Hi everyone!

This is an update on how the funds from the Berkeley Crowdfunding page have been used and how it has helped us stop thousands of fecal pathogens from being spread in Kigali’s slums and much more!

In June of 2015 Berkeley Water Group helped raise a grand total of $4,484.00 for our trusted partner Pivot Works (pivotworks.com) from 42 fabulous contributors. Since then one of our team members, Rachel Sklar, a recent graduate student from the School of Public Health, has been out in the field carrying out the project and using the Berkeley Crowdfunding donations.

Prior to Pivot’s intervention, when pit latrines fill up most families either sealed them and constructed a new one, or hired manual emptiers to excavate the pit and dump its contents into the environment – an illegal practice.

With the funds contributed, Pivot replaced street clothes and shovels with head-to-toe personal protective equipment and mechanical emptying devices (E-Vacs) for the emptying teams. The money raised was also used to construct a transfer station to serve as a holding tank for fecal sludge. And now, instead of dumping the fecal sludge into the environment, the emptiers pump the sludge into into barrels that are collected and emptied at our transfer station.

We cannot thank everyone that that backed our project enough for every penny. Your actions truly make a difference so, THANK YOU!

To read more about the project and Pivot Fuels’ latest work on sourcing fecal sludge from informal communities visit: http://pivotworks.co/updates/.

Well wishes,

BWG Crowdfunding Team

We are so excited to get this campaign off the ground!

On Monday, the Berkeley Water Group Idea Lab members celebrated the launch of the crowd funding campaign at our general meeting. We were enthralled to see that we reached 10% of our goal on the first day.  Now, in day four, we have almost reached 70% of our goal amount! We must keep up the pace.

We have partnered with Pivot, a waste-to-fuel startup based in Kigali, that has agreed to match the funds we receive making your dollars go even further. 

Remember, any funds we raise beyond our original goal will go towards building waste transfer stations for more communities across Kigali. More fuel, less contamination, and healthier people--all with your help! 

The Berkeley Water Group Idea Lab Team will keep you updated on all the going-ons of the funding progress via the update section of our campaign page. Keep a lookout for updates on our  facebook and on twitter.

Help us spread the word about giving a crap!

-The Berkeley Water Group Idea Lab Team

#safedump

We are so close to reaching our goal amount of $3,000! If we can do it, the funds raised will be matched by our partner Pivot,a waste-to-fuel startup based in Kigali, and be used to buy a transfer station that will prevent human waste from being dumped into the environment.

Help us spread the word by talking "shit" with your networks!

We have met our goal! Thank you for your support. With these funds, we will run a pilot transfer station in one community for at least 3 months. We are continuing to raise funds until May 6. Extra money we raise beyond our goal will help us build more transfer stations for another community in Kigali and provide more sanitation workers with the training and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits.