Mentoring – Rural Water Supply Network

A Mentoring journey, by Fadzai T. Munodawafa and Kerstin Danert

For International Women’s Day, we would like to highlight two participants from the RWSN Mentoring programme for young professionals and women, Fadzai T. Munodawafa-Bhurabhura (from Zimbabwe) and Dr Kerstin Danert (from Switzerland). You can find out more about their experience of mentoring through RWSN below. RWSN plans on launching a new edition of the mentoring programme soon, and encourages women of all ages in the water sector to sign up. To find out more, sign up to become a RWSN member today.

Mentorship is a reciprocal learning relationship in which a mentor and mentee work collaboratively toward the achievement of mutually-defined goals that will develop a mentee’s skills, abilities, knowledge, and/or thinking.

Fadzai’s words:

I am Fadzai T. Munodawafa, a WASH professional with an international Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Zimbabwe. I support teams who implement WASH in the rural communities in Zimbabwe. In addition, I am responsible for managing the drilling unit of the organisation. With such responsibilities as a young professional, I sought to increase my understanding of rural and urban water supply and sanitation as well as groundwater monitoring, which both have a significant bearing on improving access to water for under-privileged communities.

A message of invitation for young professionals in the water sector to join the mentorship programme under the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) was shared on the Zimbabwe WASH Cluster platform. I thought this was an opportunity to learn from senior professionals and firm up my career. Following acceptance within the mentorship programme in 2020, I was linked with Dr Kerstin Danert a water sector professional researcher and facilitator.

Kerstin’s words:

I am Kerstin Danert, a rural water supply professional who has been active in RWSN since 2004, when I was still living and working in Uganda. I work as a consultant, with a range of types of work including research, training, facilitation and knowledge-brokering. I currently live in Switzerland.

Fadzai’s words:

My mentorship experience was a flexible one where I would ask questions or a raise discussion point and Kerstin would have a topic for discussion for our scheduled meetings. During our 9-month mentorship relationship, Kerstin and I discussed broadly on topics such as groundwater management, remote sensing and sustainable community-based management of water points key areas that have helped me in my career in the water sector. Kerstin’s experience in sub-Saharan Africa and remote areas made our connection easy as she could relate to my experiences and questions.

Kerstin’s words:

Our mentoring relationship commenced just as I was branching out to start my own company, which unfortunately coincided with the start of the Covid pandemic. It was not an easy time (as we all know), and I was worried as to whether my company would even survive. It very soon became apparent that this would not be a one-way mentorship by any means. Fadzai not only helped me to make contact with field realities (which I was very much missing), but also gave me a lot of support and encouragement regarding my new venture.

Fadzai’s words:

As a young professional, I was not confident speaking in public forums, a weakness my mentor helped me to work on. Now I can confidently speak in professional forums following her encouragement. Our engagement also looked into working on my resume and boost it to showcase the experience and skills I have. In addition, she connected me with experienced drillers and water specialists in Zimbabwe.

Kerstin’s words

Although I have now worked in the water sector for over 25 years always as a consultant, I still remain concerned work may not come in going forwards. Further, I think that I had began to take my years of experience for granted. The exchanges with Fadzai helped me to fully appreciate that I am actually not at the start of my working life, but (hopefully) in the middle of it with a lot under my belt already!

Both of us

Since the mentorship programme under RWSN, we have kept in touch resulting in our participation in the UNHS Climate and Gender podcast on Global Partnership: Gender, Progression and Climate-Orientated Careers (The UNHS Podcast and Spotify) in 2021. The following year, our mentorship led us to work on a report and video documenting the impact stories from participants of online courses on professional drilling by the RWSN

Fadzai’s words:

As a result of my mentorship experience, I can more effectively allocate my time for various activities, connect and confidently engage with other professionals in the water sector as well as have knowledge on key aspects of documentation. I highly recommend other young professionals to join the mentorship program that will build them up in their career within the water sector. Many thanks to the RWSN for this amazing and life changing experience.

Kerstin’s words:

This mentorship brought me closer to the field again. I learned so much from the conversations with Fadzai – and drew insights from her into all of my ongoing assignments, whatever the topic in fact. She always had such insightful contributions to make. And I argue that I was the mentee just as much as Fadzai was. So I encourage others to take the time to get involved in this programme. It has been so rewarding and I look forward to finally meeting Fadzai one day! We have been talking regularly now for three years. A big thanks to RWSN for this chance.

To find out more information about the RWSN mentoring programme, please see here.

My experience setting up a resource centre for rural water professionals

This year we are celebrating 30 years since the Rural Water Supply Network was formally founded. From very technical beginnings as a group of (mostly male) experts – the Handpump Technology Network- we have evolved to be a diverse and vibrant network of over 13,000 people and 100 organisations working on a wide range of topics. Along the way, we have earned a reputation for impartiality, and become a global convener in the rural water sector.

RWSN would not be what it is today without the contributions and tireless efforts of many our members, organisations and people. As part of RWSN’s 30th anniversary celebration, we are running a blog series on rwsn.blog, inviting our friends and experts in the sector to share their thoughts and experiences in the rural water sector.

This is a guest blog by RWSN Young Professional Justine Olweny, based in Uganda.

How I’ve ended up working in the rural water sector:

I’ve often wanted to add value to a situation. When encountered a challenge, I actively got involved and explore ways to provide solutions in reducing suffering and/or increasing performance as a team and celebrating alongside. I grew up in a drilling camp in Uganda and saw my Dad (who was a Water Engineer) drill boreholes in the early 1990s but later noticed how the services they were providing were raw. I convinced myself that if I could, I would like to improve the way my Dad provided access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene.

I have a background in information technology and management. In 2017 I set up my own start-up in the water sector in Uganda, Water Access Consulting. Since then my team has grown from three to eleven people across three offices. We are involved in various activities in the water sector in Uganda: groundwater exploration, water well drilling supervision, water quality testing, hygiene promotion, and plastic waste recycling. We also have a water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) resource centre in Kitgum to share knowledge and skills to water supply practitioners across Northern Uganda and South Sudan; you can read more about it here.

Today, I feel satisfied and at my best in the business of enhancing the delivery of safe water supply using inexpensive technologies to the low-income persons living in the remote part of the country to improve their lives in a meaningful way.

Water Access Consulting team doing water quality testing

The main challenges I have encountered in my work:

Getting along with my engineering colleagues: with my managerial and information system background, I prefer to approach a problem from the customer’s perspective and this doesn’t always go smoothly with my engineering colleagues since they already have a specific predetermined set of standards in addressing a similar situation; this can cause emotional and physical issues with the project team.
Making Mistakes: in my consultancy roles I always try new ideas and some end up in the south; I admit and apologize, but it takes a lot of courage. Sometimes offering a quick solution and fixing the mess on my own takes a lot of time, and I need to convince myself that it’s okay to move on.
Time Management: with the new normal after the COVID19 disruption, the level of uncertainties has increased and today it is extremely difficult to manage time when I’m settling into a new role and adjusting my updated responsibilities.

What I like the most about RWSN:

Two things stand out for me as:

Multicultural interaction of best practices and shared experiences by water supply practitioners across the globe on how they tackle water crises in their own region, and
The RWSN mentoring program for young professionals, through which my mentor Diana Keesiga relentlessly encouraged, inspired, and guided me into my full growth and development potential.

Where I see myself and the rural water sector in my country in the next 5 years:

I was privileged to follow closely the Ugandan Government’s rural water supply reform trends from the end of the 1990s up to now including the revised Strategic Sector Investment Plan that was completed in 2009. All these efforts together with other numerous campaigns by the relevant Authorities under the Ministry of water and environment demonstrate the goodwill and commitments of the Ugandan government to enact appropriate policies that promote private-public partnerships and a rural water supply market-based approach. This would transform traditional right-based approach beneficiaries into customers by challenging the low-income population in the remote parts of the country to embrace their rights and responsibilities to pay for water services.

This huge milestone has opened doors for local entrepreneurs to thrive by supporting the government’s mandate and initiatives of promoting access to safe water as a business that is replicated with little to no government subsidies. I believe that by 2027-2030 rural water supply will be transformed from a stand-alone hand pump installed borehole located approximately 2 kilometers away from a household with a long queue of yellow 20 liter jerrican waiting to be carried over a woman’s head, into an in house water tap that is operated and maintained by private businesses creating employment, reducing ill health and increasing productivity through time-saving that stabilize our economy.

As for myself: my company, Water Access Consulting, has been shortlisted among the 110 participants for the Bayer Social Innovation Award. The next step will be public voting which will start from the 10th of August up to the 16th of August 2022. You can support us by voting here:
https://getinthering.co/bayer-public-voting-africa-middle-east/
With the funding from this award and the coaching and mentoring provided, I would expand my company and my resource and learning centre so that it can benefit more rural water professionals and Uganda and beyond.

About the author:

Justine Olweny is a Program Director and co-founder of Water Access Consulting, with experience managing diverse water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) professionals. Justine Olweny graduated with a bachelor degree in information system and Technology with bias in Water supply. You can connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/justine-olweny-0064496b/

He has co-founded an organisation Water Access Consulting that has directly impacted 144,578 lives in Uganda including children, youth, women and persons with disabilities with access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. As of today, Justine’s company has surveyed and help drilled up to 372 water wells across Sub Saharan Africa.

Do you have a story to share with other RWSN members, about the rural water sector, your work, and your passions? We are encouraging members to contribute to our 30^th anniversary blog series. Please see the guidelines for contributions here – we will select the best blogs for publications before November 2022.

Photo credit: Justine Olweny/ Water Access Consulting

Comment j’ai créé un centre de ressources pour les professionnels de l’eau en milieu rural

Cette année, nous célébrons les 30 ans de la création officielle du Réseau rural d’approvisionnement en eau. Après des débuts très techniques en tant que groupe d’experts (essentiellement masculins) – le Handpump Technology Network – nous sommes devenus un réseau diversifié et dynamique de plus de 13 000 personnes et 100 organisations travaillant sur un large éventail de sujets. Au fil du temps, nous avons acquis une réputation d’impartialité et sommes devenus un rassembleur mondial dans le secteur de l’eau en milieu rural.

Le RWSN ne serait pas ce qu’il est aujourd’hui sans les contributions et les efforts inlassables de nos nombreux membres, organisations et personnes. Dans le cadre de la célébration du 30e anniversaire de RWSN, nous organisons une série de blogs sur rwsn.blog, invitant nos amis et experts du secteur à partager leurs réflexions et expériences dans le secteur de l’eau en milieu rural.

Ceci est un blog d’un jeune professionnel du RWSN, Justine Olweny, basé en Ouganda.

Comment j’en suis venu à travailler dans le secteur de l’eau en milieu rural :

J’ai souvent voulu apporter une valeur ajoutée à une situation. Lorsque j’ai rencontré un défi, je me suis impliqué activement et j’ai exploré les moyens d’apporter des solutions pour réduire les souffrances et/ou augmenter les performances en équipe et en célébration. J’ai grandi dans un camp de forage en Ouganda et j’ai vu mon père (qui était ingénieur en eau) forer des puits de forage au début des années 1990, mais j’ai remarqué par la suite que les services qu’ils fournissaient n’étaient pas optimaux. Je me suis convaincu que si je le pouvais, j’aimerais améliorer la manière dont mon père assurait l’accès à l’eau potable, à l’assainissement et à l’hygiène.

J’ai une formation en technologies de l’information et en gestion. En 2017, j’ai créé ma propre start-up dans le secteur de l’eau en Ouganda, Water Access Consulting. Depuis, mon équipe est passée de trois à onze personnes réparties dans trois bureaux. Nous participons à diverses activités dans le secteur de l’eau en Ouganda : exploration des eaux souterraines, supervision du forage de puits d’eau, tests de qualité de l’eau, promotion de l’hygiène et recyclage des déchets plastiques. Nous disposons également d’un centre de ressources sur l’eau, l’assainissement et l’hygiène (WaSH) à Kitgum, qui permet de partager des connaissances et des compétences avec les praticiens de l’approvisionnement en eau du nord de l’Ouganda et du Sud-Soudan. Vous pouvez en lire plus à ce sujet ici.

Aujourd’hui, je me sens satisfait de mon entreprise qui consiste à améliorer l’approvisionnement en eau potable à l’aide de technologies peu coûteuses pour les personnes à faibles revenus vivant dans les régions reculées du pays, afin d’améliorer leur vie de manière significative.

L’équipe de Water Access Consulting étudiant la qualité de l’eau

Les principaux défis que j’ai rencontrés dans mon travail :

S’entendre avec mes collègues ingénieurs : avec ma formation en gestion et en systèmes d’information, je préfère aborder un problème du point de vue du client et cela ne se passe pas toujours sans heurts avec mes collègues ingénieurs car ils ont déjà un ensemble de normes prédéterminées pour aborder une situation similaire ; cela peut provoquer des problèmes émotionnels et physiques avec l’équipe de projet.
Faire des erreurs : dans mes rôles de consultant, j’essaie toujours de nouvelles idées et certaines n’aboutissent pas ; je l’admets et je m’excuse, mais cela demande beaucoup de courage. Parfois, proposer une solution rapide et réparer le désordre par moi-même prend beaucoup de temps, et je dois me convaincre de passer à autre chose.
Gestion du temps : avec le retour à la normale après la perturbation de COVID19, le niveau d’incertitudes a augmenté et aujourd’hui, il est extrêmement difficile de gérer le temps lorsque je m’installe dans un nouveau projet et que j’adapte mes nouvelles responsabilités.

Ce que j’apprécie le plus de la part du RWSN :

Deux choses ressortent pour moi :

L’interaction multiculturelle des meilleures pratiques et des expériences partagées par les praticiens de l’approvisionnement en eau à travers le monde sur la façon dont ils abordent les crises de l’eau dans leur propre région
Le programme de mentorat RWSN pour les jeunes professionnels, grâce auquel mon mentor Diana Keesiga m’a encouragé, inspiré et guidé sans relâche vers mon plein potentiel de croissance et de développement.

Où je me vois et où je vois le secteur de l’eau en milieu rural dans mon pays dans les 5 prochaines années :

J’ai eu le privilège de suivre de près les tendances de la réforme de l’approvisionnement en eau en milieu rural du gouvernement ougandais depuis la fin des années 1990 jusqu’à aujourd’hui, y compris le plan stratégique d’investissement sectoriel révisé qui a été achevé en 2009. Tous ces efforts, ainsi que les nombreuses campagnes menées par les autorités compétentes sous l’égide du ministère de l’eau et de l’environnement, témoignent de la bonne volonté et de l’engagement du gouvernement ougandais à adopter des politiques appropriées pour promouvoir les partenariats public-privé et une approche de l’approvisionnement en eau en milieu rural basée sur le marché. Cela permettrait de transformer les bénéficiaires de l’approche traditionnelle fondée sur les droits en clients, en incitant la population à faible revenu des régions reculées du pays à assumer ses droits et ses responsabilités pour payer les services d’eau.

Cette étape importante a permis aux entrepreneurs locaux de prospérer en soutenant le mandat et les initiatives du gouvernement visant à promouvoir l’accès à l’eau potable en tant qu’activité commerciale pouvant être reproduite avec peu ou pas de subventions publiques. Je pense que d’ici 2027-2030, l’approvisionnement en eau en milieu rural sera passé d’un forage autonome installé avec une pompe manuelle à environ 2 kilomètres d’un foyer, avec une longue queue de jerricans de 20 litres jaunes attendant d’être portée sur la tête d’une femme, à un robinet d’eau à domicile exploité et entretenu par des entreprises privées, créant des emplois, réduisant les maladies et augmentant la productivité grâce à un gain de temps qui stabilise notre économie.

Pour ma part, mon entreprise, Water Access Consulting, a été présélectionnée parmi les 110 participants au prix Bayer de l’innovation sociale. La prochaine étape sera le vote du public, qui commencera le 10 août et se terminera le 16 août 2022. Vous pouvez nous soutenir en votant ici :
https://getinthering.co/bayer-public-voting-africa-middle-east/
Avec le financement de ce prix et l’accompagnement et le mentorat fournis, je développerais mon entreprise et mon centre de ressources et d’apprentissage afin qu’il puisse bénéficier à davantage de professionnels de l’eau en milieu rural, en Ouganda et au-delà.

À propos de l’auteur :

Justine Olweny est directeur et cofondateur de Water Access Consulting, avec une expérience de gestion de divers professionnels de l’eau, de l’assainissement et de l’hygiène (WASH). Justine Olweny est diplômé d’une licence en système d’information et technologie avec des biais dans l’approvisionnement en eau. Vous pouvez vous connecter avec lui sur LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justine-olweny-0064496b/.

Il a cofondé une organisation, Water Access Consulting, qui a eu un impact direct sur 144 578 vies en Ouganda, y compris des enfants, des jeunes, des femmes et des personnes handicapées ayant accès à l’eau potable, à l’assainissement et à l’hygiène. À ce jour, l’entreprise de Justine a étudié et aidé à forer 372 puits d’eau en Afrique subsaharienne.

Avez-vous une histoire à partager avec les autres membres du RWSN, sur le secteur de l’eau en milieu rural, votre travail et vos passions ? Nous encourageons les membres à contribuer à notre série de blogs sur le 30ème anniversaire. Veuillez consulter les directives pour les contributions ici – nous sélectionnerons les meilleurs blogs pour des publications avant novembre 2022.

Crédit photo : Justine Olweny/ Water Access Consulting

My RWSN mentoring experience

This is a guest blog by RWSN mentee Edwin Kiprotich Kiplagat , who is currently enrolled in the 2021 RWSN Mentoring Programme .

I am Edwin Kiprotich Kiplagat, a young and an ambituous Civil Engineer by training from Kenya. I currently work as an intern for the Water Infrastructure function at SMEC in Kenya. SMEC is a global engineering consultancy that provides design, supervision and project management services in the fields of water infrastructure, roads, urban and social development. The company is Australian based with several regional offices around the world. I am based in the Kenyan office in Nairobi which is the East African regional office serving the countries of Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.

I got to know of Rural Water Supply Network through LinkedIn social media network. I later got access to the information on RWSN mentorship program via a post shared in the same platform. It was an exciting prospect for me and I could not wait to choose a mentor. I registered for the program and outlined my objectives for participating in the program. My choice to participate in the program was propelled by the need to get a role model who would guide my goal to grow and apply engineering and management skills in providing clean water, sanitation and positive impact in the society. The aforementioned choice was further guided by the following objectives which I look to achieve: to gain advice on areas and avenues to further my education in postgraduate studies and professional courses relevant to water supply, to gain motivation on community development as I aspire to use engineering knowledge to develop and support community water supply projects in future and to wrap it all since I am a Christian, I am interested in leveraging my faith and my career in impacting people’s lives which I believe can be achieved by providing clean water as part of Christian mission work.

I found a mentor from Guyana in South America named Elon Ryan Sooknanan. My motivation to choose him as my mentor was spurred by the fact that we share a career in common and also through LinkedIn I discovered that he had ever participated in a church-related volunteering experience which drew my attention. I was convinced that he will assist me in achieving my objectives. Since we established touch towards the end of March, Elon and I have always opted to interact via WhatsApp which we found it efficient for both of us. We had an inaugural call where we familiarized with each other and from there agreed on the manner of interactions going forward. Since Elon also mentors other mentees in RWSN forum, he has divided his time to have a call with each mentee monthly. Due to the difference in time zone of seven hours between Kenya and Guyana, Elon and I have always agreed on a suitable day and time for both of us to have a call and discuss on matters relevant to the mentorship program.

Through the mentorship program, I have learnt through the interactions I have had with Elon. He advised on changes needed to upscale the competitiveness and presentation of my CV. One thing I remember him stressing on is the vitality of a CV in giving a clear impression of oneself to a stranger who has never met the owner of the CV. He also shared with me a water related short course opportunity offered by an Italian Institute known as Hydroaid that delved on climate change and water. I applied for the short course but unfortunately as a result of the restricted number that made it competitive I fell short of the selection. I hope to one day participate in the Hydroaid Program and also other short course that are in tandem with my goals. Furthermore, Elon has allowed his RWSN mentees to interact with one another through a WhatsApp group created and a monthly zoom meeting forum where each one shares highlights and resources in the field of water supply and sanitation. This has helped me connect with a network of professionals from different fields in the water sector. Elon also introduced me and other mentees to a Christian leadership development programme called God’s Apprenticeship Programme that helps develop faithful leaders around the world who can use their influence to transform their nation.

I am grateful I not only found a mentor but a friend who has inspired me. By the end of the program I hope to achieve milestones such as having an up-scaled competitive resume of myself; broadened knowledge in water, sanitation and hygiene plus leadership skills to mentor others in future. In a nutshell, personally and professionally I have been introduced to the idea of growth through sharing of ideas and challenging oneself to create an impact in the society which I believe is possible in the water sector.

About the author and his mentor

Edwin is a Civil Engineer by training working as an intern for the water infrastructure function at SMEC in Kenya. He has a BSc degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Nairobi. His training has equipped him in the field of hydraulics, hydrology, water resources management, structural engineering, highways and transportation engineering. He has been engaged previously in feasibility studies of small hydropower projects and currently assists in preparation of proposals, tender documents, Expression of Interest, design reviews and reports for various projects in the water function in SMEC International Kenyan office. He is enthusiastic to learn more of computer applications in engineering to solve societal needs and is passionate of the water sector in engineering.

Elon Ryan Sooknanan is an accomplished Civil/WASH Engineer with 10+ years of office and field experience, knowledge and skills. He hails from Guyana, South America and currently serves as the Head of Infrastructure & Projects at the Environmental Protection Agency in Guyana.

About the RWSN Mentoring Programme

For more information on the RWSN Mentoring Programme, please see here. RWSN is grateful to the SENSE Foundation for its support of the mentoring programme in 2021.

My RWSN mentoring experience

This is a guest blog by RWSN mentee Gaurav Thapak and RWSN mentor Pallavi Bharadwaj, who are currently enrolled in the 2021 RWSN Mentoring Programme .

Mentee’s Thoughts

I am an architect and urban planner with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), New Delhi, India. I work extensively in the urban areas on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services as one of my main focus areas. My postgraduate thesis was also focussed on water supply and its economics in an urban area. Earlier this year, I discovered the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN). A few months after I joined RWSN their mentorship programme was launched. I signed up for this programme in anticipation of growing by learning from an expert. I wish to develop a career in water economics and governance, and anticipated that this mentorship programme would be a great opportunity to steer myself in the right direction.

I envisioned what I sought for myself out of this programme and stated in my application that I would like to work with a mentor, who could broaden my horizons in water supply and management in rural and urban areas. Ms. Pallavi Bharadwaj accepted my mentorship proposal. Pallavi lives and works in the United States of America, and has over a decade and half years of experience working in the global WASH sector. I was extremely glad to be accepted for the mentorship and consider myself fortunate to have Pallavi as my mentor.

We scheduled our first meeting close to the deadline of mentorship agreement submission. It was a short introductory meeting for about half an hour. Despite the time zones difference, I was excited to meet with her. I had not set forth clear goals and outcomes of my mentorship arrangement. However, through our discussion, Pallavi understood where I was in my career and what I sought. She helped me identify my learning goals. We started out by setting three broad goals for me:

pursue a Ph.D in water governance and policy,
engage with social sector in water and wastewater sector,
a particular case development and exploration of how gamification can help nudge and model consumer behaviour.

We agreed that a monthly video meeting for an hour or so would work to touch base and evaluate my progress.

As I write this blog post, it has been over two months since the mentorship began. We have already met three times along with having numerous conversations on email, phone and social media. I regularly reach out on email and LinkedIn to seek suggestions and share ideas for various projects and competitions. Pallavi has always been kind and prompt to provide her inputs, comments and resources to facilitate my work, even if that might not have been a part of my original learning goals. Since we are now connected on LinkedIn, Pallavi often shares content to aid my professional development, suggests interesting events and talks to attend, shares job opportunities and connects me to her network. She has already facilitated an introduction with a student in Mumbai to further foster and develop collaborations for my professional growth.

My mentorship’s scope has extended above and beyond what my mentor and I had originally agreed upon. I am glad that Pallavi is available to answer my questions and shares interesting as well as thought provoking content with me on an ongoing basis. I find it easier to connect and collaborate with people, whom I am comfortable to have a dialogue with. Through our conversations Pallavi has made it easier for me to discuss ideas and concepts that are new and nascent for me in a clear and professional way.

I recommend every young professional in this sector, who has any doubts or confusion and wants to explore beyond their horizons, to sign up for this mentorship programme. I am very grateful to have Pallavi as my mentor, and thank RWSN for initiating this relationship.

Mentor’s Thoughts:

I have been part of RWSN’s mentorship program for two years now. Gaurav was the second mentee that reached out to me for working together and I agreed to be his mentor in 2021.

Through this relationship, I am not only sharing my knowledge, but also global experience as a WASH professional. In return, Gaurav is helping me learn even more about current trends in WASH management systems and challenges facing the underserved communities. I appreciate his ideas on utilizing the power of technology, such as gamification, for solving challenges in real time. For the remainder of this mentorship we will work together to connect his work to policy and advocacy, in light of United Nations Sustainable Goal 6 (SDG6), clean water and sanitation for all. It is my hope that through this mentoring relationship, Gaurav and I will be able to utilize our time working towards providing solutions for in-need communities.

About the RWSN Mentoring Programme

For more information on the RWSN Mentoring Programme, please see here. RWSN is grateful to the SENSE Foundation for its support of the mentoring programme in 2021.

Mi experiencia en el programa de mentores de la RWSN

Esta entrada fue realizada por Mayte Molina, una joven profesional inscrita en el Programa de Mentores 2021 de la RWSN.

Se dice que el inteligente aprende de sus errores, pero el genio aprende de los errores de los demás. El programa de mentores de la Red de Suministro de Agua Rural (RWSN) es una excelente oportunidad para conectarse y aprender de especialistas del agua, saneamiento y salud de alrededor del mundo.

Mi nombre es Mayte Molina, nicaragüense e ingeniera ambiental. Hace poco más de ocho meses logré conseguir mi primer trabajo en el sector WASH como Asociada de Operaciones en una ONG internacional. En este período me he encontrado distintos desafíos que van desde comprender la realidad de las comunidades rurales, entender ciertos tecnicismos hasta el incorporarme como joven mujer profesional en un sector dominado por hombres.

Lo cierto es que la universidad no te prepara para responder a ciertas situaciones que solo se viven en el ámbito laboral, por eso contar con un mentor que comparta sus consejos puede hacerte más fácil el aprendizaje. Sin embargo, acercarse a un experto puede ser complejo e intimidante. No todos tienen la disposición y voluntad de ayudar a los jóvenes a crecer sin tener un beneficio directo.

Mis intenciones de mejorar mi perfil profesional y encontrar oportunidades me llevaron a entrar al programa de mentoría. En mi caso, yo quería un mentor que tuviese experiencia en WASH tanto en el sector ONG como la academia para que me comentara sus experiencias, me asesorara sobre desarrollo profesional y creación de redes, así como buscar becas de grado.

Después de ver varios perfiles a través de la plataforma PushFar, encontré a Elon Sooknanan, un ingeniero civil de Guyana con más de 10 años de experiencia, actual Jefe de Infraestructura y Proyectos en la Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA). Escogí a Elon como mi mentor porque su perfil estaba completo, tiene experiencia como mentor en años pasados y tomó una maestría en WASH en la Universidad de Leeds en el Reino Unido.

Afortunadamente, Elon respondió a mi solicitud en junio 2021 y decidimos que nuestro medio de comunicación sería vía correo y videollamadas por Whatsapp. Quiero agregar que no solo a mí me pareció que el perfil de Elon es excelente, otras nueve personas más le pidieron que él sea su mentor. Actualmente estamos diez jóvenes profesionales de Afganistán, Austria, Francia, Guyana, Kenia, Nueva Zelanda, Singapur, Sri Lanka, Uganda y Nicaragua bajo la mentoría de Elon.

Videollamada entre Elon y yo por Whatsapp

Hasta el momento hemos tenido dos sesiones, en la primera me contó su experiencia en la maestría en Inglaterra y como obtuvo dos becas para poder financiar sus estudios en el extranjero. También, me explicó brevemente su tema de investigación sobre los costos del saneamiento urbano y las dificultades que pasó él y su compañero de Perú en el proceso de levantamiento de información. Por otro lado, yo le comenté los proyectos que ejecuto en la ONG y sobre mi iniciativa de jabones artesanales Hydrolution’s.

La segunda sesión consistió en establecer nuestros objetivos de mentoría para los próximos seis meses. Acordamos las actividades siguientes:

Asesoría para mejorar el CV y carta de presentación,
Compartir recursos para oportunidades laborales y académicas,
Proveer asistencia para la aplicación de becas de maestría,
Reunión individual una vez al mes de 30-45 minutos,
Reunión grupal mensual con todos los aprendices donde cada uno lidera una temática.

Como podrán imaginar, hacer una sesión grupal con personas de diferentes zonas horarios requiere planificación, por lo que tenemos un grupo en Whatsapp y un cronograma en Drive donde cada uno pone su disponibilidad. Acá hay que estar abierto a un poco de desvelo para alcanzar los objetivos.
Durante mi mentoría Elon me ha enviado una serie de enlaces, plataformas y recursos para desarrollar mis conocimientos sobre WASH. Aún tengo mucha lectura por hacer, pero puedo confirmar que es contenido valioso. Asimismo, me compartió su CV y carta de presentación para que lo tome de referencia y pueda pulir los míos. Otro beneficio de la mentoría es que puedo practicar mi inglés y ganar vocabulario técnico.

Al final del año espero conocer mejor a mis demás colegas y mi mentor, continuar intercambiando experiencia y crecer como profesional para crear proyectos que respondan a las necesidades de las familias rurales y la realidad de mi país de la mejor forma posible. Aunque el programa de mentoría oficialmente termine en seis meses estoy segura que vamos a seguir en contacto para compartir nuestros logros y aprendizajes. Le escribiré a Elon cuando reciba las buenas nuevas de la beca para cursar mi maestría en el exterior.

Sobre el programa de tutoría de la RWSN

Para más información sobre el Programa de Mentores de RWSN, consulte aquí. La RWSN agradece a la Fundación SENSE su apoyo al programa de tutoría en 2021.

My experience of the RWSN Mentoring Programme

This is a guest blog by Amanda Mugwambi, a young professional from Zimbabwe enrolled as a mentee in the 2020 RWSN Mentoring Programme.

I’m Amanda Mugwambi from Zimbabwe. I have been working in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector for over 5 years in addition to four years prior of environmental management. I am currently working as a Public Health Promoter for an international NGO. I have had the opportunity to work in both urban and rural projects. It has been fulfilling to see community transformation through donor funding complimenting stakeholder efforts and community engagement.

I heard about the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) mentoring programme through my country’s WASH National Coordination Unit. I was interested in the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills to advance my career and to hear about experiences in other countries. I must admit, I had a bit of trouble in the application process where I had to outline my expectations from being part of the programme. I just didn’t seem to be able to mainstream my thoughts. I wanted to know more about everything! When I finally managed to submit my application, I was anxious to find out who my mentor would be. I hoped they would be able to provide the right balance of academic and professional development. I was matched with Susana Sandoz, a WASH specialist, currently a consultant with UNICEF. RWSN really did an excellent job pairing us! Not only is Susana a seasoned expert but her experience with UNICEF which funds some of the projects I have been working on gave me an extra understanding.

We began the mentorship process with Susana helping me gather my thoughts by streamlining topics that we would like to discuss over the duration of the programme. We communicated via email, whatsapp and skype. We had our first session in April 2020 via skype. To be honest, it was so easy talking to her. I didn’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing. We met online once a week on skype, then we’d decide on the topic for the following week. Susana would send me literature to review so that I could note down any questions for our next meeting. My favorite part of our sessions was when Susana would tell about her experiences in the different countries she had worked in, some of them were very applicable to Zimbabwe. It was relatable and gave me an insight on how to find solutions to the challenges I faced.

I have a keen interest in School WASH. I particularly liked the sessions on hygiene promotion, menstrual hygiene management, handwashing, child protection, emergency management, disaster risk reduction especially considering the Covid-19 pandemic. I have learnt the importance of using emotional triggers to reinforce positive behavior change such as effective handwashing. And I have also learnt more about community engagement to ensure the success of water and sanitation projects. It is crucial to trigger community members early for them to realize the importance of zero open defecation and the safe water chain to improve their health and hygiene. Below is the list of all the topics we discussed:

Date	Session#	Topic
15 Apr	1	COVID 19, Handwashing
22 Apr	2	Sanitation and Sato Pans
29 Apr	3	Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM)
6 May	4	Disability and Inclusion
13 May	5	Monitoring & Evaluation; Communication for Disasters
20 May	6	Latrine types: advantages and disadvantages
3 June	7	Sustainability
10 June	8	Development and Environmental Issues
15 June	9	Communication for development (C4D)
24 June	10	Social Norms changes
14 July	11	Emergencies in WASH
21 July	12	Water Quality and Water Treatment
28 July	13	Why is Sanitation Important and Advocating for Sanitation
5 Aug	14	The Burden of COVID-19
13 Aug	15	Advocacy
21 Aug	16	Gender
25 Aug	17	Child Protection
3 Sep	18	Climate Change
8 Sep	19	Skills for Interviews
15 Sep	20	Hygiene Promotion
29 Sep	21	Capacity Building
6 Oct	22	WASH in Schools and COVID-19 Reduction
13 Oct	23	Types of Rural Water Supply Systems
20 Oct	24	Pollution Analysis of Water Supply Systems
27 Oct	25	Pollution Analysis of Water Supply Systems
11 Nov	26	Urban and Rural Characteristics and Different Approaches in WASH
17 Nov	27	Urban and Rural Characteristics and Different Approaches in WASH
23 Nov	28	General Climate Change Summary
7 Dec	29	How to obtain an Enabling Environment
15 Dec	30	Income Generating Activities, General Advice for Latrine Building Questions on topics previously discussed

I appreciate the opportunity to be part of the RWSN mentorship. A special thanks to Susana, I really enjoyed the sessions, always informative and flexible. We also developed a friendship over the months which was pleasant and has improved our mental health during the pandemic. In our case we have agreed to continue checking up on each other at least once a month. I encourage young professionals to join the RWSN network as it’s a platform for continuous learning and for personal and professional development.

About the author

Amanda Mugwambi holds an MSc in Disaster Management and a BSc in Environmental Science from the University of Science and Technology (NUST) Zimbabwe. Her interests range from WASH, climate change adaptation and Disaster Management.

About the RWSN Mentoring Programme

For more information on the RWSN Mentoring Programme, see here. RWSN thanks the Swiss Development Cooperation and World Vision for their support to the mentoring programme in 2020.

My experience of the RWSN Mentoring Programme

This is a guest blog by Janvier Ngabo, a RWSN young professional enrolled in the 2020 RWSN Mentoring Programme.

My name is Janvier NGABO, from Rwanda. I currently work as a project officer in the department of natural resources management in the organization IPFG, working in southern province of Rwanda. My daily work is to help targeted communities in climate change adaptation and mitigation, focusing on natural resource management and their effective use, with a more emphasis on water and soil natural resources. I am a member of Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN).

The RWSN has the goodwill of organizing mentorship activities in their Mentorship Programme for young professionals, where experienced and skilled RWSN members engaged in helping young professionals in their careers, to help them increase their skills. For the occasion, at the starting of the year 2020, the RWSN organized such mentorship activities. I took advantage of the activity and so got engaged in, as a mentee. It was for the RWSN secretariat to find mentors for the engaged mentees, and for the occasion, I got a mentor, Mr. Nura Boru, experienced personnel in hydraulic engineering, Postgraduate programs, and Research Coordinator, in Haramaya Institute of Technology, Haramaya University, in Ethiopia. I and my mentor agreed on the way to work and the agenda to follow during the whole working period, till the end of the 2020 year, as planned by the RWSN secretariat.

I and my mentor agreed to discuss on the following topics:

Sustainable water resources use;
Rainwater harvesting technologies in rural areas (focusing on roof rainwater harvesting technologies);
Risks & impact assessment on rainwater harvesting system, focusing on the impact of roof rainwater harvesting on the reduction of soil erosion.

Depending on the subject discussed, intense discussions were done, where most discussions were done through email where my mentor provided some reading that includes some research done as well as modules on the topics discussed. The email channel also served to provide works for more understanding. Skype discussions were done to evaluate the progress, but not frequently done because of the problems of networks on both sides.

From the mentorship activities, I gained more knowledge and improved on different topics in water resource management.

I understand more about the rationale of harvesting rainwater. I understood more the need for water especially in semi-arid zones, as well as some problems water can cause. For that instance, I got that there is a need worldwide, to manage that resource in need but that can cause various problems, to manage it and promote its use, essentially in agricultural production.

I improved on the way to conduct a baseline on the water need at the household and institutional level and the way of designing its storage tank. We used in our organization to recruit consultants if such studies were needed. But from this moment, I can conduct a kind of study in my organization without the recourse of consultants. Of course, I can do consultation work for the topics for other people and institutions in need!

We didn’t stop on roof rainwater harvesting part only; we tried to understand the rationale behind rainwater harvesting, and its contribution to the reduction of erosion, especially in my “country of thousands hills” (Rwanda), where the loss of soil through erosion is intense. By this topic, I started the short study regarding the contribution of roof rainwater harvesting on the reduction of erosion in my community. My mentor agreed to guide me in the continuation of such studies.

***Photo: my mentor and me, discussing on Skype***

We really appreciated the commitment of the RWSN members to help improving the communities and entire world in water management supply and use, while no one is left behind. That desire and commitment to help everyone who needs the support in the network and beyond it is a golden value from the Almighty God. In my career, I will be guided by it, and help any person who needs my support as I can, without envisaging anything in return.

I appreciated the mentorship activity and the way it was conducted. I learnt a lot and I continue to gain more knowledge in the RWSN. More thanks go to the RWSN and its secretariat, may the almighty God bless them. We wish this kind of training or mentorship to continue for other young professionals. We wish also the continuity of the relationship between mentors and mentees. In our case, I (Mr. Janvier NGABO) and my mentor (Mr. Nura Boru) agreed to continue the interactions. Overall, from this program, we have gained different skills.

About the RWSN Mentoring Programme

For more information on the RWSN Mentoring Programme, see here. RWSN thanks the Swiss Development Cooperation and World Vision for their support to the mentoring programme in 2020.

My experience of the RWSN Mentoring Programme

This is a guest blog by Joshua Azaki, a young professional from South Africa enrolled as a mentee in the 2020 RWSN Mentoring Programme.

I was introduced to RWSN by Professor Ulrike Rivett in March 2018 and I signed up to receive updates about the activities of the RWSN. In 2019, when I received the notification about the application for the 2020 mentoring programme, I applied immediately. I saw it as an opportunity to learn more about the water sector from experts, professionals and other participants. I was open to learning how they overcame the challenges of working in the water sector. I was glad to be among the successful applicants and privileged to be matched to Dr Vassiki Sanogo as my mentor. My mentor and I soon developed a working plan which included the time frame, the activities to carry out, the aim and objectives and our expectations from the mentoring programme.

The RSWN mentoring programme became one of the outstanding events for me in 2020. As a mentee, the programme was a journey of self-discovery and sharpening of my capabilities. My mentor was an astute, honest, relentless, and very resourceful person. He provided guidance and valuable inputs that will facilitate achieving my personal and professional goals as an upcoming researcher in the water sector. Table 1 summarises the activities we carried out during the mentoring programme. We met virtually nine times via Zoom and Microsoft Teams while keeping in touch through emails. We achieved our goals as spelt out from the beginning of the mentoring programme between March 2020 and December 2020.

Meetings and activities	Aim
Networking	To expose the mentee on how to explore and exploit networking opportunities
Academic writing	To improve the writing skills of the mentee by exposing him to tips on writing to the academic community.
Brainstorming	To sharpen the critical reasoning and problem-solving skills of the mentee through analysing journal articles.
CV presentation	To help mentee explore the best ways to professionally present himself
Data analysis	To guide mentee towards choosing the appropriate ways of collecting data and conducting data analysis
Continuous learning	To discuss further on the webinars organised by RWSN
Thematic expertise	To expose mentee to potential work or research opportunities in the water sector
Time management and record-keeping	To improve mentee’s organisational skills through scheduling of meeting, taking of minutes of and keeping records of meetings

Table 1: Activities carried out during the 2020 RWSN mentoring programme

Impact of the 2020 RWSN mentoring programme

The impacts of the mentoring programme are numerous, some are listed below:

I learnt more about how to craft a credible research question through identifying gaps in the literature, generating smart and achievable research objectives, ways of conducting research (data collection and data analysis methods) as well as reporting my findings.
I learnt how to select journals to publish in (which includes knowing the target audience of a journal, their writing and referencing style and the impact factor of the journal).
I learnt what an Individual Development Plan (IDP) is and created one.
My organisational, record keeping, and time management skills were sharpened.

The above-listed points were key to me, especially now that I am about to start my doctorate. The mentoring experience provided me with the opportunity to be better prepared to take on the task associated with pursuing my doctorate and future career.

The mentoring programme also helped me navigate the lockdown period that accompanied the COVID 19 pandemic with less stress because I was productively engaged throughout the period. I was exposed to useful resources during the RWSN webinars especially the webinar on WHO/UNICEF JMP methods for monitoring SDG targets for WASH in households.

My mentor was pleased and excited that we worked as a team to achieve all our goals.

In conclusion, the 2020 RWSN mentoring programme was very engaging, educative, interactive and well organised. We thank the organisers and sponsors of the programme for this platform.

About the mentee and his mentor

Joshua Azaki is a Christian, a husband and a postgraduate student with the iCOMMS research team at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. His research interests are broadly in Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), knowledge management in the water sector and the use of persuasive information campaign to encourage water-saving practices. He is about to start his doctorate at the time of writing this blog.

Dr Vassiki Sanogo is a well-organized and dependable professional, equipped with a positive, can-do attitude in leading and educating diverse levels of team member. Armed with expertise in applied economics, health economics, health/water policy, economic development, public policy, payer/clinical decision-makers, comparative study, cost-effective, budget impact, assess risk, quantitative methods, statistics, business analytics, machine learning, deep learning, visual text analytics, data project architect, forecasting, optimization, experimental and case studies, and data science. Equipped with exceptional ability in working and interacting with students and colleagues in a professional manner. Known for strong work ethic, complemented with unparalleled professionalism and proven ability to conceptualize new ideas as necessary. Articulate communicator, fluent in English, French, and Dioula. Technologies: SAS, SQL, STATA, R, Python, Cplex, Gurobi, Java, C++, TreeAge, Tableau, MATLAB.

About the RWSN Mentoring Programme

For more information on the RWSN Mentoring Programme, see here. RWSN thanks the Swiss Development Cooperation and World Vision for their support to the mentoring programme in 2020.

My experience of the RWSN Mentoring Programme

This is a guest blog by Byamukama Arinaitwe, a young professional enrolled as a mentee in the RWSN Mentoring Programme.

My name is Byamukama Arinaitwe, a recent civil engineering graduate from Uganda. In September 2019, I started out in my career working with Kigezi Diocese Water and Sanitation Programme as a Civil Engineer. The programme champions WASH interventions in South-Western Uganda, with its water supply interventions ranging from point water sources like protected springs to piped water systems like gravity water flow systems. It is an exciting field to practice in because it directly impacts the quality of people’s lives.

The desire to grow my knowledge and skill in the WASH sector led me to the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) mentoring programme. When I applied to join the mentoring programme, I didn’t have specific outlined expectations on what benefits would come from being part of the programme. I mostly looked forward to being matched with a mentor, a senior to me in all ways from whom I would learn a lot. I was matched with Engineer Oria-Usifo Ehi Ekiado. He is a Nigerian professional with a vast experience in managing water resources and also doubles as an academic with the University of Benin. He also has a stellar research portfolio of published journal articles and conference papers.

The RWSN mentoring programme has benefited me almost invariably at every turn. To begin with, the application process. When applying for mentoring, mentees were asked to write a one page essay explaining why they wanted to be mentored and then came the filling of the mentoring agreement. The agreement had a part of skills a mentee wanted to improve throughout the duration of the mentoring relationship. I don’t know of a time in my life when I did so much introspection to find out which skills I was confident about and those I wanted to improve but I was certainly sure of the skills I wanted to acquire. This whole process made me more self-aware and helped me learn a bit more about myself in regard to my abilities, hopes and ambitions.

Since March 2020, my mentor and I have held online discussions by both e-mail, video calls via Zoom, WhatsApp as well as text. Our interactions have to date been guided by an agenda prepared for a given meeting. He gives me assignments based on the list of activities that was included in the mentorship agreement at the start of the programme. This list has activities based on the skills I desire to improve as well as acquire throughout this mentoring period and they are broken down according to the months of the year.

A video call interaction between my mentor and me.

The benefits of being mentored so far are quite invaluable and innumerable to me, both directly and indirectly.

In my career/at the workplace, this mentoring has enhanced my ability to address problems as well as coming up with solutions through sharing the challenges with my mentor. My mentor guides me on how to come up with viable solutions to the problems. Case in point was improving the safety and quality of water used in beneficiary households through enhancing behavioral change.

I have also learnt how to communicate effectively the changes or solutions I think could significantly solve some of the challenges encountered in the workplace. I am currently working on a PowerPoint presentation on how my organization can use PRINCE 2 (a project management methodology) for which I am a certified practitioner, to run our projects better. In the near future I also intend to write some papers that could influence change in my workplace and also propel me professionally.

Through this mentoring programme, I have also learnt to be intentional in choosing and prioritizing activities or programs that I think may add value to me professionally. My mentor’s input in my decisions has and continues to clear my judgment and decision making ability. This has come to play in choosing some desired certifications over others because of the varying benefits each add as opposed to random choice.

Through the mentoring programme, my mentor continuously recommends resources like books and webinars that have enriched my knowledge and understanding of different facets of engineering.

The RWSN mentoring programme has so far been a learning curve for me and I look forward to continuously learn.

For more information on the RWSN Mentoring Programme, see here. RWSN thanks the Swiss Development Cooperation and World Vision for their support to the programme.