We couldn’t do the work we do without our wonderful supporters here in Austin and the United States. But we give equal credit to our incredibly dedicated partners on the ground in Burundi, and foremost among those partners is the Gazelle Foundation’s project manager, Jean Bosco Ndabaniwe.
Mr. Ndabaniwe brings considerable project management expertise as well as a wealth of local knowledge. His work is critical to helping us create the efficiencies within our project schedule that enables us to complete more water systems faster and as economically as possible.
He is a vital part of our team that studies the areas in which we work, understanding where clean water needs are the most critical, and then managing the execution of those projects once they are green-lit by the Gazelle Foundation’s Board of Directors.
“Jean Bosco’s efficiency and ingenuity ensure that the water systems are constructed in a manner that matches our mission - clean water for life,” says Gazelle Foundation Board member Michael Madison. “Not only is he extremely trustworthy, he has the type of personality that gets along with everybody, which goes a long way in any country but especially in Burundi.”
As project manager, Mr. Ndabaniwe’s role encompasses all aspects of implementing the Gazelle Foundation’s mission in Burundi. Part of his work includes hiring and managing the local workers who build and maintain the water systems, in an effort to both create jobs within the communities as well as build institutional knowledge of how to maintain and repair the systems.
In addition to the economic impact, he sees how clean water makes a difference to health, education, and inclusion.
"The schools tell the real story,” he says. “Before clean water, girls were not seen in the school because their main job was to fetch water and this left no time to attend school. This has changed now that the distance is less and there is no need to boil water or prepare it for the rest of the family.”
Photographs of multiple water systems built by the Gazelle Foundation under the project management of Mr. Ndabaniwe, among them, tap stands at Kiriza Primary School, Rukina Secondary School. Learn more about our processes.
Part of the goal of the Gazelle Foundation is to provide free, clean water to everyone in the communities that we serve, regardless of ethnicity, religion, and other differences. Mr. Ndabaniwe says that people in those communities appreciate that the Gazelle Foundation works to provide opportunities to all. For instance, a past project directly impacted the Batwa tribe.
“The Batwa tribe is one of the most marginalized tribes in Burundi and makes up only 1% of the total population,” Mr. Ndabaniwe says. “They are the poorest of the poor, lacking access to not just water but education, food sources, and health care. This tribe often lives in dangerous areas of Songa province and are forgotten about in terms of their human rights and needs. By bringing clean water to this village, they now have a different life.”
Due to Mr. Ndabaniwe, we are able to bring the transformative gift of clean water to the people that need it the most.
“For people in Burundi, water is life,” he says. “Clean water has changed every aspect of life in the villages that have access to it.”
Photo credit: Spencer Selvidge, @sselvidge
Learn more about what we do and where we work. Learn more about clean water and education.