Water Works is a charity committed to assisting communities gain access to safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation facilities. Our approach is not to give hand outs, but to empower people to meet their own needs.

 

The Water Team

 

Samuel Banda (Builder)

Samuel has many years of building experience. He is not only a talented builder, but an excellent teacher. He has the ability to engage the entire community in the development, especially people who are often excluded.

Banda is responsible for teaching the communities how to build the wells surrounding structure and advises on good latrine building practices.

 

 

Alinafe Kuzemba (Water Pump Technician)

Alinafe is an exceptionally intelligent and talented person. Despite growing up in a poor village with limited opportunities, he has developed many excellent technologies that are built with locally available materials. One such technology is the 'Nafe' pump.

Alinafe is Water Works' water pump technician and trains the communities how to install and maintain both the Nafe pump and the Abakus pump. He lives in the area that our projects are based so is available to provide extra technical support to the communities that require it.

 

Black Chakumodzi (Project Manager)

Black (left of photograph) has spent much of his life mobilising communities to build their own toilets and advising on the importance of good hygiene practices.

Black is the Water Works project manager and ensures that the projects are community led. He excels when engaging and promoting partnerships with communities.

 

 

 

 

The Management Team

Simon Cohen (Director)

Simon founded the charity in September 2008 after graduating with a master's degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Edinburgh.

After discovering that over forty percent of Malawi's water pumps had fallen into disrepair, Simon spearheaded the development of Water Works' pumps, which can be built and maintained by community members with locally available and low cost materials. He continues to develop Water Works' programmes and strategy and leads the projects in Malawi. He excels when engaging communities, building partnerships and providing training.

Simon has futher developed his expertise of community participatory and capacity building approaches by reading a master’s degree in International Development at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Mikael Ullero (Project Coordinator)

Mikael helped to establish the charity in January 2009 while studying civil engineering at the University of Edinburgh. After Water Works' first visit to Malawi in 2009, Mikael wrote his master thesis on how to improve the sustainability of rural water developments. An important part of this research was the design of the Water Works Abakus pump. His work received much recognition and was awarded a grant from the University of Edinburgh Development Trust. This grant was used to assist 8 villages to build the Abakus pump.

Mikael's attention to detail ensures that Water Works' technology works effectively and projects run smoothly.

Jeff Cohen (Fundraiser)

Jeff has substantial experience in raising money for various voluntary groups including Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum and Nottingham Jewish Muslim Dialogue. His career has been in the field of mental health and human rights.

He is a Mental Health Act Commissioner with the Care Quality Commission, a specialist member of the Mental Health And Care Standards Tribunals and runs training programmes on mental health law and policy.

He is now taking a more active role in the management of Water Works and is planning to go to Malawi to manage the projects for 2013.