What is a Water Brigade?
Water Brigades' mission is to empower communities to access
sufficient clean water through infrastructural development, water
treatment, community leader training, and education. Water
Brigades Volunteers assist in designing and implementing
water systems to prevent water related illnesses in communities
with limited access to clean water. With a sufficient quantity of
properly treated water community members can cut off the
connection between water and illness and ultimately live
healthier more productive lives. In-country team members work
with community leaders to design large scale water systems for
the entire community. Once planning and design is complete,
volunteers work side-by-side with community members to
construct the water system. Additionally Water Brigades and its
volunteers provide education and training so that the community
can properly administer, operate, and maintain their water
system. A Water Council and Basic Sanitation Committee are
established in communities to ensure the sustainability of the
community’s system as well as to improve sanitation and
hygiene practices. In collaboration with Public Health Brigades,
Microfinance Brigades, and the Global Brigades Honduras
Research & Evaluation team, WB is working to identify
communities with the most need. With a holistic approach to
development we plan to continue working with communities to
improve their health and standard of living through the most
fundamental resource on the planet, water.
Volunteers do not need water engineering experience prior to a Water Brigade, as they will be working directly with our on the
ground engineers throughout the building of the water system. The engineers will guide the volunteers on proper building
practices and safety precautions during the building of the water system, while also educating the volunteers on the initial design, the long-term sustainability, and workings of the system.
Brigade Length & Logistics
The Water Brigade is for 7-9 days in Honduras. Interested Water Chapters will work with a Global Brigades Advisor to select their brigade dates and book their airfare through Global Brigades' travel partners. Each Chapter then fundraises for the program contribution and airfare needed for the brigade. Upon arrival in Honduras, Global Brigades staff pickup students from the airport and transport students to a safe and secure lodging facility where they will be lodged throughout the duration of the brigade. Each day volunteers and staff commute to and from the community to provide workshops and consulting. All meals, in-country transportation, coordinators, translators, and supplies are provided during the brigade.
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Eleni Hadjigeorgiou
Imperial College London -
Kelly
University of Virginia -
Dennis Ting Teck Wah
Imperial College London
Meet Eleni
Water Brigades Volunteer to Ghana
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
"Everything was perfect during our mission in Ghana and be reassured that it involved all kind of miserable moments: lunchtime crankiness; the exhausted friend on your shoulder trying to get an extra 10min sleep on the bumpy minivan route to the community, the hard work that made your hands and feet bleed and blister all over; the bitter disappointment of not managing to finish the super- optimistic purpose of your mission, leaving the finish up work to another group. Nonetheless this was part of the beauty of the experience and I wouldn’t take any of it back. My regrets: I wish my heart was bigger so it could fit all the children of Srafa Aboano. I wish I had more hands so I could build a water tank for each household in the community. I wish I could speak Fante so I could have made a better use of the few precious hours we had to feed the children’s hungry eyes for knowledge with what is essential to bit their odds of life spam. I wish that I hadn’t left Srafa Aboano. I wish there were more young people with us to share this experience...
Volunteering today has nothing to do with philanthropy as it did decades ago. Analogically we take more than we give and since giver and receiver cannot be distinguished there is equality between them both. This is the beauty of volunteering in oppose to philanthropy; we cannot look down to other people because in some ways are less fortunate than us. In the process of enabling them to help themselves through sharing our skills and knowledge at the same time we grow as individuals and personas and acquire new skills."
Meet Kelly
Water Brigades Volunteer to Ghana
University of Virginia, United States
"...being in Ghana felt normal, and I cannot say I have ever heard that before. “Come to Ghana, they’re normal, but still could use some help.” This holds so much truth. I just felt like I was helping a neighbor that needed a hand. Granted that neighbor may be across the Atlantic Ocean and may not speak the same language as me, but those are just minor details. The idea of solidarity, not charity, perfectly represents how we must view these interactions. The people of Ghana made this experience absolutely amazing. Even when we casually encountered people during door-to-doors, they were always so interested by what we said. That feeling of genuine curiosity and care is absolutely refreshing."
Meet Dennis
Water Brigades Volunteer to Ghana
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
"We spent a total of 4 days in the community helping the Water Brigade build their project. Like any construction project, it was hard and tiring work but it was truly motivating just to be around (and sometimes work alongside) the people there who were always in high spirits despite having to cope with their water issues.
Although the community looked just like any other undeveloped rural town at first glance, it was actually quite an amazing experience just to be there. It was interesting to see how the people there did common things in a culturally different way: from the crops they harvested and how they did it to the kinds of animals they reared and how they handled them. Being there and seeing the people make the best with what little they have really makes you appreciate all the conveniences that we often(sadly) take for granted."
