We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Just a Drop, an international water aid organisation that works to support water, health and sanitation projects around the world.
Just a Drop has helped over one million people in over 30 countries. Known for its work raising money to build wells and rainwater harvesting systems, and carry out health and sanitation programmes, Just a Drop recognises that providing a sustainable supply of water underpins economic growth, food and energy security. Working alongside communities and local partners, they ensure local people are trained in using and maintaining new water sources.
We recognise the importance of helping local communities and ensuring positive changes for our future. We are committed to sustainable development and have partnered with Just a Drop to support projects in Bolivia, Uganda, India, Kenya and Cambodia. These projects have provided local communities and schools a better chance at a healthy future.
In addition to donating funds to ensure project targets are met, we also focus on fundraising days and activities led by our staff. These have included a sponsored climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in 2016.
Why water matters?
- A child dies every two minutes from a water-related disease
- Dirty water is the biggest killer of children under the age of five
- 844 million people globally don’t have access to clean water. That’s one in 10 people
- Women and children walk on average 6km a day in search of water. These journeys can be dangerous, with women and children at risk of abduction, rape and animal attack
- One third of the world’s population, 2.3 billion people, do not have access to adequate sanitation
- A lack of water has an impact on food production
- Clean water empowers women and whole communities
Just a Drop…
- Is a water aid organisation founded in 1998 by Fiona Jeffery OBE
- Have completed over 180 projects globally, reaching more than 1.3 million people in over 30 countries
- Provide sustainable clean water and suitable sanitation solutions to communities in need
- Work closely with and advises local partners and communities
- Train and educate local communities to fulfil a healthy and hygienic lifestyle, and monitor the facilities for a minimum of seven years after project completion
Hayes & Jarvis…
- Has donated over £100,000 to Just a Drop since launching our partnership in 2009
- Has sponsored eight projects: one in Bolivia, one in Uganda, two in India and four in Kenya, benefitting over 6,000 people in local communities
- Visited one of our projects in Kenya, at Miangeni Secondary School. A team of five staff members officially opened the school’s new rainwater harvesting tank and spent time with the students and teachers
- Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro! The same team went on to complete a sponsored climb in 2016, raising £10,000 which supported our latest project in Kenya
Our eighth project: Kiteta Secondary School, Kenya – 2017
Our eight Just a Drop project has provided a water tank to a school located in a rural area of Kenya, attended by 550 pupils. Funds for this project were raised through our team’s sponsored climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. Previously, Kiteta Secondary School had a very difficult situation with water supply as the nearest borehole was too salty, so the school had to buy fresh water which was very costly. The water tank will provide a year-round supply of clean water and the water, sanitation and hygiene education will include hand-washing facilities plus education in hand-washing, food hygiene and latrine use.
Sponsored climb of Mount Kilimanjaro – 2016
Five Hayes & Jarvis team members completed a sponsored climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania which raised £10,000 for Just a Drop. The team spent five gruelling days trekking and camping, battling freezing temperatures and extreme altitude, before reaching the “Roof of Africa” on 03 October 2016.
Our seventh project: Ngomano DEB Primary School, Kenya – 2016
Following the success of our sixth project, we decided to support the construction of another water tank at a school in Kenya, attended by 371 pupils. This provided a water supply to a school located in a typically arid area, where there was very limited access to a regular or a fresh water supply. The benefits to the new water tank include: healthier children, who no longer have to drink unsafe water; more time spent at school, focusing on their studies; improved sanitation and hygiene at the school.
Visiting Miangeni Secondary School – 2015
In March 2015, we visited our sixth Just a Drop project, spending time with pupils and teachers from the Miangeni Secondary School in Kenya. The team were treated to a warm welcome, including dance performances, lunch and a walk to the school’s local water source. This visit had such an impact on the team, that they later decided to complete a sponsored climb of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Just a Drop.
Our sixth project: Miangeni Secondary School, Kenya – 2015
Our sixth project saw us return to Africa to support in the construction of a rainwater harvesting tank and hygiene programme at a secondary school in a rural area of Kenya. This school is attended by over 120 students aged 14-18 years old who previously were required to attend school with five litres of water each day, for drinking, washing and cooking. This usually meant walking up to five kilometres a day to source water – a journey that was often dangerous. The school’s water harvesting tank now provides a year-round supply of water, meaning the pupils can spend more time at school, focusing on their studies.
Our fifth project: Mahadalit Tola, India – 2014
This project provided a toilet complex and a sanitation and hygiene awareness scheme to a remote location of India’s Vaishili District. This helped a community of 40 households and 250 people who were previously suffering from the sanitation crisis. Before, open defecation was a socially accepted practice and human waste scattered the village, attracting flies and spreading diseases such as diarrhoea and typhoid. Also for privacy, many women and girls would leave their homes early in the morning or late at night to relieve themselves in the fields. This practice would leave them vulnerable to attack. The toilet block has dramatically changed the lives of those living in the community, particularly the women and girls.
Our fourth project: Seethapuram, India – 2013
This rural farming village was typical of so many small community villages throughout India as it had a very limited supply of poor quality water and a lack of toilet facilities. The project saw the construction of two male and two female toilet cubicles plus two water storage tanks, benefitting 377 people, including a school of 200 pupils that had previously had access to just two toilets for the entire school. As a result, the locals now have access to safe sanitation facilities and sufficient clean drinking water and have been educated on its benefits. The community has seen improved health, including a reduction in skin infection, malaria and diarrhoea. This has led to an increase in productivity as adults are able to spend more time working and children are missing less days of school.
Our third project: Thome and Kiibi Primary Schools, Kenya – 2012
Previously, many pupils at these schools had to walk up to eight kilometres a day to attend and were plagued with unreliable, often unsafe, water supplies and toilet facilities. With frequent clean water shortages and large numbers of boys and girls sharing just a handful of latrines between them, pupils were vulnerable to water and hygiene related illnesses. The project provided two rainwater harvesting systems to produce clean drinking water, a block of eight latrines and two urinals for the boys and a block of eight latrines for the girls, all complete with hand washing facilities, benefitting 1,500 pupils and teachers. The schools have also established WASH (Water and Sanitation Hygiene) clubs to educate pupils in the practice of safe water and hygiene.
Our second project: Mpigi District, Uganda – 2011
Our first project in Africa significantly improved the supply of clean water and sanitation for around 1,350 people spread across five villages, providing water jars, latrines, three wells and hygiene education to the local community members.
Our first project: Nueva Esperanza, Bolivia – 2010
The village of Nueva Esperanza (New Hope) in the tropical fresh water lake area of Rojoaguado and was regularly blighted by severe disease-spreading floods. It is home to 260 villagers, nearly half of which were children – the main victims of a lack of access to clean water due to their vulnerability to water-borne diseases such as dysentery and cholera. Our very first sponsored Just a Drop project provided a clean water supply through two new wells and hand pumps.
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