In early November 2023, the team headed into Bobonaro municipality to install filters in 2 health clinics and 1 school in the next stage of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) project. The team first went to a small village called Cailaco, about a 40 minute drive from Maliana near the West Timor border.
Driving past dry rice paddies awaiting the impending wet season, the team arrived at the Cailaco Health Centre in the quiet afternoon and introduced the new filters to the staff. In their installation and training, Jose and Simao engaged the inquisitive staff about the community health benefits of the filter, how it works and the money the staff can save by using these filters whilst at work. Prior to the installations, many staff bought bottled water from the nearby shops for work, an unnecessary expense for those working to provide for their families. The team also showed the staff how to maintain the filters for long-term use and how to change them when they need to be replaced.
After the installations, many staff wanted to buy a filter, and the team sold another 5 filters to the nurses looking to provide clean water to their families at home. These sales are an example of how Abundant Water is able to create hives of economic activity for social good. Through initial donor funding used to introduce the clean water filter to communities, we are able to generate a wider impact on health outcomes using the forces of the market. This means that each donor's impact continues to compound in reaching new households as more people familiarise themselves with their neighbour's new product. We look forward to seeing our impact in Cailaco grow as vendors sell to more households in this area.
The next day the team returned to Cailaco and installed filters in EBF 12 de Abril Marco. The team provided training to a bigger audience this time, providing teachers and students with the skills to continue to maintain the filters long-term. Abundant Water will continue to provide support long-term to schools like this one in Cailaco to ensure no maintenance know-how is lost with staff changes.
Here teachers from the school have been using our filters for a number of years and will be great supporters of their long-term usage and maintenance. Just like at the health clinic, more teachers bought filters for their own homes, creating consumer demand for vendors in the area.
Finally we also installed filters at a small health clinic just outside of Maliana to wrap up the day - Centro Saude Ritabo.
Installation - Centro Saude Ritabo
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