NGWREF awards $40,000 to developing nations’ projects

Four projects in Haiti, Malawi, the Philippines, and Uganda will receive a total of $40,000 for the purpose of helping populations have safe drinking water, the National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation announced today.

The NGWREF Developing Nations Fund provides small assistance grants to benefit the quality of life for people in developing economies around the world without access to plentiful supplies of potable groundwater.

Following are the grant awards.

Engineers Without Borders-USA, Philadelphia Professional Chapter. EWB-Philly’s Water for Life project focuses on the community of Apatut, located in the Balaoan municipality of the province of La Union, Philippines. The goal of the project is to provide an equitably distributed potable water source to the 800 residents and the 300 school children in Apatut. NGWREF is providing a $14,000 grant that will be used for groundwater source development (deep well drilling), pumping, treatment, storage, and gravity distribution to provide water for this community.

Haiti Mission Inc. The goal of Haiti Mission is to bring potable water to within 500 feet of each family in the area of Jeremie, Haiti. The Foundation is providing a $5,000 grant to help fulfill this mission. Lloyd Duplantis, an NGWA Honorary Award winner, accepted the gift on behalf of Haiti Mission and said, “HMI is proud to represent the best of what NGWREF stands for, especially as it pertains to freshwater well drilling in developing nations.”

Hope 2 One Life Inc. A 2011 and 2013 Developing Nations grant recipient, Hope 2 One Life has received another grant, this time for $9,475 for a groundwater development project at the Lairobe Village and Moroto West area in the Palabek District in northern Uganda. The wells funded by this grant will provide potable community groundwater supplies to more than 400 village residents and farmers, replacing surface waters and mudholes.

Mzuzu University Centre of Excellence in Water and Sanitation. The grant to Mzuzu University in northern Malawi will be the first educational and training program to be funded by the Foundation’s Developing Nations Fund. The $11,525 grant will fund a five-day conference targeted toward drillers, pump installers, government employees, and students. Instructors will teach skills in proper well construction, ethics, drilling fluid application, and project sustainability.

To learn more, click here to visit the NGWREF Developing Nations Fund web page.

NGWREF, founded in 1994 as an IRS-approved public charity, is operated by the National Ground Water Association as a 501(c)(3) public foundation focused on conducting educational, research, and other charitable activities related to a broader public understanding of groundwater.

NGWA, a nonprofit organization composed of U.S. and international groundwater professionals — contractors, equipment manufacturers, suppliers, scientists, and engineers — is dedicated to advancing groundwater knowledge. NGWA’s vision is to be the leading groundwater association that advocates the responsible development, management, and use of water.