Fulbright Legacy Fund Endowment

After witnessing a severe shortage of clean drinking water in rural communities of his native Benin, Abubakary Mououni Moussa, returned home from his Humphrey fellowship determined to tackle this urgent problem. Through the Hubert H. Humphrey Alumni Impact Award, Moussa conceived of a clean water project that alleviated water-borne illness in young children. Consequently, this project also contributed to allowing young girls to receive an education, who were required to gather water rather than attend school. A community development specialist, Moussa implemented this idea as a part of a larger program to use strategic planning and poverty alleviation through community empowerment. This was a concept he learned while studying at the University of Minnesota and working with the Northwest Area Foundation during his 2006-2007 Humphrey fellowship year.

Moussa applied for the Alumni Impact Award in 2007 and after a competitive review process, was awarded a grant provided by the Fulbright Legacy Fund. His first step in implementing the clean water project was to use the Alumni Impact Award to build a well and install a water pump in the village of Kokibourou. This project will drastically reduce sicknesses in the village due to polluted water consumption, particularly among children between 1 and 5 years of age. This allows women to spend an increased amount of time on income generating activities, in addition to allowing young girls of the village to return to school. This project has also encouraged Moussa to continue working toward his objective of including his country’s goal toward meeting the UN Millennium target of providing clean water to all by 2015. Due to the success of this project, Moussa has enlisted the help of his Alumni Impact Award partners and plans to continue this idea in 8 other villages. These will be designated as Humphrey water points, where surrounding populations will have access to clean water through new drinking wells.