From Wells to Water Systems with Water Access Rwanda | Eps. 10: Impact Innovations Podcast

Описание: Presented by Fierce Philanthropy - What if you supported a clean water initiative—raised the funds, celebrated the impact—only to discover later that the water wasn’t actually safe to drink? This happens more than you might think.

What if, instead, you could support an organization that doesn’t just drill wells—but treats, tests, maintains, and delivers safe water directly into people’s homes, just like the system you rely on every day?

In this episode, Christelle Kwizera, founder and CEO of Water Access Rwanda, joins host Todd Manwaring to share how her team is bringing safe, affordable, tap-like water access to rural communities across Rwanda. Christelle explains why “clean” isn’t the same as “safe,” how Water Access Rwanda’s Inuma mini-grid model delivers treated water through pipelines with ongoing maintenance and testing, and what it takes to keep systems working years after the ribbon-cutting.

You'll also learn:

Why water projects fail when no one owns maintenance, monitoring, and accountability
How time savings from near-home water access can translate into income, dignity, and shifting gender roles
What the data says about health outcomes—and how Water Access Rwanda tracks active users instead of inflated totals


A special thanks to our production sponsor, UI Charitable.

Links from this episode:

Learn more about Water Access Rwanda: https://www.warwanda.com/

Check out more stories of clean water access:    / @wateraccessrwanda9821  

Find other effective social impact organizations here: http://fiercephilanthropy.org/vetted-organ...

Show Notes
0:18 | Introduction
Host Todd Manwaring introduces Impact Innovations (Episode 10) and welcomes Christelle Kwizera, founder and CEO of Water Access Rwanda, an organization delivering safe, piped water to underserved communities across Rwanda.

1:29 | Meet Christelle Kwizera
Christelle shares her background growing up in Rwanda, the influence of parents working in agriculture and health, and how her early passion for solving real-world problems shaped her path as a social entrepreneur.

4:10 | The Spark: From a Summer Project to a Mission
A conversation about how she would use $60,000 leads Christelle to explore solutions that create jobs and address urgent needs—setting the foundation for Water Access Rwanda.

5:38 | The Water Crisis That Changed Everything
A tragic story of people being killed by crocodiles while fetching water exposes deeper systemic failures and prompts a central question: why families are forced to risk their lives for water.

8:42 | Discovering the Scale of the Problem
Research reveals that lack of piped, safe water is not an isolated issue but a widespread challenge across Rwanda and Africa—fueling Christelle’s commitment to tackle the problem at scale.

12:09 | Rethinking Water: Safe vs. Clean
Christelle explains why “clean-looking” water isn’t enough, emphasizing the need for treated, continuously protected water that remains safe all the way to consumption. An overview of WAR’s two core solutions: Inuma, a community-scale water mini-grid delivering affordable piped water, and Amazi, a rain-to-tap system reducing outages and costs in urban areas.

19:20 | Why Most Water Projects Fail Over Time
Christelle outlines the dangers of “build-and-leave” approaches, sharing findings from abandoned and contaminated boreholes—and how WAR prioritizes monitoring, maintenance, and real user accountability.

31:57 | What Changes When Water Comes Home
Through data and personal stories, Christelle shows how home water connections reduce disease, save time and money, unlock women’s economic opportunity, and increase gender equity within households.

45:15 | Final Reflections: What Effective Water Philanthropy Looks Like
Todd closes the episode by summarizing the evidence behind Water Access Rwanda’s impact, highlighting the importance of purification, testing, and household delivery—and challenging listeners to support water solutions that go beyond wells to truly save lives.