) for water purification system design
Fort Worth Christian School, North Richland Hills
o Partners with HELP Inc. to fund water well drilling projects in Nigeria
Great Oaks Elementary School, Round Rock
o Partnered with Covenant Presbyterian Church to raise funds for Water to Thrive
projects in Ethiopia
o Third grade students hosted a book sale that raised $3,300 to sponsor a Water to
Thrive water well
Deerwood Elementary School, Kingwood
o Raised $2,000 for handwashing stations at a school in Tanzania through H2O for
Life
Grace R. Brandenburg Intermediate School, Duncanville
o Raised $3,850 for a water well project in a school in Uganda through H2O for
Life
MEDICO, Georgetown
o Assesses rural communities’ water supply and partners with non-profit
organizations to fund the implementation of clean water projects
For more information, please contact John Oldfield at WASH Advocates:
202.293.4049  [email protected]  Updated: December 2015
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University of Texas Elementary School, Austin
o Raised over $4,000 for water wells and rain catchment tanks for schools in
Kenya, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
WASH-Focused Organizations in Texas
 Global Samaritan Resources (GSR), Abilene
o Partnered with New Life International to provide water purifiers and training to
communities worldwide
 Hope Springs Water, Athens
o Partnered with the Trinity Valley Community College Student Senate to dig wells
in Nicaraguan villages and rehabilitate more than 24 wells in Belize
o Installed wells in Uganda, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
o Constructed rain water storage systems in Rwanda and a water treatment
system in Sierra Leone to prevent cholera
o Funded a water project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that provided
orphans with uncontaminated drinking water
 Water to Thrive, Austin
o Raises awareness of the global water crisis among individuals, churches,
corporations, and schools in the US
 Healing Hands International, Carrollton & Fort Worth
o Sponsored the Walk4Water in Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee, which has raised
over $70,000 for global water projects
o Drilled more than 350 wells in Ethiopia and more than 130 wells in Haiti that
provided clean water to more than one million people
o Partners with commercial drilling companies to provide community wells in
Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, India, and Honduras
 Fort Worth Sister Cities, Fort Worth
o Awarded a three-year, $115,000 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grant to
fund water and sanitation activities in Swaziland
 Engineers Without Borders Johnson Space Center Professional Chapter, Houston &
Clear Lake
o Designing a system to improve a rural Thailand community’s water storage
system and water quality
 Engineers Without Borders Central Houston Professional Chapter
o Designed and installed a water storage and distribution system and
implemented a wastewater treatment plant for a community in rural Bolivia
o Installed a rainwater harvesting system at a vocational training center in Uganda
o Implemented a long-term water and power project for the Maseno Hospital in
Kenya and provided the hospital with reliable energy and clean water
o Implemented water projects in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and India
For more information, please contact John Oldfield at WASH Advocates:
202.293.4049  [email protected]  Updated: December 2015