Back to Winter 2012 Newsletter
Global Water Brigades (GWB) is a program under Global Brigades, the largest student-led, non-profit, sustainable development organization in the world. Global Brigades works on a holistic model with disciplines in water, public health, medical, dental, architecture, environmental, law, business, and micro-finance. Students across the U.S., and around the world, start chapters at their universities to mobilize students in projects that empower rural areas in Honduras, Panama, and Ghana to improve their conditions. Water Brigades specifically develops clean water solutions for rural Honduras and Ghana. Throughout the school year, GWB discuss and assess the community. Then, over spring break, the group goes to actually build the water system. GWB work alongside community members and make a one day educational presentation to the local school about the importance of clean water. The UA chapter began in September 2010. Last year, UA only had water and medical disciplines as Global Brigades chapters on campus. Now there are two medical groups, dental, public health and business; and a law brigade is starting.
GWB-UA’s first brigade traveled to the rural community of El Canton, Honduras during spring break, March 2011. El Canton had no sustainable access to clean water for their 500 residents. Mothers and children had to walk 2-3 miles up and down hills to the water source, but the water source was contaminated. There was a water system that was started several years ago, but government stopped funding, so this community had an un-finished system. Before spring break, GWB-UA spent the months preparing for the project by educating themselves about the importance of clean water and how it affects the community. They spent three days in El Canton meeting with the Community Health Council so that they could hear what the local community wanted out of this project. During that time, volunteers developed the water system by digging about 300 meters of trench and connecting pipes in the trenches they built. On the 4th day in the community, GWB-UA made a presentation in the local classroom on how to protect their watershed.
This spring break, March 2012, GWB-UA is going to be traveling back to Honduras to finish the water system in El Canton by setting up the last stages of purification. Once the Water Brigade works with a community, public health, medical, dental, and all other brigades follow. GWB has advisors and water brigades staff in Honduras working and accessing communities year-round. Communities are ranked by the need of the water system and the accessibility of the project. They do not know whether they will be going back to El Canton next year or whether they will be assigned to work in a new community to begin constructing a new system.
Interested students and faculty should check out GWB’s official website: http://www.globalbrigades.org/programs/water/objective/. The UA chapter also maintains a Facebook page for their club updates: https://www.facebook.com/globalwaterbrigadesua. Interested people can also email GWB-UA’s Co-President, Camille Sabino, at arizona.gwb@globalbrigades.org.