Gemma Bulos
Founder of A Single Drop for Safe Water (ASDSW)
Speaker
Gemma Bulos is a Filipino-American former musician and pre-school
teacher. Like so many, Gemma Bulos’ life changed on 9/11. That day, Gemma
didn’t take her regular morning train to in the World Trade Center, by chance
averting being caught up in the tragedy that unfolded that day. She responded
by devoting her life to a cause she believed would promote peace and equality
among people – access to safe water. While introducing new alternative water
treatment technologies and studying water stewardship in the Philippines, she
met Kevin Lee, a former US Peace Corps volunteer raised in New Zealand with a
background in mechanical engineering. Based on the concept that it takes a
single drop of water to start a wave, they joined together in order to realize
the power of community participation in building healthy communities. Gemma has
since transitioned as the Director of the Global Women’s Water Initiative
(GWWI) focusing her work in Africa to integrate the learnings from ASDSW by
working with women to have a deeper role in community water and sanitation
decisions. She was awarded the Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the
Year Award in partnership with Schwab Foundation for Phillippines in 2009.
Presentation Summary
The goal of A Single Drop For Safe Water (ASDSW) is to
ensure all communities have sustainable access to safe water and sanitation.
The UN Division for Sustainable Development estimates that 1.2 billion people
in the world lack access to fresh water, and between 3–5 million people die of
water-related diseases annually. Apart from significant health impact,
conflicts over the scarce resource create considerable social tensions.
ASDSW offers education and training services to help
communities identify their water issues and design, implement and maintain
appropriate technological solutions to resolve them. ASDSW’s goal is to work
with and empower local stakeholders in rural communities to partner to provide
their own sustainable water and sanitation services: enabling them to assess
their situation, harness their resources and implement their chosen appropriate
technology. ASDSW assists them to create community-led water organizations, or
Water PODS (People Offering Deliverable Services) to manage the technology, and
promote water education to ensure self-reliance, removing dependence on
external funding.
