Snapshots of a Transformational WASH Partnership in Action: Three Stories from the Field
Impact stories arising from the partnership between Kohler Company and Asia P3 Hub, World Vision International
When schools, families and communities gain access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH), it supports their right to education and empowers them to live healthier, more productive lives.
Asia P3 Hub recently announced a strategic partnership with Kohler to bring safe water, hygiene and sanitation to schools in Asia-Pacific, leveraging on the work of its existing partnership with the company.
In December 2018, Phearak Svay, our Senior WASH and Partnership Advisor, conducted a field visit to Indonesia along with our partner, Kohler, and received updates from our World Vision (WV) teams on-the-ground in Malaysia and Vietnam on existing projects as well as the new multi-country school project. Here are three stories that show how our partnership is already changing the lives of children and communities in Asia-Pacific.
Ende, Indonesia
For school principal Remigius Li at the SD Wologeru school located in Randoria village, it is a point of pride that other teachers have been coming into their school to take photographs of the water system and handwashing stations that his students are now benefiting from and trying to replicate the success of the initiative. The school acting as a role model to nearby schools is an unexpected benefit of the work undertaken by Kohler engineer, James Bourne from Kohler’s Innovation for Good Program, who spent two months in 2018 working with the school and communities to design and construct three group handwashing stations and one individual handwashing station. The impact of the work on the children at the school is impressive, and it’s also being used by Asia P3 Hub and its partner, Wahana Visi Indonesia, as a model and scaled to two nearby schools.
Jean Gong, Senior Manager — Internal Communications & Stewardship, Kitchen & Bath Group, Kohler was able to hear from the students firsthand how the project has impacted on their lives already. “The wellness of the children has improved, and this project is helping to keep children in school,” she shared. “The most important thing for me is to see them smiling.”
Foundational work has also been completed at SDI Niosanggo and SDK Pisatanau Schools, including the formation of committee, survey and identification of ground water source, site for toilets and solid waste disposal. The project will benefit all 222 students in both remote schools, and leverage the work of the Area Program (AP) currently funded by WV Singapore. In SDK Pisatanau School, the AP will construct a water supply system to supply water to the village, while the project will support pipe connection from the main water storage tank to the school.
Dien Bien, Vietnam
At Then Pa Kindergarten, in one of most remote villages in Muong Cha district, teachers used to get unfiltered water from the mountain through a plastic pipe, that wasn’t safe for drinking. Now 48 children from 2 to 5 years old line up to fill their cups with clean drinking water from the Kohler Clarity water filter. “We’ve never used water filters like this before,” shares teacher Ms. Luong Thi Minh. “Children can now drink cleaner water, even in the rainy season.”
In 2018, Kohler Company donated 1,000 water filters to 6 districts in Dien Bien and Hoa Binh provinces. 720 water filters and 40 replacement core filters have been distributed to families and kindergartens in Dien Bien Province, providing them with clean, safe drinking water. 280 water filters will be distributed in Jan 2019 Hoa Binh province.
Mukim Tulid, Malaysia
Kohler Company donated 12 Kohler Clarity Water filters to our partners World Vision Malaysia to distribute to most vulnerable children (MVC) and their families in Mukim Tulid. The Clarity filters have already had an impact on the lives of these children and their families, reducing the time spent buying water, the cost of buying water, and effectively filtering water that was murky or sandy and unsafe to drink.
10 year old Christy lives with her grandmother, mother and five siblings, and her grandmother supports the family with a small allowance from the government. She and her older sister were identified as slow learners, and even though she is able to attend a special needs school, financial challenges due to the distance to the school have prevented her from attending school. The household uses water from gravity-fed water system that is connected to the kitchen, but the water is often cloudy or sandy and isn’t safe for drinking.
Christy’s family were delighted to receive the Kohler Clarity Water Filtration System, and to have access to drink clean water without worry of getting ill from drinking sandy water.
A month after the filter was installed, the filter is very effectively separating water and sand particles. Christy’s younger siblings happily show off how to obtain clean water from the tap to drink.
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