Happy International Women’s Day!

Dear friends and supporters,

We wish you a Happy International Women’s Day from Luang Prabang in Laos! At this moment, members of our Board of Directors and key staff from the US, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are together to discuss the next three-year strategy for East Meets West.

As part of our commitment to effectively serve underserved populations, we would like to take this special occasion to update you on the ways we commit to creating equal access to women and vulnerable populations in our water, hygiene, sanitation and health programs:

We nurture a culture for strong women leaders to thrive on our teams.

Across all programs, women are important change agents, decisionmakers, and beneficiaries.

For example, in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, our Women Output-Based Aid program empowers women who want to create a cleaner and healthier environment in the villages where they were born and raised.

• Watch “A Very Hard Sale” to learn more about the typical day of one of a community volunteer who goes door to door advocating for safe latrines in Vietnam.
• Recently, we constructed 10 new climate-resilient Compassion Homes for disadvantaged households in Quang Nam province in Vietnam. In one of the homes, we met Tam, a student who told us how her new home gives her relief from worrying about her family’s living situation. Now she can focus on her studies!  Read more about Tam and her family on our website.

We work in partnership with local women’s rights and gender outcomes advocate groups and health organizations.

The Women’s Unions in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are significant partners in empowering women from the capital to villages in the work we do in water and sanitation.

With partners like Ms. Tran Thi Huong (left), Vice President of the Vietnam Women’s Union, no one is left behind when it comes to access to clean water and sanitation.

We are expanding a new program to support women entrepreneurs in WASH
Currently, women-led managers of water and sanitation businesses across the region, lack the capacity to ensure best practices in operations, and investment readiness and the resources to attract investment – important for infrastructure businesses with high upfront capital requirements.   East Meets West will support women-led small and growing businesses as they emerge in our project communities.

Will you join us in ensuring the future for women and girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding?

To support East Meets West’s water and sanitation programs, please consider a donation today.

Sincerely,

Lynn Foden, CEO

Thrive Networks