Women Water Stewards

In some regions, lack of access to clean water has a greater impact on women and girls because it means they must gather water from distant sources. Did you know that in many parts of the world women and girls…

… often have to carry water over half a mile each day just for drinking and washing.

… can sometimes carry five gallons (50 pounds!) of water each day.

… can spend over four hours each day fetching water.

The strain of carrying water is an important physical health concern, but spending so much time fetching water also means women can't work and girls can't go to school. This has tremendous consequences for the economic health of the women and girls as well as their families, communities and nations.

ASD has helped women launch income-generating water projects in the Philippines and several countries in Africa that focus on the specific needs of women and girls regarding access to clean water and sanitation.

In Uganda, ASD is partnering with women's organizations to create PODS (People Offering Deliverable Services) that will become local hubs of water expertise for surrounding communities. PODS are community-based water organizations that are empowered with the appropriate technologies, organizational skills, business tools and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Education to resolve their own water issues using environmentally and financially sustainable practices.

In Kenya in 2008 and Ghana in 2010, the Global Women's Water Initiative, a dynamic partnership between ASD Crabgrass and Women's Earth Alliance coordinated a training for 60 women leaders about simple water and sanitation technologies like rainwater harvesting, composting toilets, bio-sand filters, and solar pasteurization. These women also learned important organizational skills to help them plan and implement water projects in their own communities. ASD will continue to provide support and follow-up training to these women as the projects get underway.

In the US, ASD is participating in several conferences with indigenous women to address their concerns about water and provide training to them as well.

For information about these and other ASD projects, please visit our website at

www.asingledrop.org