Our Partners
Measuring Success of Water Projects in Africa
Keeping track of things like distance, family members in a household, and how long someone may have to wait in line, paints a clearer picture of the sustainable, transformative work that is being done.
WASH: How To Teach Sanitation
Clean water as a solo intervention can impact the health of a community in some ways, and it is helpful, but without the other instruments playing along, it will not have the impact we truly need to create. Those “instruments” are sanitation and hygiene.
What Causes Poverty in Africa?
Who knows better than they do what will make a difference in their village? Change and progress require local buy-in and a sense of ownership throughout the community in order to be sustainable.
“Boring” Data Can Be More Interesting Than You Think
Tracking the work of our African partners can be a bit complicated. Amanda, one of the members of our Africa Partnerships (AP) team recently walked the rest of us through an overview of how our AP team works with our partners, and it was so interesting that we thought you would also enjoy learning more about it! Our partners do life-changing work, and we utilize best practices and international standards in order to measure not only how well we’re already doing, but how we can continue to get better.
COVID and HIV: An Update From The Global Community
Nadia Kist, Blood:Water’s Director of Africa Programs, recently attended the global AIDS conference where she learned that HIV and COVID-19 have an even greater overlap than previously expected. For starters, the fact that so many people require immediate attention adds a large burden to health systems around the globe, many of which are not even equipped for their existing needs. Coronavirus has presented a situation none of us expected or know what to expect from, so we are still learning how it will impact greater issues that were already being faced.
A Glimpse Into What Our Partners Are Up To
As our partners continue to work diligently to adapt to the challenges of COVID-19, we wanted to share some insight and updates about how a couple of them are doing these days.
Her Whole Life Was Transformed
If we need any proof that long-lasting change is capable through our love and commitment to helping one another, Anna is a standing testament that miracles do happen.
Overcoming the Fear of Not Enough
The Kingdom of God is open handed. It is not a land of hoarders and collectors. It is not a place where anyone wonders if they will have something to eat while others die under the weight of their bloated indulgences. It is a grandiose vision of God’s kingdom, and perhaps in the “already-and-not-yet” spectrum of this vision, we feel like we are more on the side of “not-yet.” Still, the abundance of God’s kingdom is here already. We have it all around us. We are sinking in it.
To All of God’s Children, We Are With You
Blood:Water exists because we believe that all human beings were created in God’s image and deserve basic rights: freedom, health, common decency, and tolerance just to name a few. Partnering with sub-Saharan African grassroots organizations, we can sometimes feel distant from the racial issues prevalent here in the US, but we have seen how stigma and prejudice of disease, poverty, and identity can impact people’s lives at the most atomic and subatomic levels. We are just as responsible as any other organization or person for making the world a better place for everyone starting at an individual level. Therefore, we condemn the acts of injustice perpetrated every day against Black Americans, whether intentional or not, systemic or overt, historic or current, in the US or abroad.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
-John 13:34
Exciting Updates from the Field
We are so grateful for your support even in these difficult times and for the incredible work of our partners, so we wanted to give you a little update on how each of them are doing amidst the COVID-19 crisis as it grows in Africa.