Water Charity

by Averill Strasser (Bolivia 1966-1968)

The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer community is a powerful force.  As we complete our schooling, raise families, accomplish our career objectives, and enjoy life, we can remain engaged in furthering the Peace Corps mission.  Working together we can achieve a lot.

During my Peace Corps service, I taught engineering at the University of San Andres in La Paz, Bolivia.  When the students were on vacation or out on strike, we traveled to remote parts of the country to do water and sanitation projects.

Forty years later, after a career in engineering, city planning, law, and business, I was able to step back and ask: “What can I do now that would do some good in this world?”  

Water Charity was started in 2008 with a few projects in Central America.  We have gone on to help change the lives of 3 million people, implementing 3,000 projects in 70 countries.

Water Charity became a partner of the National Peace Corps Association in March, 2015. Since then, we have funded and provided technical support for Peace Corps Volunteer and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer projects in an amount exceeding $600,000.  

In addition to acting as the COO of Water Charity, I am a member of the Board of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Los Angeles — an NPCA affiliate group, a Shriver Circle member, and a regular participant in NPCA advocacy.  

I believe each of us have to do everything within our power to support the Peace Corps community, both in our activities and financially. I urge everyone to become an NPCA Mission Partner.

Blog post | Alan Ruiz Terol

98 Million adolescent girls are denied educational opportunities worldwide, according to UNESCO. The World Bank also reports that they continue to lag substantially behind boys in secondary school completion rates.

To address this crisis, the White House announced on October 11, 2016 more than 5 million dollars in private donations will go towards the Let Girls Learn program, aimed at improving education for girls in the developing world. These funds include $200,000 from the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) in partnership with key partner, Water Charity.

Let Girls Learn has not only received significant support from NPCA, but also from its affiliate groups. Last year, 53 groups gave a combined $123,000 to Peace Corps Volunteers projects, of which nearly $15,000 were aimed exclusively at Let Girls Learn initiatives.

To further support the cause, this week the White House released an eight-page fact sheet outlining the national security benefits of promoting adolescent girls’ education overseas, making the case for the need to maintain the program under the next administration. Secondly, the film We Will Rise: Michelle Obama’s Mission to Educate Girls Around the World premiered October 12, 2016 on CNN. The movie focuses on a group of girls from Liberia and Morocco, ­­­­a number of which are connected to Peace Corps programs, overcoming incredible odds to achieve their educations.

Keep the momentum to Let Girls Learn by donating to the program here.