Category: Tanzania

Kenya and Tanzania

Agua Viva is preparing to construct possibly our most challenging installations. These will take place in Kenya and Tanzania, Africa. The construction work and education will be led and performed by a team of In-Country partners. Mbaja Wagomen and Kashindi Charles from Mwanza, Tanzania, will lead the Health & Hygiene Education. Selemani Shabani, from Bunju-A, Tanzania, will lead the installation of the water purification system. Benard Ondiek, at Benard’s Vision Orphanage, has completed preparations of the water room which will house the system in Wacharra.

The equipment was shipped from Kansas City in a container to Chicago, then by rail to Nova Scotia, then by boat to Dubai and then to the port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Woo Hoo 🎉! What a trip!

Recently, Agua Viva purchased 60 beautiful water dispensers for each African installation site. The children were ecstatic to see the bright clean containers and they are looking forward to purified drinking water that will fill them up soon!

The newly completed water room at Wacharra, Kenya, that will soon house the water purification system. They are planning to paint “Agua Viva” on the big white wall in Luo, which is the native language in that area. It translates to “Pi Ngima”. How cool is that?

2016 Year in Review

Writing this post it is hard not to get emotional! God has done so much through this organization, touched so many lives, decreased disease and malnutrition risks for so many children as well as brought us into new uncharted territories! We could never have dreamed 6 years ago that installing one little water purification system at an orphanage in Guatemala would have birthed such an impact just 6 years later.  Agua Viva is reaching more and more poor communities and our capability is expanding rapidly. Our volunteers just got back from Ecuador on September 23 and are now packing for our next trip to Honduras on October 22nd. It is amazing that our Volunteers are able to serve so many people in so many different countries.  “Clean drinking water” truly is a universal necessity! Below is a quick recap of all we have accomplished in 2016.

Guatemala

This year, 10 Agua Viva Volunteers provided our first full installation in an orphanage in Huehuetenago, Guatemala. One hundred orphans are now drinking purified water, literally, for the first time in their lives. It was an amazing trip. Agua Viva provided health, hygiene, and dental care training to a full house of new teachers. Our friends were surprised to see that we came equipped with two “full blown” dentists with a full complement of equipment, materials, and supplies. They are already selling water! It is a real joy to see these concrete results so quickly!

Ecuador

In Ecuador, Curt Mader is leading our next volunteer group to a large school in Pomachaca, Ecuador. The school is beautiful and it is hard to believe that these 500 children have never been taught the importance of clean drinking water; nor have they had the opportunity to drink it. Agua Viva has been so blessed in Ecuador. We have our largest of group of in-country volunteers there and we have very strong group of leaders there are committed to serving the poor.

Honduras

To top it off, we have a large volunteer group headed to Quisgualagua, Honduras, on October 22, 2016. Again, we are providing water purification systems, education, and dental services. And, yes, we are taking precautions against the Zika virus! This is undoubtedly one of the poorest areas we have served. In cooperation with the Methodist Church, Agua Viva will be providing our very first installation in Honduras, just 10 miles from Nicaragua.

Tanzania, Africa

In April of this year, Agua Viva sent a small team to Zinga, Tanzania. In a brand new children’s hospital, Agua Viva signed a covenant and agreed to provide a water purification system there in 2017. This will expand Agua Viva to three continents! That is a big step. There are lots of new challenges there but one thing is NOT different; their need for pure clean ozonated water. Can you imagine a “hospital” with no clean water? Well, we are going to fix that!

Kenya, Africa

The same team visited two orphanages in Kenya. We have great opportunity there and we hope to return… soon… We are building relationships there and we have 1,000 orphans waiting for Agua Viva to grow enough to respond to the needs. One thousand people died in this area in January of this year from Cholera… a water borne disease.

Please, please, please… if you have not already purchased tickets to our Annual Agua Viva Celebration please do so now by clicking on this link: www.aguavivainternational.org. 100% of the proceeds will go directly toward bringing clean water to those in need!

Africa 2017

Agua Viva is blazing a new trail into Africa.  Last year, Agua Viva performed site investigations in Kenya and Tanzania.  After careful consideration and prayer, Zinga, Tanzania was selected for first installation in Africa.

We had ten outstanding volunteers attending our first Training Session on Saturday, February 11, 2017.  With this great group of volunteers, our team leaves for Africa and our new friends in Zinga are very excited about having clean pure ozonated water in their new Children’s Hospital.  Agua Viva was invited to this hospital by International Health Partners and they have recently begun construction of a new birthing center and neonatal care unit.  It is hard to believe they have no clean drinking water at this hospital!!  But, not for much longer.

Tanzania is a very interesting country.  One half of the population is Christian and one half is Muslim and they live together in relative peace.  What a great world model for living!  Women frequently do not have an opportunity for prenatal care in Tanzania and this new hospital will provide a great resource to Muslim and Christian women alike to have healthy children and successful birthing experiences.

This is also a great opportunity for Agua Viva.  We are expanding our influence into a new continent and country, we are installing purified water in our first hospital, and Agua Viva is modifying the standard board to operate with 240 Volt, 50 Cycle Power.

We love the children!  They need clean drinking water more than anyone as they are developing and their immune systems are often weak from malnutrition.

Exciting New Expansion into Africa

We at Agua Viva are often asked how we determine where our next installation will be and honestly the best answer is… “We go wherever we believe God is calling us to go”.  All of the members of the Agua Viva team would agree that thus far we have been faithful to this calling and now we believe God is opening the door for Agua Viva to expand into Africa.

Call it a miracle or call it a coincidence, a huge opportunity to provide clean drinking water in Tanzania and Kenya has blossomed.

Tanzania, Africa:

Through a series of events, which began with the amazing Miranga Tree and a host of new relationships in Africa, we have begun a wonderful partnership with Paula and Dennis Lofstrom of the International Health Providers (IHP). Paula and Dennis have invited Agua Viva to install a water purification system at one of IHP’s brand new hospitals in Zinga, Tanznaia.  The hospital is under construction now and our qualification team will be headed to Tanzania in April 2016.

This hospital in Zinga will provide the first opportunity for thousands of women in Tanzania to obtain hospital care! This new installation will give all the women, children and babies who use this hospital access to pure ozonated water. This new installation will also bring about unique opportunities for the Agua Viva team to educate and empower women in the community through health and sanitation education. Needless to say… we are very excited!

Kenya, Africa:

Just in case we were not excited enough another opportunity has appeared.  During our qualification visit to Tanzania, our team will be visiting two large orphanages in Kinsumu, Kenya.  Both orphanages have over 400 orphaned children and none have ever had clean drinking water.  Largely due to the efforts of Jack Finley, Colby Kinser (Grace Fellowship Church), and Justin Bothwell (www.hungry4Him.org), the Agua Viva Qualification Team will drive through the Masai Mar Big Game Reservation in Kenya to these remote orphanages in Ahero and Washara, Kenya.   This is yet another amazing adventure as we follow God’s calling to bring Pure Clean Ozonated Water to Africa.

Thank you for all your support, prayers and encouragement as we continue to follow our mission to bring pure ozonated water, health and sanitation education and the love of God to our brothers and sisters abroad!

The Agua Viva Team