Holly Lang/Pine Magazine: Can you tell us a little bit about the ClearWater initiative and your goals with it?

Ben Sklaver/ClearWater Initiative: The ClearWater Initiative is a 501(c)3 charity with the simple mission of providing clean drinking water to people affected by natural or man-made emergencies. Our work currently focuses on conflict-affected communities in northern Uganda. We fund four types of sustainable clean water infrastructure projects: protected springs, borehole or well repairs, rainwater catchment systems and, in the very near future, well drilling.

All of our projects are coordinated through local authorities and district water officials, and our entire staff in Uganda comes from the northern part of the country. We work very closely with the government and local leaders to ensure that they take ownership for the projects, and do our best to hire villagers and residents to help in the actual construction of the water project.

Our vision at ClearWater is to promote sustainable access to clean water. For that reason, we rely heavily on established local techniques to provide potable water. When we build protected springs, we essentially create a natural filter of sand and gravel to remove animal waste from existing contaminated shallow streams. When we repair broken wells, we use local parts and materials to ensure that the village can continue to maintain the system after we move on. All the work is monitored by sub-county water officials to ensure it meets local standards and can be repaired without additional assistance from ClearWater.

Providing clean water in many of these areas isn't difficult, but it it is expensive. The aquifers in northern Uganda can be anywhere from 60 to 90 meters underground. We also work in extremely remote parts of the country. A large percentage of our costs go simply to fuel. Drilling a new well in northern Uganda costs about $12,000.

ClearWater was founded in 2007, and at that time we set a goal of providing clean water to 10,000 people within 5 years. As of today, we've completed projects that serve 3,800 men, women and children. If we can raise $25,000 at the fundraiser on July 12th, we should be able to complete six more projects and get clean water to an additional 2,000 displaced civilians.

PM: How did this project initially come about? What is your history with the area?

BS: I serve as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and in 2006 was mobilized and deployed under the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa. After about 3 months in Djibouti, I was sent to northern Uganda to lead a Civil Affairs team operating along the border with Sudan. We spent 8 months in the area, mentoring Ugandan military units and developing relationships with local leaders in areas emerging from a 20-year conflict between the Ugandan military and the rebel Lords Resistance Army (LRA).

While we were there, I was shocked and upset by the number of small children who were sick from drinking dirty water. Others, including pregnant women and young mothers, were malnourished due to diarrhea because they simply didn't have access to clean water. During the war, the LRA would often destroy wells as a way of forcing civilians to evacuate their villages. Now that the conflict is ending, people want to leave the displaced persons camps and return home. Unfortunately, many of the water points in their home villlages are now ruined, and people have no alternative but to drink dirty water.

I had the opportunity to work with a number of Ugandan drillers and engineers over the course of that year. When I came home around Thanksgiving, 2007, starting ClearWater was a natural way to remain involved and help people in need. Together with friends and family, we've been working to build the Clearwater project ever since.

PM: Is this something you want to expand outside of Uganda?

BS: Absolutely. We actually are starting a pilot program to allow current Peace Corps volunteers to nominate clean water projects in their villages. As long as the volunteer is willing to oversee the clean water project, and it meets our basic guidelines of simplicity and service to civilians affected by conflict or disaster, we'll work together to make it happen. Strategically, we're going to focus on Uganda for the next year, but look to grow slowly as opportunities arise.

PM: How do you feel smaller organizations such as yours fit into the larger scheme of international aid? Can a handful of people in Atlanta really have an impact in a place nearly 7,000 miles away? 

BS: Being a smaller group, ClearWater is able to maintain a sharp focus on our core mission:  clean water projects for conflict and disaster-affected populations. We have no paid staff, everyone is a volunteer, which keeps overhead at less than 10 percet of total revenue. And because we focus on infrastructure, our results are easily quantifiable. We can tell you exactly how many boys and girls receive clean water from each and every project we complete.

Being a smaller, water-focused charity also allows us to serve both recipient communities and donors in ways that are difficult for larger nonprofits. If you as a donor want to repair a broken well at a primary school, we can identify the school, contract the work, even provide line-item costs for cement and pipes. The work is transparent. The impact is measurable and concrete.

PM: Is there anything I haven't asked yet I should?

BS: One of my favorite things about ClearWater is that we're run entirely by volunteers. The mission is simple and the group is passionate and fun. If anyone wants to join and get involved, let us know Saturday night. We'd love to see the organization grow.

Also, if you're part of a group interested in hosting a fundraiser or event to support clean water in Africa, we would be glad to work with you to identify a project and make it happen!