In Lauter’s program, the smart local women they find become known as "water women," trained to handle and share a portable water filter in their communities.
Global Sisters Report took a closer look at a couple of collaborative projects among women religious, both of which empower local leaders to clean up the water in their region, giving them the proper tools to be self-reliant.
The money was used to provide those women with access to clean spring water by installing public faucets, but the sisters were just getting started.
Where OK Clean Water has worked — whether introducing, expanding or renovating existing water systems — cases of waterborne diseases have been eliminated, Molloy said.
The village must locate an accessible source of spring water within a certain distance.
"It’s now a local project in local hands."
Otherwise, it’s part of the whole African story about people coming in and doing," she said.
The project became Water With Blessings, an international network equipping women with water filters for sharing — a process facilitated by on-the-ground women religious from various congregations.
"They were totally dependent on water that was bottled and gifted to them by organizations or foundations, and the bottled water became more trash to accumulate.
It becomes a ministry for the water women, said Massoni, one of four sisters who coordinate 11 groups of water women in Peru.