Kim Fogg, founder of
Global Sustainable Partnerships (GSP), is a very busy woman. She lives life on the go, split between three places: Washington D.C., Grand Rapids and Tanzania. She is a dynamic woman who, in just one year, has provided 8,000 children with clean water, something they they never had access to prior. And that’s just the beginning.
The Spark
Rewind back to 2010. Fogg is a success in the corporate world, working for a management consulting firm. For family reasons, she needs to relocate back to her hometown of Grand Rapids. She is subsequently let go from her position in Washington D.C. Shortly thereafter, her father passes away. Fogg is at a crossroads in both her professional and personal life.
Seeking a change and much needed time away, Fogg is invited by her friend Mary Barth (co-founder of GSP) to Tanzania. Together, Barth and Fogg travel to Africa. Fogg was looking forward to a time of reflection and exploration. She was coming back from a safari when she took notice of three small children walking with oxen in the middle of nowhere. She was shocked and concerned. Upon inquiry, she learned that these children were walking 20 miles round trip on a daily basis in search of water for those oxen and their family.
Her eyes were opened to the perils and consequences a village must endure when water is scarce and contaminated. Water is hard to find in Tanzania, and what is available is highly contaminated with water borne diseases like cholera and dysentery. Fogg began noticing things in the village she had missed the day before. Women were gathering water from mud puddles for use in the kitchens. Local schools collected water from their rain gutters for use in their classrooms. The final straw came when a baby just four months old died within 24 hours from water borne disease.
“I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing,” says Fogg. “I had to do something to help these people.”
Stoking the Fire
Fogg returned to the U.S. with a new sense of purpose and direction. She needed to help bring clean water to these villages, but was unsure of how to begin. A sequence of chance encounters with the right people led her to the
Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology. There, she learned about HydrAid Biosand Filters and the positive impact they can have on a community by providing them with a safe source of clean drinking water. After purchase, shipment and installation, they cost roughly $120 each and last for 10 years.
Cascade Engineering, a West Michigan-based company, put Grand Rapids at the forefront of clean water technology and humanitarian relief by manufacturing these water filters. This was the answer.
On Jan. 27, 2011, Fogg traveled to Tanzania and presented her first demonstration of water filter technology to many community stakeholders. They were blown away by the simplicity of the system and potential health benefits for their children. One of the first supporters of GSP is now the VP of Tanzania, and he is ready to get to work.
The Flame
Fogg envisioned GSP to be a grassroots initiative from the beginning.
“I believe in the power of one," says Fogg. “I want to create sustainable change by empowering the teachers, students and families in the area to control their own destiny and take charge of their health.”
In the last year, Fogg has successfully installed 30 filters in 10 schools, impacting 8,000 students. Teachers and students within the schools have been trained to take care of the filters themselves; no outside maintenance help is necessary. By April, Fogg plans to install an additional 150 filters in 30 schools, impacting roughly 24,000 children. And there is a very long waiting list. Within the next five years, Fogg hopes to reach 2 million children in Tanzania. She envisions going beyond the borders of Tanzania to make this a truly global initiative. She also plans to provide clean water not only to school districts, but families as well through the use of micro credit financing and assisted savings accounts.
Fogg hasn’t been alone in this mission. She has been graced with an infectious personality and a go-getting attitude that helped her forge partnerships with many governmental and corporate stakeholders in both the U.S. and Tanzania. “We believe collaboration is the key, and GSP’s goal is to develop long-term, public-private partnerships with trusted local leaders, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) partners,” says Fogg.
Fogg recently presented at the Grand Rapids
5X5 Night this past January and while she didn’t win, she brought some very positive buzz her way. Since GSP’s inception one year ago, momentum has been building and the horizon is very bright for Kim Fogg and Global Sustainable Partnerships. If you would like to get involved, donate or learn more about this initiative, visit
www.gspartnerships.org to find out more information.
TheModeLife shares honest perspectives from a diverse collection of women. We provide informative and enjoyable reading that is current and practical from our lives to yours. Launched in June 2011, TheModeLife has 40 writers located throughout the U.S. and covers topics that are “Real. Style.” For more information and to subscribe to the blog, visit www.themodelife.com.
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