Hannah Bellamy unravels the complexity of global water scarcity and the profound impact of sustainable clean water solutions on health, dignity, and education in vulnerable communities.
Welcome to Inclusion Bites, yoursanctuary for bold conversations that spark change. I'mJoanne Lockwood, your guide on this journey of exploration into theheart of inclusion, belonging, and societaltransformation. Ever wondered what it truly takes to create aworld where everyone not only belongs Bites thrives?You're not alone. Join me as we uncover theunseen, challenge the status quo, and sharestories that resonate deep within. Ready to divein. Whether you're sipping your morning coffee or windingdown after a long day, let's connect, reflect,and inspire action together. Don't forget,you can be part of the conversation too. Reach out tojo.Lockwood@seechangehappen.co.ukto share your insights or to join me on the show.So adjust your earbuds and settle in. It's time toignite the spark of inclusion with Inclusion Bites.And today is episode 111with the title Hydrating Humanity. And I have the absolute honorand privilege to welcome Hannah Bellamy. Hannah is themanaging director of Charity Water. When I asked Hannah todescribe her superpower, she said, getting people tosee and care about ongoing issues in theworld. Hello, Hannah. Welcome to the show. Hi, Jo.Thanks so much for having me. Absolute pleasure. So, Hannah,hydrating humanity, that is sounds like a fascinating thing. So tellus more. Yeah. Of course. So hydratinghumanity, I think what lots of people don't realizeis that while we all need water, not everybody has access toit. So there's 703,000,000 people living around the world whodon't have access to clean water, And it's not justabout being able to drink it Wellbeing able to Joanne, you know, 10on the tap and drink that water. Not having clean wateris an issue which affects education. It affectsopportunity. It's the biggest killer of children under the age of 5. And,
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really, it's a social injustice which affects womenand girls in particular. Those are some staggering numbers. Yeah. Biggest killer ofchildren under the age of 5. Yeah. Wow. That and703,000,000 people Yeah. Across the globe not havingaccess to clean water. I suppose what's going on in my head and the Bitesand see stereotypes are probably in my head is poverty in Africa, but itgoes beyond that, doesn't it? It does go beyond that.So it it can happen in in all sorts of places and and pop upin different pockets. So, you know, we'll definitely find that in somevast countries so if you think in North America, for example, there'll be areas wherepeople don't have piped water to their homes. Butsee, as an organization, Charity Water, we do focus on countries that arelow down on the UN's human development index because those are wherepeople really need help. So about about 80% of our work is in Africa,about 20% in Southeast Asia, but that's not where the problem is completelyisolated to. I mean, we hear about it now, unfortunately, in war zonesituations. That's not the type of thing we go and fix becausefor us, we're working in places where we want to have long term systemicchange to help remove people from the poverty that you'reimagining. So clean water is the first step to help people remove people frompoverty. Yeah. Because it is a it's a tool in warfare, isn't it, whereyou remove utilities? So you remove sanitation,food, water supply in order to getyour opposing side to capitulate or givein through suffering, starvation, dehydration. So, yeah,I'd never really put it in that context before. But it's itis it is one of those tools. And I guess if you go back I'mjust thinking we jo back into ancient medieval history. We've gotsee to starve people out of their castle, didn't see? And through, like, a war.see. Yeah. Which feels like it in some ways, there'sinstances similar to that now perhaps. Butthe the interesting thing there is because because when people read it in thenews and it's happening in that type of war scenario, it feelslike something new, and people are horrified by it. People are horrified by theidea of not having access to clean water in that situation.But what I want people to do is is to take that horrorand think, actually, there's people around the world. Like I said, that's 700 over700,000,000 people like that on a day to day basis.And, really, it it it's something we know how to fix. So what I reallywant people to do is to hear that and think, oh my goodness. That's that'sshocking. How can we allow that to happen? And oh my goodness. It'ssomething we can change if we just invest in the right way. We can fixthis problem, and we can save those children under 5. We can impact those women'slives. So it it's it's how do we take that thathorror and and refocus it into action. And is there a I mean,you emphasize the the the word clean water.Mhmm. Is there a a marked difference betweenclean water, dirty water, and no water? So a lot of these areasmay have water Mhmm. But it's not suitable for fordrinking or or sanitary to clean and washing. Is isthat is that the challenge? Or having water at all is the challenge? Inthe countries, we work in both, and it can change wildlybetween seasons, rainy season, dry season, everything like that. So ifyou think about somewhere like Bangladesh, there are instances where definitelythere is too much water. It's just not the right water, so it can beextremely dirty. And, actually, what we need to do is think about cleanwater Inclusion, which are adaptable in timesof flooding, but that still reach the clean water as opposedto the dirty water, which is flooding. There's other places we workwhere in the Sahel region, the desertregion in I always Happen Gennifer Eats. How did see?In West Africa, which where it's a really harshcondition. It's not in the dry season. It there is no water. I mean, you
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can dig really, really deep down. And what we find is peoplethere may have really old wells, which they'reable to sometimes gather water from, but they can dry up, and the water thatdoes come is really dirty. And they've usually walked miles andspent hours, which is why women see affected, to collect that water. So what wewant to do is drill deep down to a stable place in thewater table and make it simple to pump that water up to the surface andthen to have that water source close to people's homes. So womenWellbeing usually, you know, if you think barefoot, veryhot ground, long distances, often unsafe. Sowhat we do hear about is is different forms of violence they they could encounterto collect water, back breaking work to bring it back, and you think balancingit there on your head or or or sometimes strapping it to the back, bringingit home, having that water be dirty, having that make your children sick,having that make you sick, and then have to do and do it again andmultiple times a day. So for us, it has to be a sustainable clean watersource within 30 minutes round round trip, whole trip. We want to take less than30 minutes when people need to get water, and it has to be Safety, andit has to be clean. But what what I just heard you say there isso women are are making this journey potentially half a dayMhmm. 20, 50 miles, I guess, is is that sort of distance.And when they're bringing the water back, that wateritself is not necessarily clean. It it can also be dirty as well.So they've gone to get this water, and now they're bringing indirty water. How do they will they boil it? Will they sanitizeit somehow? Or they just, you know, just be dirty and they they consume itas is? Again, different communities will have different
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ways of doing it. Sometimes they'll filter it through some cloth, which obviously wouldremove some of the larger debris, but notthe germs. And that's the real issue because often what we'll seeso there's a woman called Malatani who lives in Malawi.She used to walk up and down this thisquite intrepid ravine in her flip flops to go and collectwater from a stream. It was a stream that would bereally a trickle at certain points. So she's there, you have to digdown, get in a queue, take that water from it from the source.What around that will be goats,cows, whatever whatever other animals want tocome. And so if a cow is weeing inthat water, pushing it through a cloth, which may not be cleanin itself, is not removing the germs. It willremove some of the leaches, the the, you know, other nasty Bites,see everything else, but it's not Change, safe water. But the pollution predominantlyin these sources, because their water holes is likely to beanimals' animal waste, bothyeah. And human waste, I guess, in some areas Yep.River pollution and things. Exactly. Animal waste, human waste,whatever pollution has been in there. I mean, it's it would be so for me,where I live, my closest water source would be see River Thames. So it wouldbe like me walking down to the Thames, taking water fromthat, and using that for my family. And Iwouldn't, Bites you you just think I wouldn't, but there's no choice withinthis matter. Yeah. Water is so fundamental to life. Is whatYeah. Exactly. You can go hungry, but you can't go thirsty for more than afew days, can you? No. No. Exactly. You can't. And then you also you thenyou start to realize it's not only that. It's it's keeping clean,keeping everything else around you clean and and the the theadditional health benefits that provides and the dignity as well.Just feeling clean with yourself that your clothes aren't dirty, that you'renot that you're not not dusty. And we we find thatoften in in the communities where we work, there's realpride after receiving King Water because people are able to find that dignity.I, I visited see fairly early on within my 1styear working at Charity Water. I went to Ethiopia to the northernregion called Tigray. I went to a couple of different communities within a day, andI found it was the first time I saw it so starkly. The first communitythat we visited, the children had clean water. It was somewhere we'dwe'd worked. We'd we'd delivered a clean water source. Our local partner was workingthere. And everybody in in both communities,hugely welcoming, people dancing. It's, you know, it's ajoyous moment when see go into these communities and and and meet with people andtalk and hear their stories. In that first community,everybody's dressed in these beautiful vibrant fabrics. They're dancingaround there, and you can see the the shine in the children's eyes. We hada football match. You're you're doing all these things. The next community,we we we drove along see very dirt roads, couldn't get up there. And wehad to sort of hike up some some mountainsides and and go meet the childrenthere, and they didn't have clean water. We walked down to a sortof stream where they were able to collect water if it was Diversity. We sawthat and what it looked like and how they collected it, you know, scoops theywere using and everything else. But the biggest contrast wasjust Safety vibrant clothunderneath, but very dusty and dirty. The children's faces,you know, they weren't able to keep themselves clean in the same way, the hair,everything else. see you soon realize it's Bites yes. It's about health and in anddrinking and the hydration side of it. It's also just about how you want tolive in the comfort level and the dignity it brings. What what arethe what are the symptoms? Or so you you've had drinkingand consuming or washing and bathing in in unclean water.What what does that do to the human body in these cases? Is it isit dysentery, cholera, all these kind of diseases andthings? All sort I mean, all sorts of diseases in it. It's an endlesslist. What we see very often and what affects these the young children inparticular, it it's diarrhea. So theyhave extremely runny stomachs. And,unfortunately, in a situation where you're not able to then have enough water and keepconsuming enough water or if the water you're then consuming is also making yousick, diarrhea can be fatal. And that's the really,really sad thing. You know, to generally hear if mykids get diarrhea, it's a very unpleasant experience, but that's the end ofit. Bites it's maybe 24 hours, 48 hours of discomfort,not very pleasant, but we're able to and and then the idea that actuallyin some in another country, the only waterthat that that if I was the mother would be able to give to mychild could continue exacerbating that, and their child can die, which doesHappen. It's it's heartbreaking. Bites I've been lost at see, and you've got all thatsalt water around you and they'll Yes. Drink something. Yeah.Yeah. Heartbreak. When you're whensomeone's got water that is in various Imean, not all dirty water is is equal, I guess. There must be hierarchiesof really, really dirty to Mhmm. Okay.So there must be different treatments and different ways of of tackling differentpollutants, I guess. So what what does it cost? I mean, I'mI'm in my head, I'm thinking that that little tablets orsomething you put in the water to disinfect or to clean. Is thatis that the sort of solutions you're you're looking at to clean water, if youlike? It's not. So because what we're trying to do is
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search Charity Water every single time we work in a community, andwe work with a local partner. So we don't do the work ourselves. We fundlocal organizations to do Happen. And we want to and we do puta pin on a map on our website with GPS coordinates, and we say thiscommunity now has clean water. So it can't besomething which could run out in that way. So it looks different in everycommunity because it has to be appropriate both to the water source, but alsoto what's appropriate for that community in terms of can they get the rightnuts and bolts to fix it and maintain things. So in some places,it's digging down to like I said, we're so we get we need to beable to get a truck in there, have it really drilled deep down,find the water, and that water then will be clean usually. So once you getdown to the in the groundwater, it's going to be clean. Pump it up.We will make sure and test it and make sure there's not nothing come notraces of of unwanted things coming through from thatwater. And and then that that's drinkable water. That's potable water. Inother places, it is a a case of having a a filter. And,actually, you ask what it costs. So, again, it varies
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per thing. But a typical, you know, drilling a well with a hand pump,that's gonna be about £8,000, £10,000. In other places, soCambodia, for example, we use a biosand filter programin lots of places we're working. And in that, it we're helpingcommunity members to build their ownfilters, which will work within their homes. And, again, how to maintain that, how doesthat and we know they're working for 10 10 plus years,if this structure that has then been built within their homes, and they can collectwater, pour it in there, and it will come out completely clean.But the dirty water itself looks different in different contexts. We actually got ourour creative team. So we are in Bangladesh at the moment, and they did somethingwe haven't done for quite a while, which was take microscope with them. And theytook a microscope, and they've taken it into one of the schools, and they've gotsome of the water that the kids were drinking, and they put itunder the microscope and there are things moving. You know, it's it'salive, that water that they're drinking, all different shapes and sizes and, youknow, that that's reactive. And you look at that and you think, I don't wannadrink that and put that in my body. And then they look at what they'veused there, and that's another fill a different type, but another filtration system, and they'reable to see that there's nothing there. It's just it it's dead,which doesn't sound good, but that's what you want with your water. You do notwant living things in your water. Jo so dead things are good? Inthat way, yeah. So, yeah, in that way. So it's aboutkilling off the bacteria or the the micros,because when they're alive, they react with the gut, and that's what thecause of diarrhea, etcetera. But Yeah. Yeah. Dead things are inert then, and they gostraight through. And then Yeah. And when I say dead, I just mean there's nothingthere. see they've actually been filtered out. So knowing that you've killed them, they've literallyjust they've got caught. They're no longer within that. They said that it it justdoesn't look alive. The water doesn't look alive like it does when you Oh, okay.When you get yeah. It's not it's not the swimmy things that are now ina No. They don't no. No. No. There are no swimmy things anymore.Right. So don't want swimmy things. I'm I'm fascinatedby how the water that you're drilling downis clean because, you know, it's obviously in the earth in the in theMhmm. There's gonna be dust and bits and pieces in it, And presumably,water must filter through the earthMhmm. Permeate down, and those and that would bring downpollutants with it. Or or is this coming or these water tables coming fromfrom rainfall through clean Diversity, from the top of mountains all the way underin underground? Is that is that is that how they get cleaned through through evaporationand then perspiration down? Right. This is slightly beyond my this isprobably why we're at local partners. So my hydrogeology isminimal, but I know it is keen. And often I it what it is, Ithink, is it's gone through so many layers of rock. So a bit like whenwe put the biosand filters in in in Cambodia, it's a similar thingwhere it's gone through so many layers of rock to get there that it's becomeclean. And, also, it's dark down there, everything. There's no light toencourage any life in that sense. So it's also had hadthat experience, but I am that that's a piece I'm not I'm not verywell involved on. I'm just curious. No. I I I getthat. Yeah. I suppose you got all that pressure. You got the the thefiltration, as you say. There's there's no light. It's probably a bit cold aswell. Yeah. Yeah. So what are the whatwhat are the challenges? I mean, obviously, I guess, money is a challenge.Mhmm. But there must be logistical challenges because you'reoften working in very rural or out the wayareas. These these communities are are not on the main road. So you youprobably have to find them and and and putinfrastructure in there and electricity maybe, they may not havethat either. Yes. Jo most communities won't have electricity, and that wouldoften come after water. So often what we find is that after cleanwater comes, the next step within a community may be to replacetheir roofing. If they've had straw roofs and things like that, There's enough money. Theywill replace it with tin roofs. So it's, it's betterin terms of keeping the rain out and things like that. Then the nextstep often may be something like electricity, but that that usually comes alittle bit later. In terms of logistical challenges,I think we're we're so lucky in our model and that we work with localexperts and local partners because they're able to that they know the bestsolution, and they they know how to adapt theirwork for for for the environment. Sothey they overcome those. Also, so manywe come across. So, the woman I mentioned earlier, when ourteam first went to her community, they were reallykeen to have clean water because they'd seen it in a neighbouring village, and theyreally wanted clean water within their own village. Butwhile you don't need the electricity to drill down, you do need a considerable sizedrig. You know, the type of rigs you'd normally see on a building site orsomething else, they need to be able to get 100 of meters down in downto the ground. So it's a huge training piece on it. It needs tocome through. It's run on diesel or whatever else it is, and it needs tobe able to get right down in there. And so what they didn't havewas a road for for the for this drilling rig to be able to getthere. And, actually, the ravine, which they'd been walkingover militalia and her friends have been walking over and and and navigating to beable to get their stream water from is what is what the issuewas because you can't you couldn't build a road over that very easily.So to overcome that, it's not us overcoming that. Actually, peoplereally want water. So when they realised that was an issue and a avillainy and a necrosis, what they decided to dowas every family within that community nominated onefamily member to work together and build a road, and they did.And they they gathered all the materials. They they they did it. And so ourlocal partner will go in and support them and make sure they're planning it right.
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Is it going to work, the drilling rig? How does this you know, they knowbecause they've done it in other communities, the different, you know, layers of dirtand rocks and everything else you need. So they'll work with them to do that,but but it's it's off it's often this partnership. So it's us, it's our localpartners and experts, and then it's the community themselves that are all working together tobring clean water and overcome any of the difficult challenges. And then thechallenges we face the bigger challenge for me, the fanchallenges we face is a bit like I mentioned earlier about when we we thinkabout wartime and people not having clean water, that's ashock, and so the world pays attention. I wasreading just yesterday about habituationand that there's as humans, we areit's a bit like boiling a frog in the sense that we we become usedto something. We stop seeing it, and that's what's happened with thesetype of issues. And, unfortunately, when I often usethe statistic that it's it's the leading killer of children under the age of 5because if you said someone to someone,do you want to fix the the biggest killer of children under the age of5? Do you want to neutralize that, save those children's lives? Nursery school aged kids.Everyone will say, yeah. Everyone wants to do Happen, and we can dothat. But they don't see it and hear it anymore because this is anongoing you know, throughout our lifetime, therehas there's been this issue. I suppose I grew up well, I'm a bit maybedidn't grow up, but I was around with Live Aid and Bob Geldofand Feed the World and images ofAfrican young African children with pot bellies, malnutritionYeah. And the drought related because, obviously, thedrought causes lack of crops and lack of food. So it's kind of it's abit of everything, really. So you not only are you trying to givepeople water to drink, you've also gotta find water to growcrops and other things, which is again Yep. A massive challenge in its own right.And you can't be putting sewage contaminatedwater on crops because of that, again, just creates the problem in there aswell. So it it's it's the whole I I get it. It's it's the wholecycle Yeah. Of humanity that living in those communities,giving them life. Yeah. And it's almost, you know, usingMaslow as an example is the the hierarchy of needs. It's that really basic.You can't, as you said, you can't wash your face or clean your clothesYeah. If you haven't got enough water to drink, and it it reflects in theirpersonas how you perceive them. So Yeah. Yeah. And you can't wash your hands,which I think, you know, during COVID, that's something we all became veryaware of was and we've always known it, but the importance of washing yourhands throughout the day at a particular moment. So if you can't wash yourhands, the spread of diseases, you know, it increases. You kinda takeit for granted, don't you? That, you don't even think about washing yourhands. You you just it becomes there's the tap. I mean, we getfrustrated if we go into the toilet, and there's the soap dispenser doesn't work withyou. Yeah. And and try it off. Yeah. I'm I'm not gonna walkout with shaking my hands and get the drips off. Waving our hands jo thesensors to try and get the water to you know, all those things these days.see. Those first world problems that we get kind of Mhmm. Excitedabout really doesn't work. And, these people were they don't havethe luxury of having water to drink, let alone to wash their hands in theYeah. Exactly. So where where do you get most of yourfunding from? Because it it's this is not this is not a cheap thing, isit? This is this is big big infrastructure investment. How do you how doyou raise the funds for this? see as a as a normalization as a charity,
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we have a unique model. So we have 2 separate bank accounts. Wehave the water bank account, and then we have the overheads bank account. And thereason we do this is is we our founder, Scott Harrison, when he first setup the charity, he he realized that people don'ttrust charities. It's a real problem that people think I don't know where mymoney is going. I you know, especially when it's going overseas,what's happening with it? How do I know it's gone to the right place? Howwhat who's saying for your laptop? I've you needed to fly here. You know, ourteam have fly places. What does how much is that costing? So toovercome all of that, we have these 2 separate bank accounts, water andoverheads. And if you went on our to our website today, if anyone decided togo onto the website and give to Charity Water, a 100% ofthat money will go into our water bank account. We take that and wegrant every single penny. We even refund any credit card fees or anythingelse. We'll go to our local partners and be invested in Clean Water Solutions.So that money comes from a a couple of different places.So a lot of it comes from everydaypeople. So we have people who learn about this and they really want tomake a difference, so they'll sign up to what we call the spring, which isto give every single month. Jo I always think of it as, like, asubscription for good. You give you've got your Netflix. You've got whatever else it isyou're giving to every month. You sign up there and actually give every single monthand know that you're doing good in the world. A 100% of it has goneup over there. So we have that. We do have people who fundraise,who do races, who do any you know, whatever it isthat's fun for them. So so they go and fundraise again, 100%.And then we have businesses we work with, so people likeUniqlo, Stanley, the the drink vessels, anumber of other different businesses, Aveda, the hair salons. They
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will give to us either they're fundraised with their employees or their or theircustomers, or they will from their corporate donations.And then the final piece would be welfare individuals who are able tosay, I want to sponsor clean water for 1 community or clean waterfor 1 school or clean water for 1 health Inclusion. And then we'll work withthem on that and provide them with that reporting process to say, great. Okay.You want to give £10,000. I have projects that need fundingin Malawi, Rwanda, etcetera etcetera, and Iwork with them on the list and and watch that. You know? And so we'llwork together to to make sure that matches. So that's the thewater, and that's the bulk of what we do and the bulk of what wesee. But we always have to balance it, obviously, with our overhead.And so the majority of our overhead is funded by the, again,those wealthy donors. So philanthropists, they've often been founders ofbusinesses, been very successful. They understand investingin the business processes and systems and structures and stuffto generate and be the engine of doing the rest of it. So they signup to what we call the well. They give to us usually once a yearfor 3 years plus or commit 3 years, and they're very much part of ourcommunity. We report to them a bit like investors, so there is no return forthem beyond the amazing feel good. And this is how many people we've impacted thisyear thanks to investing, but that money comes from there. And then we doactually also add in Gift Aid now to that as well because it's much moresustainable way of us of us growing. Because otherwise, you can you canbe in you you don't always balance out. Otherwise, the water can do really well.You need to make have the overhead doing just as well to be able touse that money effect. I like that. That's quite a really enlighteninggovernance model to do that and fundraising model. Because too oftencharities get, criticized for Mhmm.Salaries and, Safety, flights and and, you know,I know running a business, and you have to pay people. You have to paypeople correctly. Yep. It's it's a charity that does that does good,but the people themselves aren't charities. You're not a charity. You haveto live your life. And if you're gonna attract great people who couldmake a fantastic difference Yeah. Those great people have a worth.And, no, we can't all we can't be all altruistic and and,and and do do it for nothing, can we? No. Exactly. And people sometimesask that and say and they see people are surprised sometimes when you you havea salary working for a see, but I'd have to work somewhere elseotherwise. You know, then I have to work to buyfood and pay my own water bills and, you know, have a home and mykids and and everything else. And my husband's a doctor in the NHS. So, youknow, between us, we're we're both doing what we can. Bites some of these countriesyou're you're working in, they're they don't have stablegovernments. There there is kind of corruptionand issues, if you like, politically within that within that their territory.Do you have do you have troubles working within some of thosejurisdictions or pretty much you you're left alone?Because I I just imagine that there's bribes and corruptionthat have to or or people using your facilities orservices to for for for the wrong purpose, if you like. Is that somethingyou have to be really care careful of? So it's so it's something you needto always be aware of. Jo, again again, because it's often not us. It's alocal organization. It's a bit different where where we're working with those people becausethey they they are known within that system, and they arewanted in the work they're doing. It's very valued. But, of course, you always haveto be aware of of that. So we have a separate. They're almostan isolated team, who we call Programme Finance. So our programmes team are the ones
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who work with the local partners on making sure the work is long termrobust, that we're we're scaling it, everything else. The programmesfinance, they sit they sit slightly separately, and they'reauditing everything. So they're going in and checking how the funds have beenused, have been they removed responsibly, can we see x, y, and zed to provethis. So a bit like any nonprofit or charity does generally in terms ofreporting, we are really drilling down, and we have long term partners jowe can get because you you know, you then you build up that trust aswell and you know what what works for each side. But, you know, we dowe pay a great deal of attention to that stuff because we wewe believe very strongly that the donorsshould feel absolute joy to know that that you know, if youget if I want you to know absolutely that you've given Team Wars to somebodyon the other side of the world, and you should feel amazing about that. Andthat's what's happened with your money, so you feel very strongly about that and thenfeel really strongly that the person who, you know like we've talkedabout, Munatani's community, they've built a road. You know, they they deservewhatever money is is Wellbeing sent to help them, that for that to reach thembecause they're also working extremely hard and and will and will be dedicated tothis water point. So on both sides, for us, it's really important it runs assmoothly as possible. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah, I I get that. So you youare you're not out there trying to break Lockwood yourselves, if youlike. You're you're working with local people who understand. So younot only are you providing clean water, you'realso, I'm guessing through this, providing jobsand injection of money into their economies as Wellbeing.Yes. That's a you know, we want it all to see. And and some localpartners we work with, not only do they we'll work withthem, and there'll be a local organization employing local people.Then we'll also arrange for Diversity local partners, havedifferent expertise see get to know each other, to learn from each other, to alsohelp on that side of things. And we also have I think it'sin I'm trying to think which country it's in now. I think it's Rwanda, butI may be wrong. One of our local partners is that theythey even invest in things like local masons who will be ableto create the stone base that they need. So theyhelped train local masons to do that and to be able to supply it.So it it it has complete knock on effects interms of working through local people. And the other thing I would say iswe know that when you invest in clean water infrastructure, likeI said, it brings opportunities to places and you see the electricity, the differentroofs, everything else. But, actually, you know, it's proven that thatfor every 1 pound invested, there's 4 there's 4 pound return in the localeconomy. So it it and that's just the start of itfrom a week. Presumably, so you've been operating and and helpingcommunities for several years now. How how long has your your project's beengoing? Is it? So Charity Water globally has been going for 17years, and then we've been in the UK since 2018. Presumably, obviously,you've made a lot of difference to a lot of communities over that time. Isthere is there an end to I mean, it's almost like an infinite bridge,path. You have to you keep keep painting it, you keep painting it, keep paintingit, and there's always another community to to to handle it.Is is it is it sustainable to keep doing thisforever if you like? Because I I can't predict an end.No. So I think that there's there's 2 things there. First of all, we havea saying within the organization, which is don't beafraid of work that has no end. So you we areimpacting each time you impact a community, you've done something. You'veachieved something. And, actually, when we began, 1,000,000,000 people didn't haveaccess to clean water. It's not all thanks to us. It's thanks to a wholea whole load of organizations, but now 703,000,000.
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So progress has been made, and we our beliefis that we can end the water crisis in our lifetime if everybodyreally pulls together. This isn't it it it's not jo it's notthere there's so many other causes out there, so to do with climate change andhow do we what do we do about climate change? What Diversity cancers, how dowe tackle that? There's all these different things that people that see hugeamounts of research and to development anditerative processes and learning to get to a point where we'd even would knowhow to solve some of it. Whereas that's not this. That'snot the waterfront. We know how to fix it. It's there. It's it's a itit's about investing community by community, school by school, health clinic byhealth clinic until we we meet that. It will get more expensiveas we go because the communities that left are likely to be the mostrural, the most hard to reach, the most in need, but we don'tstop until it's done. You mentioned climate change there,and most people associate the that with rising sealevels. But that brings its own challenge, doesn't it? Because it's the wrong type ofwater, and you could be polluting water tablesand sources of water that you're currently relying on. It's yes. Sothat's one of the things we we really look at, and it it it wasinteresting. I was speaking with Brian who's who leads all our programmaticwork, and he was saying that many of us feel like the world isunstable and and flapping around a little bit and and things are surprisingus. Often, these communities, because they're more impoverished andthey're struggling in different ways, they're at the end of the tail end of thatflapping around. So if you think about something movingthey're experiencing real extremes. And sowhat we find is somewhere like Malawi, we've talked about, willwill they'll have extreme droughts, a lack of water.And so in those cases, we need to make sure we're drilling deep enough forthat to be long term sustainable clean water for them and that we'vethought about how this shifts over time as well. And then they'realso experiencing, you know, huge storms where they're bringingunheard of amounts of rain, strong winds, and destroying
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infrastructure. So we also have to make things sure things are builtreally robustly. And if there is things like flooding,that that the systems remain safe and that the dirty water isn'tflooding and infiltrating the the clean water, everything else. And all of this has tobe taken into account. And, actually,if we overlay a map of where we currently work and so we're in22 countries. Where we currently work And thecountries which are most impacted right now by climate change alreadyfeeling the effects of it, they pretty much sit on top of each other. Soit's often in these countries that they're ex they're experiencingthe they're experiencing it right now, climate change. And what we can dois if you give them an adequate, safe, long term access to cleanwater, you're removing one of the realdifficulties for them because at least they have that And then everything you know, youcan rebuild things you can motor, but you need to have the access to aclean water. I'm I'm I'm I'm fascinated. I'm just thinkingas you were describing, drilling down to these water types and making sure there'senough volume of water down there to be a sustaining community.Presumably, the the communities themselves are not consumingwater on a vast scale. This is, what, 20, 30 householdsMhmm. Few liters per person per day type of thing. Yeah.So how much water do you need to locate for itto be considered a worthwhile sustainable water source? PriscillaBites quite technical. You may not know the answer to that, but it's what's goingon in my head, I suppose. Yeah. No. And people often ask us because they'llread about water tables drying up. And I think, you know, it's something that definitelythe US is experiencing right now, and they're starting to be concerned aboutthe consumption of water and and what does that mean when they're they're drawing waterfrom the water table. But you're right. In the communities we work in, you know,there might be a couple of 100 people. They're often they they theydon't have the power showers and flushing toiletsand dishwashers and washing machines and everything else. Soso they're not using huge amounts of water. And,actually, generally, what causes water tables tofluctuate is industry. So, actually, where there's anissue with overuse of water, it tends to be because it's within a manufacturing orThey will not deplete the water table just by having access to it. Do youI presume not only are you bringing supply in, you must be puttingsanitary and sanitation in to removeto remove the sources of the, contamination as well, aren't you? So we doso so, generally, because of where we're coming, you don't need to where you're whereyou're if you're drilling down, or we're putting in a filtration and and thenyes. We are. We do there there's certain places we workwhere, for example, we're planting treesaround because that helps to slow down so thatwater doesn't suddenly flood and also, again, helps filter it and do different things. Sothere's different different adaptations that can work like that,but but we don't normally have to unless, as I said, it is somewhere likeCambodia or Bangladesh where where we're taking that water and putting it through a filtrationsystem. I appreciate this this next thing I wanna ask you is is not necessarilyyour your core specialty, but I'm sure you have an opinion being inthe sector. Is just talk about a lot of stuff going on in the newsaround the UK at the moment, around pollution of rivers throughuntreated sewage and the water companies not fixit. I I I I like to be charitable. I think, well,they're not out to do bad. They may not be that efficient at doing whatthey do, but they're not they're not set out to be bad. It it mustbe a massive problem to cope with the volumes and demandsof of of consumers and water usersand just how how do you think that, you know, we we as acommunity and society in the UK could could, Idon't know, get get around that and think about ourown water supplies? So it I'm not on the water supply side so
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much, but my background is so I I came into the charitable sector throughthe corporate sector. So I worked in corporate responsibility and actually worked forCentrica and British Gas on their corporate responsibility side of things.So I do have a view in the sense ofbusinesses having a duty to do the right thing. Andso when you say they don't want to do the wrong thing, I I believethat as individual people, the majority of individual people who arein businesses, of course, they don't want to to do the wrongthing. They want to do right by people and and, hopefully, by the environment.But if there if the culture and I don't know thiswith the different oil culture companies. But if the culture isn't right, if the goalsaren't right, if the measurements aren't right, if perhaps legislation around it isn't right, thenthe decisions being made can lead to harm. And it's reallyimportant that the thethe social impact and the environmental impact in this is being measured veryclearly and benchmarked and that you have goals to improve that and to do it.And so I don't know enough about the issue here, but it ithas to be done in that you know, and and perhaps legislation would be theonly answer. Yeah. I mean, you you mentioned the people you're helpingin these countries consume very little waterper capita per head. Whereas in this country, and otherdeveloped countries, we consume vast amounts of water per head.Even if it's not directly going through our household, but justcleaning our food, watering our garden. All these all these wayswe we can see water. And we take it for granted. We have noconcept that water isn't free. You know, water, to us, is free. It's just turnthe tap on, and it's there. And we get really shocked when we go toSpain on a holiday, have to buy bottled water because you can't drink out thetap in the bath. Mhmm. So we get quite spoiled as a asconsumers in the UK. Yeah. Lockwood do. And I but I think it comesdown to so much of it's overconsumption generally, isn't it? I mean,it's not it water's used huge amounts of water'sin jeans. You know, to manufacture jeans, you needvast amounts, especially to get the stonewash effect, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.So it often isn't about what we're doing at home, although we can all reduceit. And, actually, I find my interesting my daughter has a shower, andshe automatically turns off the water every time she's taking shampoo in orwashing up. You know? She just does. And she just always has becauseshe's like, well, that I wouldn't I wouldn't waste that. So I I'm hopeful, andI do think that the kids are learning differently and starting to think about thingsdifferently. So I hope that continues. I I never even thought ofturning the shower off between washing my hair, and I I kind ofjust let it flow. I mean, it's not a power shower. It's a gravity shower,but, you know, I just kinda let it flow. But yeah. And nothing nothing betterthan when you're in a nice hotel and the the shower, one of those rainshowers, it just feels really invigorating. So yeah. Yeah.But I do it without any thought. You know? I'm I'm starting to become veryconscious around recycling plastics and avoiding plasticswhen I can, but I don't have a a water converseconservation or water care thingin my head at the moment. I I heard there's a world water daycoming up. Is that is that trying to bring that in, is it? So it
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that's about access to water for everybody. So world water day, yes, that's something toconsider. But, actually, you consuming less isnot going to provide clean water to someone else on the other side of theworld. It's not you know, it's a bit like, you know, news to I don'tthink parents do it as much anymore, but, you know, when kids didn't eat theirfood and they'd say, there's some starving children who could, you know it doesn'tone thing does not offset the other. So World Water Day,really, it has a different theme each year. It's a UN day, so to youknow, it's partly because it's UN development sustainable development goal number6 is access to clean water and sanitation for all. So it's about raising awarenessfor that. This year, I think it's having a theme of peace andhow peace and and water really really play into one another and and theimportance of one to the other. But we'll be doing so Charity Water,we always do a lot of fun fun things for for, Water Day. So thisyear, if anyone's in London, we'll be just off Brick Lane unveilinga newly painted mural to try and raise awareness and keep keeppeople thinking about it beyond what I've ordered today. Jo, yeah, just picking up whatyou said there. So me being frugal and turn the shower offdoesn't solve the problem in Malawi or at one place you mentioned.So I've gotta realize that the way Ican help Mhmm. Is not through personal actionas such. Mhmm. It's around supporting causes,Mhmm. Lobbying governments, being more aware ofthe needs of those people, and wherepossible supporting, sponsoring, contributing, donating into the into thecauses. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And I think andwhat what's important to me, what I feel likeis at the moment, for some reason, I feel like people are veryfocused on and I think this often happens in times of difficulty. They're veryfocused on local causes and charities and food banksand everything else, and we should be. We should all care about our local communitiesand not take away from that at all. But we should think about humanity asa whole and every single person and their value around the worldand think about them all people is our neighbors, allhumanity. So so that for me is if peopleare thinking about if people are thinking about giving, and and I hope most peopledo think about giving, to have that wider piece. So I know one familywho always want to give to a cause which is hyperlocalto them, so they so they they they focus on a hyperlocal cause, they focuson a national cause, and then they focus on an international cause. And for them,they they to make sure they're they're covering everything. So not everybody can give to3 different organisations, but to have that awareness that where's itreally needed? Where's the support really needed? Yeah. And I I would saybecause I I I do work with charities. I've been trusteda number of charities. And whilst I don't actively givemy pennies away to charity, I give my time, which I often thinkis more valuable than than than a penny. Yeah. I I I giveyou 10 hours of my time. I I I raise money or I I giveto that. I it's it's sometimes more valuable. But, yeah,you can be giving without actually spending, if youlike. Yeah. Advocating, awareness raising, evenif it's just social media sharing and and and commentingand and becoming part of a movement to ray raise the awareness.I appreciate you want cash as well, but creating the awareness isis also part of it, isn't it? Yeah. So what we found, we had someBoston Consulting Group did some pro bono research for us.What they they've said to us is that if people don'tknow who Charity Water is, they're not going to give.So right now, I want anyone and everyone to know Charity Water. I want themto hear that name, to recognize the logo jo that we become become part ofthe culture here in the UK and people will then give because they'll trust usand hopefully start, especially because of our 100% way of working where, you know, theygive you know, where their money's going, they know we're gonna prove where their money'sgone, then they then they do start to give. Because ultimately, it'sit's the giving which is going to you know, that's the direct investment inthe change. You're not you're not looking for hoursof of people's time to come and, you know, fly out to one ofthese countries and start digging holes and stuff like that. So it's very much Mhmm.
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The local people do that. You're looking for raising funds in this country orfund wherever through gift dates or whatever it may be, creatingawareness, creating a movement, creating a a a momentum,if you like, of of of awareness of theChange people are facing. And I I guess in the inthe forms of time, global warming, our climatecould change, other closer to home, people we would seesee as our close neighbors could also be going through areas wheretheir water tables become sort of, you know, what weconsider developed countries now are only, I suppose,only 1 degree centigrade rise in temperature from becomingmore barren, more desert like. And yeah. So it's an interestingtopic. I I until we started this conversation, I I hadn't really explored in mymind around I just saw it as people in these countries, theyhave famine, they have drought. I don't really consider the, thesort of the whole aspect in theircommunity around this, you know, what you said, walking hours and hours andhours to collect water. The water you collect is then being polluted.It's then they're then consuming dirty water because that's already choice. Andit's not about cleaning the water. It's finding access to the waterthat is clean already Decaf. Or cleaner. So you're not you're not tryingto disinfect or or or clean water. You're trying to find thebetter water. And that's really fascinating. It's it's something, as I see, something I hadn'treally explored before. No. Not you said it is. It's one of the basicneeds that the Masai Triangle piece of it. Right? That you have to meet this,and then everything else there's so many things can follow. So but it itdoes and it it impacts us as people,both from thinking about, yes, those communities and how we have access. But we're alwaysusing different water in different ways. Water comes into our lives all over the place.So it's just I think being grateful for what we have is reallyimportant. And you said also about what people can do. The other piece, if theydon't have the the the funding or anything themselves togive, is talk to their employees, talk to their businesses.We often find that, actually, it's those corporate organizations who who do have thefunding and are able to help significantly as well. So there's also that side ofit, of just thinking beyond individually andourselves to what can we collectively do. Yeah. And yousay you don't have to support this cause every year or every timeyou Mhmm. You put on your running shoes or whateverelse you choose to do. This could just be one of aportfolio of of charity causes that you want to support over you overthe course of of your life. Jo, yeah, I I and I really like whatyou said about having that 3 tier, sort of like the the the the veryspecifically my village, my locale Mhmm. Sort of the the morenationalistic and then work for other fields, some of the bigger courses. Andit's, yeah. It's it's it's opened up another way of thinking that, you know,like, or as I say, I donate to this. Mhmm. I've still gotscope to think about something bigger than me as well and fit a a partof something. Because I I had a a friend who wasdoing some work with a an organization called see a Cow. I don't know ifyou've quite lost them. Bites it was a concept. It wasn't sending itthe cow necessarily as meat. They were sending it as the lifeblood ofa village to provide milk and to the nurture and care for it. Andeventually, yes, when it got to a point where the milk stopped flowing, it maywell become food. But the primary thing was it was transformingvillages. Yeah. Having this this livestock thatand they they said they went out to see a village Joanne they saw thewhen the cows arriving. And some of the children had never seenlivestock in that way. It it brings that whole,as you say, the smile and the the eyes of thevillage, not not just around that one accent. Yeah. You're you'reyou're you're changing lives and changingtheir quality of life as well, aren't you? Yeah. You are. And I think that'sit. It's about finding that one thing that you can feel really passionate excited aboutand the one thing that can absolutely transform lives thatwe may take completely for Joanne, but we can goand and I I sometimes think about bringing clean water to your community. What weknow is that that increases the number of children going toschool. And so this clean water can come, and II like to think about a young girl who, perhaps, before was havingto collect water, was too unwell to go to school, doing it. She's now goingto school, so we know that. Then she she's she's
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going to school. She's learning. What we found is when we bring keen water toa school, for example, that increases attendance by 30%. So so soyou impact there. And then you we know education is so important. So if youthink about this as one child, so that child's no longer sick at home, nolonger affecting dirty water, now going to school, getting an education, what's she gonnado next? Because now she's really educated and she's doing really well, and she cango off and do the next piece that the education provides. Maybe maybeand when we hear that we speak to some kids and they say, I wantto become a doctor. So imagine that girl does become a doctor, and then shestarts to save lives. And then, you know, the ripple effects are massive. And soI just it's how do we find that thatcatalyst for change and for impacting lockwood for a longtime. I I remember I I just did a lot of workwith the community fundraising and back 20, 30 years ago. AndI remember working with agencies in in India.Mhmm. They had a program at the time called freedom through education.Mhmm. So it's about freeing people throughthe educational process, and their their freedom at the time was theirfreedom was from legacy colonialism. So they wanted toeducate themselves out of that that that that legacy of colonialism.And then we started getting involved with building schools. And then werealized that the the priority wasn't just building the school, it's actuallybuilding toilets. Because without toilets Yeah. It had a disproportionateimpact on young girls. Yeah. And then we talk about period products, and we talkabout other things. So you start by thinking about this, andthen suddenly quickly realize there are enablers thathelp more women and more more young girls get involved because they are the onesthat are more disproportionately disaffected by the lackof sanitation, as you said. They're collecting the water, periods,not not you know, as they grow up and this and this. see they they'vegot challenges to go into education. And also thethe the the the the societal expectations of young women as well. Wegotta try to become that as well. But, yeah, it's it's all kind oflittle little piece of the jigsaw. Often, it's the the the smallpieces you don't realize until you realize the big pieces don't work on theirown. Yeah. And I and I think we you know, when when girlsget their periods here, there's you know, when they were at school and all thosethings, they they're terrified of being embarrassed. I, you know, I I rememberyou Change jo school and you but you've still got you've got yourindividual bathrooms, toilets you can access. You know you've got access to taps. Youknow you can you know that from home, you'll have everything you see,or perhaps at school, the school nurse can help. You know, you have all thesedifferent things you need. But is there still a terror and, forsome reason, worry about humiliation? And so you take thatand you put it into a context where women are already perhaps more oppressed insome ways and and where people could be maybe thought of very differently when theyget periods and and all this this societal pressure. And then you sendthem to school without a space to go bythemselves, you know, so without any way of cleaningthemselves up. And it it really see it
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it's unfair on those girls because you're really taking away the opportunities, and they're stayinghome because they just don't want to be. It's because of that shame. And sowhen we work in a school, it's not only about providing clean water. We areworking with the school to make sure there's gender specific latrines,enough latrines to to cover the whole population, and, also,usually, a a separate space for girls to go out sort of a aa room they can change in and that they can wash in and they cando other things they need to do if they have their periods. That theyhave that again again, it comes back to dignity, to be honest, andremoving any stigma from it. We also, like, just see, you know,it's a broader conversation about how how we're not in that. We shouldn't be embarrassedabout it, and everybody gets it, and this is what it looks like. But butalso allowing people you don't want to have to to raiseawareness of it by by young girls walking around with withmess on themselves. It's just not right. Oh, and it's it's tryingto change centuries and centuries, probablymillennia, of of stigma and shame Yeah.And oppression of women. We can't solve that. What we can do issolve toilets. We can create clean water. We can providespaces for them products Yeah. Whilst we're tryingto change the world. And Yeah. I remember that statement in the first place.Yeah. I I I see that. Hannah, it's been fascinating. And and I knew solittle about this when we started the conversation, and I I I feelquite passionate and evangelistical now. I think that Oh, good. I Joannetalk about this. So it's been absolutely fascinating. So tell us more about,the website, the programs. How can people get in contact with you? Howcan people support you? So I you know, we we need all the
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support we can get, and so we'd love I'd love anyone to go to charitywater.org.You can sign up to our monthly newsletter. You can set upa fundraising campaign. You can decide to join our spring and get every single month,whatever works for people because and as I said, every single penny will go onclean water. And then see, personally, I'm on LinkedIn, Hannah Bellamy.I love connecting with people, especially if they they have a way of helping interms of through their businesses or or anything else that works for them. So,yep, I hope this I hope more people feel evangelical afterhearing our conversation. That's nice. I'll put all the details on the shownotes. And, Hannah, thank you so much.Thank you. Thanks so much for having me. As we bringthis conversation to a close, I want to express mydeepest gratitude to you, our listener, for lendingyour ear and heart to the cause of inclusion.Today's discussion strike a chord Consider subscribing toInclusion Bites and become part of our ever growingcommunity, driving real change. Share this journey withfriends, family, and colleagues. Let's amplify the voicesthat matter. Got thoughts, stories, or avision to share? I'm all ears. Reach out to jo.Lockwood@seechangehappen.co.uk.And let's make your voice heard. Until next time. Thisis Joanne Lockwood signing off for the promise to returnwith more enriching narratives that challenge, inspire,and unite us all. Here's to fostering a more inclusive worldone episode at a time. Catch you on the next bite.
In this thoughtful and compelling episode of The Inclusion Bites Podcast, Joanne Lockwood welcomes Hannah Bellamy to discuss the critical worldwide issue of water scarcity and its impact on humanity. Titled "Hydrating Humanity", they explore a range of vital points including the significance of clean water, the challenges communities face in securing it, and the innovative solutions being implemented by Charity Water to address these challenges. Jo highlights the role we can all play in fostering sustainable solutions, while Hannah shares their unique funding model ensuring 100% of donations go directly to water projects. The conversation also touches on climate change, personal water consumption, and the importance of clean water for basic human dignity.
Hannah Bellamy, our guest, is the managing director of Charity Water in the UK. With her wealth of experience and compassionate leadership, Hannah has been at the forefront of providing sustainable clean water solutions to millions globally. Her expertise lies not only in steering the organisation towards its goals but also in engaging with local communities and understanding their specific needs. She's committed to creating a transparent and sustainable charity model, and her insights offer a profound look into the work with local partners to overcome various water-related challenges faced in the communities Charity Water supports.
Throughout the episode, Joanne and Hannah discuss the dire consequences of water scarcity and how solutions can vary from the micro-level, such as educating girls and specific infrastructure for menstrual hygiene, to broader initiatives like lobbying for government support. They highlight the incredible impact that access to clean water has on improving the health and education of communities, particularly for women and girls. The discussion is not only informative but deeply impassioned, conveying a sense of urgency and responsibility towards this global crisis.
A key takeaway from the episode is a reminder of how integral clean water is to human life and the power of collective action. By supporting causes like Charity Water, every one of us can contribute to a mission that provides dignity, enhances health, and saves lives. Jo and Hannah's enthusiasm for the subject matter will undoubtedly inspire listeners to reflect on their own water usage and consider how they can help make a difference. The episode is a call to action to join the movement towards hydrating humanity, making it a must-listen for those passionate about global sustainability and social responsibility.
The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Inclusion Bites, SEE Change Happen Ltd or Joanne Lockwood. This episode is shared for general interest and discussion; we accept no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any statements made.
