EOS International
EOS (Emerging Opportunities for Sustainability) International is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded in 2008 and empowers rural communities in Central America with access to safe drinking water and opportunities to generate income through simple technology solutions and education. [1] EOS works primarily in Nicaragua and Honduras providing rural families with access to low-cost technologies geared towards generating income and improving health. EOS promotes, manufactures, installs, tracks, and educates its users on life-changing technology solutions that allow access to safe water and create economic opportunities for individuals to break the cycle of poverty and improve their quality of life.
Nicaragua and Honduras, where EOS primarily operates, are some of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with fifty percent of the rural population living below the national poverty line. A large majority of the impoverished population lives in rural areas, where access to basic services is limited and to where businesses and NGOs rarely travel. In addition to living in remote areas and possessing little purchasing power, most rural families continue to live without access to clean drinking water and have little opportunity to generate income.
With an on-the-ground staff of twelve in Nicaragua and eight in Honduras, EOS is a locally managed organization dedicated to the successful implementation of technology solutions through tracking, evaluating, and revisiting community installations to ensure a long-term, positive impact. Our strong partnerships with local communities, nonprofits, universities, and governmental organizations have helped us expand our reach and increase our effectiveness in order to continue our mission of building stronger communities.
Our Mission
EOS International empowers rural families in Central America with access to safe drinking water and opportunities to generate income through simple technology solutions and education. EOS' vision is a Central America where communities are healthier, free from poverty, and thriving.
What We Do
EOS provides rural families in Nicaragua and Honduras with access to cost-effective safe drinking water solutions at the community level. Our three-step model includes:
1) Water quality testing and analysis to raise awareness and increase demand, 2) Water treatment through an in-line chlorine tablet feeder, and 3) Ongoing chlorine tablet distribution through a network of chlorine distribution entrepreneurs. All solutions are locally-operated and require co-financing from all involved. Our program demonstrates that for just pennies-a-day, we could dramatically reduce the incidence of waterborne disease and save lives. Through educational trainings, technological solutions, and long-term partnerships, EOS empowers people to lift themselves out of poverty and redefine their futures. To date, EOS has implemented their core technologies in over 2,325 rural communities in Honduras and Nicaragua, impacting over 530,000 lives.
Our History
EOS began with a handful of bright and compassionate engineering students who wanted to use their skills to give back to the world. Upon completing their studies, founders Wes Meier and Greg McGrath began designing and implementing technologies in Honduras, and later in Mali, West Africa. After their work introducing technology solutions to rural communities and gaining a taste of cultural and economic perspectives, they knew they were capable of making a difference in under-served communities, and EOS was born. During the summer of 2008, Wes was placed in the Peace Corps in rural Nicaragua. During his 27-month stay, he quickly realized the need for basic technology solutions and the impact they can make in lives of his neighbors and in villages across the country. Partnering Alvaro Rodriguez, co-founder and now Nicaraguan Country Director, and with support from EOS team members in the US, they starting installing simple technology solutions. Throughout the ten years of experience working in Nicaragua, EOS has evolved and learned from their projects to now implement a scalable model to reach new communities through private, public, and institutional support. In an effort to increase impact, in 2019 EOS merged with the US-based nonprofit International Rural Water Association (IRWA), offering funding and technical expertise to organizations focused on potable water treatment and distribution in Central America and the Honduran nonprofit Agua y Desarrollo Comunitario (ADEC) which implements water treatment solutions through an innovative circuit rider program consisting of monthly visits to communities. Through both of these mergers, EOS has been able to expand their impact into Honduras to support over 1,300 communities providing safe water to over 530,000 Central Americans.
Objective
The objective of the Rural Safe Drinking Water Program is to improve the health and livelihoods of rural communities by eliminating waterborne disease and providing sustainable access to safe drinking water focusing directly on meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6.0. Millions of people including children die every day from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene. Our team ensures that both target communities’ water systems are operational and that the community water board has the knowledge and resources to maintain high-quality drinking water for their community and establishes an appropriate user water bill to sustain the water system’s costs. Finally, our team provides ongoing water quality testing and analysis to inform the community and ensure that the community’s water is safe to drink, meaning that it is free of harmful bacterial contamination.
Sustainability
EOS believes that project sustainability requires a systems change approach. Aligning with the SDG 6, of access to safe drinking water, EOS has identified four primary aspects appropriate to rural communities in Central America required to achieve sustainability that include the following: 1) Operational community water system and infrastructure including a protected watershed/water source, pipes, tanks, water treatment, water meters, etc. 2) Functioning community water boards including active board members, female leadership, balanced water utility budgets with appropriate user water bills, and local ownership of activities 3) Appropriate government oversight including local ministry of health officials to support, regulate and invest in water service (infrastructure, personnel and management) 4) Market-Based Solutions to allow incentives and incorporate private-public partnerships to thrive within the water sector and services are maintained
EOS strives in all of our projects to work in these areas to build a long-term sustainable solution where our team can eventually leave with the system, infrastructure, and governance operating. We have demonstrated this success in rural communities of Honduras and Nicaragua where multiple years of influence has resulted in highly functioning water systems, and allowing our team to graduate to focus resource on other vulnerable communities of need. While we continue to monitor the community’s water quality, we are able to see the 100% water quality and water access metrics met.
In order for sustainable development to occur, a larger system-wide approach needs to be addressed at the national and local levels. EOS has prioritized our work in this goal through the creation of Nicaraguan’s SMART Center. (SMART refers to an acronym for Simple, Market based, Affordable, and Repairable Technologies.) The SMART Center aims to be a networking hub that combines knowledge management and social enterprise to improve sustainable access to low-cost water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) solutions for all, with an emphasis on reaching marginalized communities with SMART self-supply solutions. The ultimate goal for the SMART Center is to provide SMART WASH technologies, best practices, and technical support throughout Nicaragua. In addition to promoting access to, and the sustainability of tested solutions, the SMART Center provides a space for private sector service providers, WASH technicians, and universities to develop, demonstrate and sell innovative WASH technologies.
Social Development Goals (SDG's)
SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want to live in and there is sufficient fresh water on the planet to achieve this. However, due to bad economics or poor infrastructure, millions of people including children die every year from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene. EOS’ work will focus on the following SDG targets: 6.1 By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all EOS specifically targets rural populations living in poverty in both Nicaragua and Honduras by focusing on water quality solutions at the community scale.
6.4 By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
EOS provides solutions to minimize drinking water waste including implementation of tank float valve to stop water flows of gravity fed systems when community is not using the water typically at night. This valve not only stops the flow of the water, but also saves costs on chlorination.
6.5 By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate EOS’ technology and community data statistics collection is open source. EOS specifically reports the community data to local and regional departments of health in an effort to provide more health statistics in an effort to support their decision making. EOS is also designing an open source Smart sensor, with the goal of uploading this data to a public online platform.
6.6 By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes EOS protects water-related ecosystems through community and municipality consulting on watershed reforestation programs, specifically in the mountains of Honduras. EOS Coordinates, trains and supports local communities for the re-forestation, re-development and conservation and sustainability of the water sources.
6.A By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programs 6.B Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management.
Collaboration
In order to make a bigger impact, EOS International believes in a collaborative approach to development. EOS strives to collaborate with other organizations that work with appropriate technology and those that work in underserved communities throughout the developing world.
In Nicaragua, EOS is working with the Peace Corps and Opportunity International by delivering formal training to volunteers on EOS' core technologies, assisting them with system implementation and giving workshops in their communities to teach local laborers how to construct and repair these technologies. EOS' core technologies are in high demand throughout Nicaragua and they plan to begin working with other development organizations in a similar way. EOS has also developed step-by-step construction manuals for each of its technologies and is disseminating them through the Peace Corps and EOS' website.
On a larger scale, EOS hopes to play a vital role in the eradication of poverty by promoting the benefits of appropriate technology and their specific designs to other development organizations. EOS shares technical information and serves as a resource to other groups looking to implement EOS' technologies in their target communities. EOS is currently working with the Peace Corps as well as individual chapters of both Engineers Without Borders and Engineers for a Sustainable World to share their experiences, create awareness of their core technologies and develop new technologies. By partnering with other organizations, EOS plans to leverage their relationships in communities across the globe to efficiently reach more people in need.[2]
Awards
McCloskey Award
On April 15, 2011, EOS International competed as a finalist in the University of Notre Dame McCloskey Business Plan Competition hosted by the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurship. The University honored EOS with the Klau Family Greatest Social Impact Award and the accompanying $15,000 prize.[3] EOS also won the Best Elevator Pitch Competition and the Innovation Park at Notre Dame Accelerator Award.
John Pappajohn
EOS presented at the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center New Venture Challenge on March 25, 2011. EOS earned an honorable mention in the competition and a $1000 prize.[4] The Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at Iowa State University awarded EOS $2,000 in seed money in 2008, which helped launch the organization.
References
- "About EOS International". EOS International. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- "Promoting technologies and teaching others". EOS International. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- "McCloskey Finalists Announced". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- "Spring 2011 New Venture Challenge Winners". University of Iowa. Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.