: 1001 fontaines

Gender and Schools

By PCI Posted on Tue 18 Jun 2013, over 11 years ago

Hello Aude and Rosemary,

Thank you for your detailed responses and all of the information you've provided thus far on the work that you do. I have a few additional questions on behalf of PCI...

1) You mentioned in your profile that about 32% of your entrepreneurs are women. Why do you think there has been a discrepancy between female and male entrepreneurs? Also, what is your plan for including more women as entrepreneurs going forward?

2) Can you elaborate further on your "Water in School" programme? Is this built into every project or is it dependent on separate sponsorship funds being collected? Are there treatment units at the schools or is it the job of the operator to deliver clean water to schools? Also, how does 1001 fontaines ensure the sustainability of the "Water in School" programme and that school children continue to have access to clean water?

3) Can you provide more information on the specific hygiene activities you conduct as part of your "Social Marketing Campaigns" and integrated approach? Are hygiene activities a part of your "Water in School" programme?

Many thanks in advance,

John

Gender and Schools

By 1001 fontaines Posted on Wed 19 Jun 2013, over 11 years ago

Dear John,

Thank you for your questions. You'll find our answers below

1) One of the main reasons explaining the discrepancy between female and male entrepreneurs is the job itself. An operator generally produces between 800 and 1 200 liters a day, which means that he/she has to carry close to a ton of water every day, a very physical task. When we manage to recruit female entrepreneurs, they usually have to work with at least one or two male assistants to assist them with the delivery of the 20 liter bottles.

Another reason explaining the low percentage of women entrepreneurs is also the fact that the Cambodian society is rather patriarchal. The local community leaders we work with to identify potential operators often suggest male profiles even though women can present better managerial and entrepreneurial skills.

We have been working with NGO’s such as Oxfam in the field - very focused on building on women entrepreneurship - and they have been providing useful insight on how to involve more women, especially regarding developing sales for example through door to door actions or group discussions with women in the villages.

We hope that working in countries such as India where women entrepreneurship is more developed will also help us gain expertise on the subject.

2) The water in school programme is built into every project but is funded separately. Once the operator reaches the break-even point and is able to generate sufficient revenue to cover all costs including his salary and the maintenance of the station, he/she is asked to deliver water at school free of charge. The organization pays him/her for this service through donations which are specifically received for this programme.

This programme enables us to ensure that wherever a station is implemented, the children at school can benefit from water free of charge. In some schools or orphanages, a treatment unit is set up but in most cases the treatment units are actually outside the school and the operator delivers water on a daily basis.

The water in school programme is usually set up for a period of 3 years. After this period it is expected that either the director of the school is able to secure the funds directly or that the operator has developed his/her business well enough to support the programme himself. However if this is not the case we continue to fund the access to water of course through specific partnerships with corporate partners of foundations.

3) We organize awareness campaigns in the villages to explain the importance of drinking safe water. These sessions also include education on hygiene, and specifically on the importance of washing hands and the risks related to the practice of open defecation.

These sessions are also organized at school as part of the Water in School programme to educate children on the importance of washing hands as well as drinking safe water. In some schools where we secure enough funds, we implement sinks for the children to encourage them to wash their hands regularly. All these actions are part of our integrated approach to improve the health of rural populations.

Kind regards,

Aude

Operations and Regional Platform

By East Meets West Foundation Posted on Mon 24 Jun 2013, over 11 years ago

I have read all of the questions and replies and find them informative and relevant.

However, I have some questions about operations, long term sustainability and the Regional Platform.

1. I note that the treatment methodology uses fairly conventional and accepted water treatment technology, ie coagulation/flocculation with alum, sand filtration, microfiltration,UV disinfection and bottling. We know from many years of experience that each of these steps can fail because of, for example, poor operations and equipment malfunction/failure. These problems can cause systems to malfunction or fail and not be sustainable in the long term.

You state that "our local teams visit each of the sites, at least on a monthly basis, to monitor production volumes and ensure that standards of quality are being met". The Regional Platform PDF also states that 1001 Fontaines has teams of local technicians to support local operators. Would you please provide more detail as to how successful the Regional Platform is in regard to maintaining successful long term operations. Also, it is not clear to me from the Financial statements how this model is funded considering the low cost of treated water (no more than 0.01 USD/Litre.

2. The East Meets West Clean Water Program has investigated/provided water treatment/ distribution systems at two levels"
(a) larger regional systems (for several hundred households) using conventional treatment that are handed over to the local authority for management, operations and maintenance after they have been constructed.
(b) smaller systems for individual households that use solar treatment that are the responsibility of local households.

On a technical level I can see the applicability of the 1001 Fontaines treatment system to Vietnam. However, in Vietnam the management, operations and maintenance of regional systems is typically undertaken by local government authorities. Can you comment on the applicability of the 1001 Fontaines Regional Model for Vietnam.

3. I agree with previous comments that sufficient water should be provided for cooking as well as drinking. However, it is also essential to link clean water with hygiene and sanitation. You state that you provide education on hygiene and sanitation. Has 1001 Fontaines undertaken any programs for providing or constructing hygienic latrines?

Regards
Jeppe Nielsen
EMW Foundation

Operations and Regional Platform

By 1001 fontaines Posted on Tue 25 Jun 2013, over 11 years ago

1. The teams visiting each site are actually the people working for the Regional Platform (also called local platform). This platform brings together technicians and animators who provide regular support to the operating sites that are located within their area of intervention – i.e. generally within a distance that is reachable in no more than half a day by motorbike.

Their interventions cover three areas:
- During the setting up of a new « fountain », technicians who are specialized in this early phase proceed to the site technical installation and carry out education campaigns in villages. They will then support the operator during a one-year learning phase.
- All along the operating site’s life, other specialized technicians take care of « follow-up » activities. They visit all sites they are in charge of at least once a month, supporting operators in solving arising problems as well as ensuring water quality control by collecting water samples and coordinating with control laboratories. In addition to this control by the platform, the operators also have a series of tests they can run themselves to ensure that the quality of the water produced is good.
- Furthermore, local platforms take care of all consumables (such as filters) and spare parts management and supply, thus guaranteeing those components quality and availability for all operating sites.
Each operating site’s performance quality and sustainability are closely linked to the sustainability of the local platform it depends on. This implies that as well as each operating site must be capable of covering for its operating costs, each local platform must be in a position to generate regular income in order to cover for its operating costs.

The model that makes this possible is directly inspired by « franchise » business models:
- Each site is provided with « services » by the local platform which it depends on,
- In return, the operator pays a monthly contribution to the local platform – USD100 per month on average – that is deducted from water sales figures (the monthly contribution is actually a percentage of the revenue of each operator, so that it is less than 100 dollars at the beginning of the activity and can be a little higher for sites which have a significant number of clients)
- When a platform « overlooks » about fifty sites that pay monthly charges in exchange for the services they are provided with, the income generated enables the platform to cover for all its operating costs.

2. In Cambodia, we actually work in close collaboration with the local government authorities of the Ministry of Rural Development. They do not deal with the management, operations and maintenance of the stations but help us for example identify priority areas of intervention and participate in selecting the villages where a station will be implemented.

Access to water in rural areas of Vietnam is obviously also a major challenge. We started looking into replicating the 1001 fontaines model in Vietnam a few years ago. However, as you underline it, this would imply changing the model to involve local authorities much more (almost replacing the local NGO in our model), which is something which had not yet been considered but could be done in the next few years.

3. In Cambodia, we do not have any specific programs regarding construction of latrines but undertake awareness campaigns on hygiene in the areas where we operate (teaching children the importance of washing their hands, raising our customers’ awareness on the importance of washing their hands and the risks related to open defecation…)

However in Madgascar and India, we work with local NGOs (ONG Saint Gabriel and Sulabh) both involved in constructing hygienic latrines. Although this is not specifically part of the 1001 fontaines project, these actions are implemented in the same villages so that it participates to improving the general water and sanitation environment.

Kind regards,

Aude

Questions on Financial transparancy

By Protos Posted on Mon 17 Jun 2013, over 11 years ago

Hello Rosemary or Aude of 1001 fontaines,
I am Marc Despiegelaere, working for the Belgian NGO PROTOS, also member of PWX
After looking in your documents, I have some sharp questions for you on financial aspects.

It is good to provide a solution to poor people who do not have access to drinking water, but ..... hopefully not a their expense.

I have seen in you financial statements that in the year 2012 you have realised a profit of 187.000€ and you have an accumulated profit of 287.000€.
What are your plans with this money? What will happen with this money?
Hope you understand that I am quite critical if you would be doing the same as a lot of private water bottling companies( Neslté, Danone, Coca Cola, ect..) gaining a lot of money in offering bottled water in the market place at a price 1000X more expensive that tapped water.
Please give some transparancy on this subject.

Your website does not show your financial statement. Would like to see that this is accessible for everyone.

Kind regards.

Questions on Financial transparancy

By 1001 fontaines Posted on Mon 17 Jun 2013, over 11 years ago

Hello Marc,

Thanks for your questions on the financial aspects of the project.

The profit realized in 2012 is actually not related to the revenues generated in the field (i.e related to the price paid by the populations at the bottom of the pyramid we address) but to donations which were not spent on projects during that year. So that this money is actually available cash we can use on projects when we are not able to raise enough funds for certain actions we implement in the field.

Eventually, we do hope that each station will be able to generate enough revenue to ensure that each operator can benefit from a stable and sufficient income as well as generate additional income for the overall structure which could be “reinvested” in the implementation of new station. And this is really the only way profits will ever be used on the project (mentioned in the NGO’s statutes).

However, we are still experimenting the model and are more focused at the moment on ensuring that the stations develop well enough to guarantee the income of each operator and the sustainability of the initiative, so that the use of eventual profits is currently not really an issue.

We obviously understand your doubts and questions on the model and potential profit. However the mission of 1001 fontaines is to provide safe water to as many people as possible at an affordable price. Selling the water is a means of guaranteeing the sustainability of the initiative, i.e the sustainability of the access to safe water, not of making profit.

We are convinced that many issues facing these populations will be addressed through social entrepreneurship and using business mechanisms to address development challenges. Profit is part of that mechanism but it is our belief that, used in an efficient way, these models present strong potential for long lasting impact in the field.

Regarding transparency, our financial statements have been posted on the Peer Water Exchange Platform. They are on our website http://www.1001fontaines.com/the-numbers.html. A lot of our legal documents are in French, and we are working on making this information available to as many people as possible by translating it in English. Unfortunately not all of the documents are available in English but we would be happy to provide any additional information which could be useful.

Kind regards,
Aude

Questions on Financial transparancy

By Peer Water Exchange Posted on Wed 19 Jun 2013, over 11 years ago

Bon Jour!

Are you a registered non-profit in France or UK or Cambodia? Your website is not .org but .com and its not clear (including from your HMRC registration) that you are a non-profit.

Submitting your financials is definitely nice (and non-profit behaviour), but i would like it clarified. And of course, things may change with changes in board and management.

Regards,
Rajesh

Questions on Financial transparancy

By 1001 fontaines Posted on Thu 20 Jun 2013, over 11 years ago

Hello Rajesh,

Sorry for missing your last comment!

We have been registered as a non-profit organization in France since 2004 and are registered as a charity in the UK since 2011. I have added our articles as well as our registration as a charity in France in the documents on the platform. The website was simply created as .com when 1001 fontaines was launched but should definitely be transfered to a .org.

We are not registered as an NGO in Cambodia as we actually work with a local NGO, Teuk Saat, which is itself recognized as a local NGO by the Cambodian Ministry of Interior.

Hope this clears things up, do let us know if you need any additional information.

Kind regards,

Aude