Just One Africa, Inc.

The long-term strategic goal of Just One Africa is to empower local leaders who care for vulnerable children within their community with sustainable solutions. These solutions provide long-term access to clean and safe water, quality education, life skills training, adequate safe housing, and more efficient agricultural methods. These continuing viable solutions will reduce the reliance on outside sources of funding and furnish them the means and ability to provide for themselves as well as those they care for.

Just One Africa is observing a positive difference in the communities in which we work due to the excellent partnerships we have developed with our local leaders. We identify local leaders who are currently working in the areas within our mission, specifically those who are supporting and caring for vulnerable children. Just One Africa works alongside these influential leaders and provides the support of sustainable solutions and hope for a better future. We are not in any way trying to influence our partners to adopt our American customs and culture. We understand that the African culture is based on relationships and community and we wholeheartedly embrace this by making our priority people over projects. We have witnessed remarkable expansions and impact as we work towards a common goal of bringing what we can to the table and allowing each other's voices to be heard and to be part of the solution. Our cooperatives enable unique ideas, relationships, and resources to be shared to accomplish the greater goal. In order for these solutions to be long-lasting and to bring about the desired impact, it is imperative to have clear communication and accountability.

Just One Africa has worked closely with our leaders to develop and implement a follow-up program for the recipients of the water filters. The follow-up program collects important data to demonstrate the effectiveness of our Clean Water Program and also allows for further community relationships to be built. The increase in health in these communities has opened the door to have many important conversations such as the education of girls, women's health, and the illegal practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Our water filter distributions take place in and around the communities of our local leaders. As those areas are covered, we move outward. We let these partners introduce us to the newly impacted community leaders and chiefs. From there we are able to move into new communities with trust firmly in place.

Our funding comes from a variety of sources, but mostly from public support. We have worked with several supportive businesses, schools, and corporations that have provided matching funds and additional monies that are designated for specific programs. Just One Africa has also created a thriving revenue stream for our Clean Water Program through the sales of our recycled paper bracelets. It has become a unique opportunity that provides sustainable income for the Kenyan women who create the beads on the front end and then funds for clean water on the back end. We are growing our base of support as more and more people hear about our work through print media, word of mouth, speaking appearances, local school beading engagements, sales in both storefronts and at events, and social media.

Just One Africa has a long-term commitment to the people in the areas in which we have been fortunate to serve. We have established deep relationships and have built trust with the local leaders, chiefs, and government officials. Each year we have effectively doubled our impact with new sustainable projects, educational programs, and water filter distributions. We work closely with our local leaders to create follow-up programs and reports that we receive monthly. This allows us to measure our success and to make sure we are meeting our target goals and accomplishing our mission. We travel to the communities we serve multiple times a year to personally evaluate the status, measure results and discuss how the projects are meeting the needs of our local leaders.

Our goal is to start with a few local leaders to help them become sustainable so as they are established and standing, on their own we will have the capacity and ability to partner with others in new areas. We are currently developing new relationships so that when important resources become available we are positioned to provide the support that is needed.

There will always be a great need for clean water, and thus always a need for the water filters. Just One Africa desires to blanket whole communities with enough filters for everyone. In doing so, the entire community begins to thrive and everyone benefits. Once a community has access to clean water, we are able move on to another area of need. The water filters we use are capable of providing clean, safe water for up to twenty-five people for life. As impactful as the filters are in a community, simply providing a filter is not enough. We have found that training is needed to help people stay healthy. These new WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Education practices need to be shared with the younger generation to build vital new habits. This training includes basic sanitation best practices, safe water handling, and other methods to keep people safe and healthy. We have met our water filter distribution goal every year since 2012 and thanks to generous support from donors and the success of the Recycled Paper Bracelet Program, we are on track to hit our goals again in 2021. We will distribute at least 2,000 filters, capable of impacting 50,000 people, in this year alone.

Just One Africa has worked diligently to make sure that our efforts have not just been about projects but also about the people impacted by our work. Our desire is not just about crossing things off a list to say we made the world better, but we also aim to take into account how our partnerships with local leaders can create change from within the community. Working to bring about change in developing communities is a very thoughtful process. It can often bring more harm than good not if rolled out in the most deliberate and astute ways. Just One Africa deeply desires to help, not hurt, our brothers and sisters in Kenya. That is why we believe so strongly in the relationships we build on the ground first and foremost. Without our local leaders who live and serve in these communities, we would altogether miss the true needs. This continues to be a very rewarding process for us to learn and we anticipate growth as we challenge the status quo of bringing aid into other communities. At its core, this process of building relationships remains Just One Africa's highest commitment.

Through this thoughtful partnership, Just One Africa has seen remarkable progress and for that we are grateful. Some of the projects that fall under our sustainability program include multiple school buildings, dormitories, bedding, mosquito nets, ovens and bakeries, bathrooms, agriculture projects, solar power, rain harvesting systems, water storage tanks, and 450 foot deep well and electric pump system. This well provides a reliable source of water for the school, rescue center, local community, and irrigation for crops. While this is a revenue-generating project, it also allow the school to produce much of its own food. All of the sustainability projects we commit to are started and completed with excellence, knowing the impact created will be significant for the communities we work in.

We have distributed thousands of water filters in six geographic areas of Kenya and trained the recipients on WASH sanitation best practices and simple ways to keep their families healthy. Their money is now spent on food and necessities rather than diverted for medicine or medical care. Entire villages are seeing the benefits of having clean water and hope for a healthy future is expanding.

We will continue to raise awareness as well as the funds needed to bring sustainable solutions to those affected by the ever-present, very real, clean water crisis. We also strongly believe in sustainable solutions for long-term impact. We will continue to listen, learn, and partner with others who seek to create this type of change for those who care for vulnerable children. No matter how big the challenge, we have witnessed the impact when an individual chooses to make a difference…Just One person at a time.