The Water Works Program is a truly unique opportunity for organisations to get involved with a worthwhile cause at the same time as participating in a fantastic team-building and learning opportunity.
In a nutshell, this program enables ordinary people across the world to get involved in building and donating a water filtration system that will effectively increase the health and well-being of an entire community.
Why not check out our video to find out more:
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE PROGRAM?
The most popular format of our activity is the “Multiplier” activity:
- Usually, attendees arrive with no idea what they’re going to be doing together. We like it that way because when we reveal what we’re doing together it’s an eye-opening experience.
- Within the multiplier version of the activity, each team will walk away knowing that they have sponsored two life-saving water systems being donated to someone in desperate need on the other side of the world.
- Each person gets an opportunity to work in a team to assemble a compact emergency water filtration unit which will be sent to a household living in a specific refugee camp in Northern Uganda.
- There are 14 parts that are assembled in a particular way to build that emergency kit and success is dependent on all participants taking a collaborative and customer-centric approach.
- Teams typically default to competing against each other which makes for good fun, but also a number of behaviours which can be debriefed later.
- Once each team has built their emergency filtration unit, they pack it up inside the box that will be used to ship it all the way to Uganda (after our team performs some quality checks).
- The team then goes to work on the second part of their task – their household water filtration system sponsorship.
- Each team has an opportunity to design an artwork slate which will be reproduced on the other side of the world and used to decorate an ADDITIONAL water filtration system which is then donated to an established household on your behalf.
HOW DO OUR FILTRATION SYSTEMS FIND THEIR WAY TO PEOPLE IN NEED?
- Each filtration system is delivered by our charity partner Lifewater. They are an amazing group of people who not only ensure that our filtration systems are delivered free of charge, but that each recipient family is taught how to use their filtration system at a thorough training event. They also identify how to identify and fix any of the most common problems that might occur with their system.
- We distribute two types of water filtration systems as part of this program. Emergency systems are compact and portable and have been designed specifically to enable emergency crews to respond quickly to natural disasters and prevent avoidable outbreaks of disease during such circumstances. Household systems are much larger and are designed to be remain in the same place for a long period of time – for household, school or health centre use. These are far less portable but are ideal for long-term use. Both emergency and static systems last for 2 years however emergency systems are a little less robust and can be damaged if they are not well cared for.
- During the distribution process we help the local community establish a committee which then oversees the use of all water systems and their maintenance. Having local people driving the process ensures a level of ownership and is a much more sustainable approach.
- Although Water Works activity participants typically donate just two filtration systems at a time, our charity partners only help one Village at a time. Essentially, they wait until we have donated a sufficient number of filtration units for each specific village in need before they then go into that village. This is a really important aspect of the process as it ensures that the community can move forward together in the right spirit. There’s limited risk of jealousy or temptation and in every sense the overall impact of all donations is far greater because they are made together than if they were made individually.
HOW DO I TRACK MY SPONSORSHIP?
- Each team receives a unique “Story Number” which acts in a similar way to a courier tracking system.
- That Story Number enables participants to track the progress of their gift across the world. They will get to see when their filtration unit is assembled, when it is quality tested and most importantly they will not only get to see where the family or village that receives the unit is based and when they receive the unit, they even get to see a photo of each and every family that receives a household filtration system.
- The journey that each team’s filtration system goes on is tracked via a cutting-edge website called 3 Billion Stories.
- Each Story Number on 3 Billion Stories can store 2 photos: a photo of the team that donated the filtration system; and a photo of the end recipient.
- During our programs, teams are encouraged to email us a photo of their team along with their unique Story Number.
- Once we receive your photos we upload them to 3 Billion Stories and change the status of your donation to “Sponsored”
- At any time, participants can then revisit the website to see what the status of their gift is.
- Eventually, they will not only see a picture of the recipients of their donation, they will also see a copy of their artwork stuck on the side of the kit they donated.
WHY SHOULD I GET INVOLVED?
- First and foremost, we believe that our program makes good business sense. Even if we weren’t transforming an entire community via our donations, we still believe it would be a worthwhile pursuit for any business to consider.
- We believe that there are very few learning programs that are as powerful, memorable, or effective as the Water Works Program. On that basis alone, provided your company has learning objectives that are consistent with the strengths of this program we believe you should certainly consider proceeding.
- The core learning objectives of most programs include new insights about collaboration, customer-orientation and purpose driven work.
- In addition, there are a large range of learning outcomes that can be targeted effectively during this program:
- Quality-orientation
- Authentic leadership
- Leading change
- Engagement
- Importance of planning
- Mindfulness at work
WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY IN TOUCH AND RECEIVE UPDATES ABOUT OUR PROGRESS?