INTERNATIONAL SERVICE COMMITTEE MEETING: Rotary Accelerator Working Group - HANWASH

The International Service Committee of the Rotary Club of San Francisco invites you to a presentation by Ryan Rowe and moderated by Eric Schmautz to understand how Rotary developed the Haiti National Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Initiative (HANWASH), an inspiring and audacious multi-stakeholder effort to deliver safely managed and sustainable water and sanitation for every household in Haiti.

What is HANWASH?

HANWASH is a collaborative national initiative to provide thoughtfully managed and sustainable clean water and sanitation to all citizens of Haiti, along with the associated health, community, and economic benefits. The initiative is led by Rotary District 7020 and DINEPA (The Haitian Government’s National Water and Sanitation Agency), along with other non-governmental organization (NGO) partners, such as Haiti Outreach and Pure Water for the World.

Half of Haiti’s water and sanitation infrastructure is simply not functioning. The country has been a frequent recipient of aid funding, most of which sadly only focuses on creating relief providing temporary fixes to the problems that exist rather than building the systems necessary for the country to function. The end result of “aid funding” is this: A survey of 1,096 water kiosks and 2,266 water fountains by DINEPA in 2013 showed that more than half of existing water kiosks are out of service and only 58.4% of existing water fountains inventoried are functional. Haiti Outreach in 2004, stated that over 40% of wells are non-functioning. A sustainable solution is needed for Haiti that can serve as a blueprint for other developing countries as well.

HANWASH will focus on systematically increasing access to sustainable managed water, initially in seven of Haiti’s 145 communes, with the aim of expanding the program across the whole of Haiti once it is shown to be successful. The seven pilot areas are the Communes of Cavaillon, Ferrier, Terre-Neuve, Pignon, Leogane, Les Cayes and Croix des Bouquets – representing at least one commune in each of the four OREPA regions. Each commune is matched with a Rotary club in the area and a Rotary International Champion District.

To learn more about HANWASH, visit: https://www.hanwash.org/

Ryan Rowe is the Executive Director of HANWASH. Prior professional experiences include advising the Governments of Haiti and Malawi on policies for safe drinking-water, directing a non-profit in the United Arab Emirates, leading the digital transformation of a philanthropic foundation, and establishing a US $630 million Middle East-focused infrastructure investment fund for the Macquarie Group.

In addition to his native English language, Ryan speaks French, Spanish and Portuguese. He has traveled to over 60 countries and has lived in Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, the Turks & Caicos Islands, and the United Arab Emirates. Ryan holds a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Canada and a Master of Public Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the USA. His accomplishments in academia and non-profit work have won him awards and honours and he was named as a Rotary Peace Fellow in 2010. He speaks regularly at private and public engagements on his work in dealing with water and health issues.

Eric Schmautz has worked at Wells Fargo in San Francisco since 1998. His Rotary experience began in Interact during the fall of 1986. Since then, he has been involved in three Rotary clubs in Florida and Colorado before joining his current Club, the Rotary Club of San Francisco, in 1998. Eric served as the centennial president in 2008-2009 for the Rotary Club of San Francisco and as Governor in 2013-14 in Rotary District 5150. Beyond the District, he has served as the Zone Rotary International Convention Promotion Chair, Rotary International Vocational Committee, Rotary International President’s representative, and various Zone Institute, Presidential Conference and Far West PETS executive committee and International Convention assignments. Eric has worked on Rotary projects in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and Zambia. The projects have included Rotavision, Rotaplast, National Immunization Day, wheelchair distribution, disaster recovery, clean water, malaria abatement, and economic development.

Eric has contributed to the community in many ways outside of Rotary through Boy Scouts of America, YMCA, San Francisco Foundation, Grameen Foundation Bankers without Borders, and San Rafael Chamber of Commerce. He is married to Stephanie, and they have two daughters, Molly and Katie. Stephanie is a past President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco. They are Major Donors, Bequest Society, White Hat Society, and Paul Harris Society members of The Rotary Foundation.

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