Viva con Agua Uganda

My name is Latim Nobert (28), born and raised in Kampala, Uganda. I work and study in Germany. I am part of an international network of people and organizations, fighting for clean water with creativity and the universal language of arts.

I never thought that my knowledge of the German language would open up such a big opportunity. In 2012, representatives of an NGO called Viva con Agua (VCA) visited Uganda and inspired me to start something impactful for my community as well.

After an internship at VCA Germany, I decided to found VCA Uganda, to empower and enable Ugandans to take sustainable development in their own hands. Founded in 2014, VCA Uganda supports access to clean water and sanitation in rural areas as well as hygiene education at schools.

I want to be part of transformative action for my community and get more people involved in collective cultural growth.

Our main focus is on access to clean water and sanitation for all people in Uganda and worldwide. Contaminated water is still one of the main reasons for diseases with partially deadly outcomes. Diarrhea should not be a deadly disease in 2020.

Sustainable development requires much more than a borehole for clean water. VCA Uganda provides the hardware always in combination with the software.

- drilling boreholes, building sanitation facilities in schools and villages.

- installing dry compost toilets and sustainable recycling systems.

- investing in hygiene training and education.

- increasing efforts on menstruational hygiene and female empowerment.

VCA Uganda creates impact through collaboration, gaining revenues from creative campaigns, investing in Uganda. More than 100.000 people in the country are direct beneficiaries from VCA water projects.

Elevating humanity by showcasing a collective sustainable development model that brings people and organizations together and empowers local initiatives in the Global South.

VCA Uganda is mainly supporting SDG6 (Sustainable Development Goal #6 – clean water, sanitation and hygiene).

In Uganda, only 49% of the population (42 million) has access to basic water supply, only 18% to basic sanitation and only 21% to a basic hygiene status.

Worldwide 579 million people have no access to improved sources of drinking water, 785 million are without basic drinking water supply. About 2 billion people live without access to basic sanitation.

Drilling boreholes and building toilets is not enough – hygiene education is the key – a change of behavior needs to be empowered. In order to achieve that, an impactful education program is required. This is where the power of arts comes into play. With football, painting, singing and dancing, it is so much easier to deliver a message and make it stick – not only with the kids, but also their parents and grandparents, as we empower the little ones to educate their families.

. Improving health: reliable access to clean water and sanitation.

. Empowering education: health results in more school attendance.

. Improving environment: reduction of environmental damage and waste.

. Empowering economic situation: raising the productivity in the community.

My project is Viva con Agua Uganda – the first official VCA chapter on the African continent. Founded by Ugandans to support access to clean water and sanitation for the community.

Schools are a fertile soil for sustainability and therefore our main focus. Only financial limits are holding us back from involving more schools and nurseries in the program.

Each school is an individual challenge, but always with a hardware and software component to it.

. building WASH facilities

. implementing maintenance and monitoring system

. providing hygiene trainings and education.

. empowering local experts.

Our program is called Universal Language Approach (ULA) – using art, music and sports to speak, learn and grow together. We are educating the young ones in playful ways with basic WASH drills to convey hygiene messages, addressing the youths with football, music and dancing, while creating opportunities for local creatives to participate in international collaborations. All connected through the power of arts.

Just like all the other crews and chapters of VCA around the world, VCA Uganda is focused on local, smart and sustainable solutions, running its own campaigns and agenda.

VCA Uganda primarily serves schools and communities in rural areas by supporting the hygiene status. Each water project comes with a package of components, aiming at the ultimate sustainability.

. a nearby water source saves time every day, enabling children to attend school constantly, raising the community's productivity and involving everyone in a collective maintenance and monitoring process.

. reducing the risk of partially deadly diseases due to contaminated water.

. preventing disease outbreaks by raising the health standards.

. societal and behavioral change through hygiene education – school kids taking the message home – educating their families.

. empowering local experts and workers.

The water source is bringing the community closer together, propelling exchange between families, inspiring people to get involved in sustainable development.

We have recently expanded our efforts to schools in low income urban areas in Kampala, opening more room for ULA (Universal Language Approach), involving more art and creativity in our program. VCA Uganda is creating career and income opportunities for local artists, professionals and volunteers, strengthening local structures on the cultural sector.

Taking donation based development cooperation to the next level, empowering local initiatives, enabling collective structural and cultural growth.

''Water for all people'' can only be achieved collectively - from the drilling rig all the way to societal change.

VCA Uganda sends a message to the world by taking local challenges into local hands. Increasing the visibility of self-empowered organizations in the Global South. Shifting the focus in campaigning and communication to a more positive image of African cultures, portraying people in respectful ways.

We want to inspire people of other cultures to start their own initiatives and start collaborating.

My internship at VCA was my very first experience with an NGO. For 6 months I witnessed several inspiring events, some of them quite challenging. Nearly every day something new happens in the VCA cosmos - always speaking art, music and sports. Hundreds and thousands of people are involved in the most colorful campaigns imaginable - living todays values: diversity, equality, sustainability.

This touched me. I wanted something like this for Uganda. Something that people would be willing to be a part of, to the point that they were willing to push their physical and cultural boundaries for a cause. Those activities were the sparks that ignited the VCA Uganda fire that exists today.

After my internship, back in Uganda, I set up a meeting with about 20 people. Musicians, visual artists, dancers and sports personalities. VCA Uganda was formed.

I am passionate about VCA Uganda because of its emphasis on positive communication as opposed to what may be usually seen. For me this shows an appreciation and respect for the communities - the foundation of successful partnership.

Positive communication does not reduce people to their problems but shows their potential.

VCA is guided by four bacics assumptions or core values:

. development

. network

. potential

. joy

Any VCA project in any place is following the same code. I could instantly connect with the values and align them with my moral compass.

Another meaningful aspect is that VCA brings people together beyong all cultural barrieres. In my eyes only art and creativity can do that.

And of course, sustainability. I want NGO's operating in Uganda to work properly - I ensure it best, when I get involved myself.

I believe that my biggest asset is my moral compass. It is guiding my decision making by compassion, empathy and respect. While I have nothing to certify this, no certificate or signed document, I can only say that the ability to constantly empathize with all parties involved helps me perform my duties responsibly and respectfully.

I have studied German for over 9 years, which puts me in a good position to operate between different stakeholders from both Uganda and Germany. I want to use the structural benefits I came to learn about while in Germany to the benefits of people in Uganda.

My educational journey has also enriched me with the ability to lead processes and teams, giving me even more confidence at following my moral compass.

My biggest inspiration and motivation are the people of Uganda. I want to create opportunities for both people who were left behind and talented people who want to shoot for the stars.

When I made my bachelors degree in Social Sciences back in Uganda, I wasn't even thinking on a national scale - today I know that the only way to think and feel in our time is 'globally'.

Today I feel privileged to be in a position from where I can create something for others - doing it as an expert in Nonprofit Organizations Management (M.A.) - being home in both Uganda and Germany.

Starting VCA in Uganda was an individual decision. This wasn't part of the mother organization's plan and therefore for sometime support was limited. Though unemployed at the time, it was the least of my challenges. I had no knowledge on how to run an NGO besides what I learnt during the 6 months during my internship.

We started with a first T-Shirt which sold well and became the first source of income for VCA Uganda. Two months later we had our very first concert, which is now an annual music festival called "WE LOVE YOUGANDA". 

VCA is not just a network but also a family. I would describe my ability to overcome adversity to be only as strong as the connection between myself and the family.

I learnt of my leadership ability when I was leaving Uganda to pursue my master's degree in Germany in 2017. I lead the same way I live my life, with sympathy and empathy. I often ask the questions; is this good for the concerned? would I do this? do we all come out happy? I believe it's good to start from a utopian and ideal perspective.

From the first days of VCA Uganda I knew that football would be a key component. We started our Football4WASH campaign with almost no budget, making it work with recycled materials and collected gifts. It was important for VCA Uganda to have its own campaigns and programs in order to grow naturally. Today Football4WASH in Uganda is one of the most successful VCA campaigns in the Global South.

Group identity frequently finds its most concrete manifestation in a single, symbolic individual (Llamas and Watt, 2010).

VCA Uganda is one self-empowered chapter of an international collective of Viva con Agua entities and partners, consisting of NGOs, non-profit organizations, foundations, initiatives and social businesses.

Viva con Agua is a registered NGO in Kampala, Uganda.

The Viva con Agua success story is written by collaboration. We are aiming at benefits for all shareholders involved. Art, music and sports are not only the vehicles for our campaigning, but also key to our fundraising and even more in terms of brand cooperations. 

Art has taught us innovation. We are students of our own Universal Language Approach (ULA), taking on challenges using the power creativity. It has enabled us to campaign in impactful ways, attracting brands, sponsors as well as institutional support.

Today VCA is seen as an innovator on the cultural sector, attracting innovators from other domains such as technology, environmental protection and the gaming industry.

In times of corporate culture and social responsibility, VCA is a highly demanded partner and advisor for sustainable CSR efforts.

Education is key

We believe that access to education is key for self-empowerment and self-responsibility and therefore for facing today’s challenges. By providing a reliable WASH infrastructure, assisting in developing a health-related hygiene behavior including menstrual hygiene practices, VcA lays the foundation for a healthy and nurturing school environment which explicitly protects girls and strengthens their role within schools and communities.

Agents of change

In addition to reducing WASH-related pupil illness, WASH interventions at schools help reduce absenteeism in school, allowing for better educational outcomes and even influencing the health status of pupils’ families. We consider students as so-called agents of change who transfer the improved practices learned at school into their homes and communities. (Onyango-Ouma, Aagaard-Hansen & Jensen, 2005; O’Reilly et al., 2008; Blanton et al., 2010).

Our WASH@Schools programs and activities rely primarily on the use of the Universal Languages music, sport and art. We are convinced that a joyful approach bears a higher potential to bring a lasting change of behavior and confidence than methodologies that mostly rely on invoking guilt and shame.

Outcomes/Impact

Interventions which improve hand hygiene in schools, either in addition to other water and sanitation interventions or alone, can reduce diarrhea, pupil illness and pupil absence in schools (Nandrub-Bus, 2009; Taalat et al., 2011; Freeman et al., 2013) and improve educational outcomes (O’Reilly et al., 2008; Bowen et al., 2007; Freeman et al., 2012). Research also shows a reduction of illness among siblings of students under 5 years due to school-based WASH interventions (Blanton, Ombeki, Oluoch, Mwaki, Wannemuehler & Quick, 2010; Dreibelbis, Freeman, Greene, Saboori & Rheingans, 2014). School WASH interventions can interrupt pathogen transmission within the school environment and therefore prevent schoolkids from taking them back to their home (Cairncross, Blumenthal, Kolsky, Moraes & Tayeh, 96). 

Up to this date, we and our partners are serving approximately 350.000 people in the Global South - providing access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene services.

In Uganda, we and our partners are currently serving approximately 120.000 people.

In one year, we will be serving about the same number of people - due to COVID-19 and related factors, the implementation of new projects is limited.

In five years, we aiming at 360.000 people.

1. VCA Uganda becomes fully self sufficient. This will be an inspiring fete for not only VCA's network but also Uganda. A self-sufficient local organization will increase motivation and belief from local supporters. This is also a personal goal because it is one of the main reasons I started VCA Uganda. To create a local platform that will inspire local action.
2. We will cooperate with more local institutions to complement our WASH workshops with the necessary equipment: pit latrines, boreholes, rainwater harvesting and rainwater storage systems among others
3. VCA Uganda currently reaches at least 6 communities in Kampala which include schools. In 5 years we will reach at least 50 schools using our ULA and communicate topics often ignored like open defecation and menstrual hygiene. This will increase awareness among children about these topics and thus reduce cases of avoidable health diseases.

The fundraising power in Uganda is very low. While factors like a generally young and unemployed population plays a role, perhaps the biggest reason is the wrong perception about charity organizations being financially well endowed and a general lack of trust.

In order to increase our reach we need more funding more regularly. Due to our current situation we can only reach a handful of schools and communities.

The unpredictable planning due to Covid-19 is of course another challenge. Uganda's National disaster management awareness and preparedness implements a strict lockdown strategy right now. However the length of the current response and recovery still stays unclear.

1. Fundraising: We are strengthening our fundraising and revenue sources by applying for bigger international grants as well as institutional funding (UNESCO, GIZ, German Foreign Office)

2. Partnerships: VCA is an international brand of high cultural value with the potential to transform the common fundraising efforts in Uganda to a more social business oriented model with multiple benefits.

1. Welthungerhilfe (WHH): WHH is one of the oldest partners we have. It is a German NGO committed to creating a world without hunger and poverty. Our relationship is structured as seen below:
   1. Implementing partner hardware: We (particularly VCA Germany) concentrate on fundraising activities. These funds are then transferred to WHH who with their technical expertise use them to run the projects.
   2. Implementing partner software component: While WHH specialize in the hardware components of the projects. We complement them with soft skills necessary for the successful use of the facilities in place. Workshops on the 6 steps of handwashing, Football 4 WASH that discourages open defecation among other messages are just a few examples.
   3. Co designer: Together with WHH we design the projects to ensure that both hardware and software components complement each other to create the most optimal projects
2. GIZ: The German Development Cooperation is mostly a funding partner. They have supported our efforts in workshops and fundraising events like the WeLoveYouganda events and the World Water Day celebrations.
3. Visions for Children: A German organization that focuses on the promotion and long-term improvement of learning conditions and the quality of education at schools. We partner with them at the schools in which they are present to offer WASH workshops
4. Spouts: one of the more recent partners. Together with Spouts of Water we are coming developing  social business model around ceramic water filters.

VCA Uganda reaches out mostly to urban youth and school going children located in Kampala and surrounding areas. Most of these children come from low income earning families and are historically left behind. They live in areas with low quality sanitation facilities. This combination makes it of utmost importance to prevent avoidable hygiene related sicknesses or outbreaks by sensitizing the biggest demographic of these areas - the children. To effectively communicate with this demographic we use the following methods:

Universal Languages Approach (ULA): i.e. music, arts and sports. Includes music shows, art exhibitions, dance and sports workshops around WASH.

Football 4 WASH: Using exciting football drills to sensitize about WASH in schools and communities. Fun, play and learning to create health education using football.

Water Week: Themed around the World Water Day in March. Includes a caravan from Kampala to Karamoja with pop-up
events and WASH Workshops  en route.

Schools WASH: A combination of Football 4 WASH and ULA workshops in selected schools in Uganda themed through art, sports and music/dance.

With these workshops we are able to to share information often considered to be taboo topics like open defecation and menstruation. Through ULA these are packaged in more consumable ways. Also information like how to wash your hands goes a long way in preventing hygiene related diseases that can be costly to treat especially for a low income earning family.

VCA Germany obtains its funding from classic donations, merchandise sales, organising events like social art galleries and complements these with a social water business that offers long term financial stability. Our path to financial sustainability can be categorised into 3 groups similar to VCA Germany's:

1. The main path: This consists of donations and grants. We intend to continue obtaining funds from donations and grants in the years to come from sympathisers of our cause
2. Short term: This consists of merchandise sells, one time spontaneous events that are common place considering the vast creativity of our network. We will also consistently organize our annual WeLoveYouganda music festival and our Millerntor Gallery Kampala Art exhibition to raise further revenue.
3. Long term: Like VCA Germany we also believe in the power of social entrepreneurship. In at least 3 years we will have our very social business in ceramic water filters creating revenue and therewith an inflow of donations coming from the social business.

Donation:

We receive funding from the Viva con Agua Stiftung (foundation) in Germany. For privacy reasons, we cannot publish the names of our donors from the foundation. This makes up the biggest source of our funding at the moment. 35 000 USD.

The Water Walk: Unlike WLY and MTG. The Water Walk! has happened once. This was a group of activitists who walked from Kigali, Rwanda to Kampala, Uganda (500km) to fundraise for VCA Water Projects in 2017. 30 000 USD.

Revenue:

WeLoveYouganda (WLY) Festival: WLY has been happening annually since 2014. It is a music and Arts festival offering both entertainment and educational workshops. We generate revenue from tickets sales. 600 USD.

Millerntor Gallery (MTG) Kampala: Like WLY, MTG Kampala happens annually. This is an art exhibition in which various artists, international and local are invited to sell their works and donate a percentage of their sales to VCA Uganda projects. 300 USD.

Water filter social business Spouts of Water: By selling the ceramic water filter Purifaaya, the social business donates parts of the proceeds to VCA Uganda. 100 USD.

VCA Uganda is seeking USD 50.000 for the following projects

School 1: Busega, Rubaga Division, Kampala District

• Challenge: Access to clean water and sanitation for 950 pupils 
• Solution: Water tanks, handwashing facilities and incinerators 
• Funding: UGX 39.45m // EUR 9,863 // USD 11,076

School 2: Kabowa - Wankulukuku, Rubaga Division, Kampala District

• Challenge: Sanitation facillities for 240 pupilss
• Solution: 6-stance toilet facility
• Funding: UGX 39.77m // EUR 9,942 // USD 11,165

School 3: Busega Primary School

• Challenge: Access to clean water and sanitation for 400 pupils
• Solution: Underground borehole and a pumping system
• Funding: UGX 25.45m // EUR 6,350 // USD 7,131

School 4: Divine/KLA Grammar School

• Challenge: Sanitation facillities for 180 pupils
• Solution: 6-stance toilet facillity
• Funding: UGX 39.77m // EUR 9,942 // USD 11,165

Community: Skate Park, Uganda Skateboard Union

• Challenge: Acces to sanitation for 200 community members
• Solution: 6 stance drainable toilet
• Funding: UGX 24m // EUR 6,000 // USD 6,738

This funding can come in form of donations and grants.

VCA Uganda estimated expenses for 2020                     

Personell: 57,092 USD
Infrastructure: 56,049 USD
Material: 29,493 USD
Travel costs: 32,431 USD
Service: 51,973 USD
Total: 227,038 USD

Project Related breakdown structure of the expenses:

Administration: 57,406.26 USD
Finance and Admin: 23,028.27 USD
Organisation Development: 34,377.99 USD
Marketing: 10,266.05 USD
Marketing and communication: 10,266.05 USD
Indirectly project related ULA: 95,277.08 USD
Internal ULA activities (WLY, ACW, W4W, NWT): 35,141.87 USD
External ULA activities: 11,052.53 USD
Water filters (Spouts): 49,082.68 USD
Directly project related: 64,089.08 USD
WASH projects: 3,609.22 USD
Football 4 WASH: 60,479.86 USD
Total: 227,038.47 USD

Viva con Agua has been pursuing sustainable WASH projects since 2006 and, together with its partners, has already reached more than three million people worldwide. The association makes a significant contribution to raising awareness of the vital necessity of good hygiene and sanitation, which is more important than ever in the face of the pandemic. Viva con Agua is committed to strengthening the resilience of societies in the countries of the Global South. 

I am convinced that Viva con Agua's progressive mindset is indispensable in the fight against Covid-19. With revenue falling due to the Covid-19 crisis, Viva con Agua is currently in a difficult financial situation. The increased awareness and, of course, the prize money would benefit the association very much. In the event of a victory, I will leave the entire prize money to Viva con Agua's work and projects.

Viva con Agua has reached new target groups that do not correspond to the traditional NGO milieu: through sport, art or music events, through cooperation with artists and through the organization of fundraising events with fun and good humor, the association gained countless young supporters and sympathizers. Thanks to Viva con Agua, they were made aware of hygiene issues (handwashing with clean water and soap) - and that far too many people in the world still don't have a safe toilet.

The Elevate Prize would help to strengthen the VcA movement specially in the Global South to promote the implementation of the human rights to water and sanitation.

Please see the text below.

There are a lot of inspiring organizations in the world we'd like to partner with, gain and exchange experience to elevate the quality and the impact of our work. 

charity:water is a role model in terms of their progressive donor communication and their transparent way of project communication, for instance the mapping of each project site, providing detailed information about the current status of the respective place. We'd like to learn more about their methodology in a project partnership and charity:water could certainly learn more about our Universal Languages and Sustainability Approaches. 

And, of course, we're very interested in partnering with the MIT to create solutions for the biggest challenges in our work, which are by name: 

• Strengthening sustainable WASH systems (mentorship for systemic project design)
• Achieving viable WASH related social business models especially in the Global South (business consultation)
• VcA community development in countries of the the Global south, where the community activities can sustain themselves with a minimum support from the Head Office in Germany (capacity building)
• Impact monitoring. We aim to achieve impact at scale, therefore being able to precisely measure the health impact, political impact, economical or ecological impact through our WASH projects (monitoring & evaluation)