Our work at Thrive Networks is rooted in the strong partnerships we’ve formed over the years –with government, private operators, and other WASH organizations. With their help, we are ensuring that people across Southeast Asia have clean water to drink and have hygienic facilities that keep their families healthy.

Our work with the Kien Nam Group – an international real estate development and property management company with deep roots in Vietnam – is an example of a particularly inspiring partnership. Driven to help rural communities in need, they partnered with us to make sure that students and their teachers in Quang Nam province would never have to drink contaminated water again.

In the farming commune of Dien Hong in Quang Nam province, homes rarely have clean drinking water. Schools fare worse because they cannot afford to connect to the piped systems that produce potable water. Parents would have to bring buckets of clean water for their children in school. Only when the schools had extra room in their budgets were they able to purchase bottled water for students. Without consistent access to clean water, children were prone to whip worms and other waterborne diseases.

After learning of the situation, the Kien Nam company felt compelled to act. They helped us select three schools in the commune (Cao Ba Quat and Huynh Thuc Khang Primary Schools and Och Ich Khiem Secondary School) and donated an Ultraviolet-Reverse Osmosis water purification system to each one. Each system releases about 150 liters of clean water per hour, which is sufficient for the schools’ 1,489 students. On August 8, 2018, Thrive held a ceremony with representatives from Kien Nam and the 3 schools to hand over these water purification systems.

Our project at Dien Hong, while meaningful, is only one success story. Given that 61% of Vietnam’s rural population are still without regular access to clean water, we still have a long way to go. However, dedicated partners like the Kien Nam Group make us confident that it is possible to reach all of them, one commune at a time.