Our 2,325 installations of simple, inexpensive, and locally serviceable technologies have helped over 534,167 Central Americans access safe drinking water and opportunities to generate income.

Wes Meier

EOS International CEO & Co-founder

This past year EOS International celebrated ten years as an organization. I fondly remember sitting around a table with EOS co-founders late one night, wishfully strategizing how to leverage our engineering backgrounds to make an impact in Nicaragua. From those inspired conversations, EOS was born.

Our technology solutions, strategies, and approach have changed over the last decade as we continually strive to improve and re-evaluate our models to maximize our impact. We have seen challenges as we have grown, but these years of experience have allowed us to mature as an organization.

This past year marked a difficult time for all Nicaraguans as social and political instability greatly affected the country and economy. While the turmoil caused an interruption in our processes, our team’s dedication to their work and resilience brought our operations back up to full capacity in September.

During the past ten years, we have sought out partners to deepen our impact and expand our resources. Knowing the strength of collaboration, we have seen how successful partnerships can add value to our programs. Notably in 2018, EOS launched the Nicaraguan SMART Center in collaboration with WaterAid and the Nicaraguan Water and Sanitation Network. This SMART Center is the convening point of all major water and sanitation activities throughout Nicaragua.

In an effort to increase our impact, EOS has strategically aligned our focus on providing safe drinking water and opportunities to generate income in Central America. This program focus has allowed our team to offer better services and become a national influencer in water quality solutions for rural communities.

Reflecting on the past year, we are filled with appreciation, gratitude, and inspiration. Ten years serves as an important milestone, and we are thankful for you, who made this all possible. We created this organization ten years ago to not create a quick fix, but rather a long-term solution. We have seen throughout the years how access to sustainable technology solutions can have a powerful impact in people’s lives, and how best to support the implementation through scalable models and training. We appreciate your investment of the future of hundreds of thousands of Central Americans. We are excited to see what we can achieve together over the next ten years.

Alvaro Rodriguez

EOS Co-founder & Nicaragua Country Director

In April of last year, Nicaragua entered into an especially difficult period of social and political instability that reached all corners of the country. This instability has contributed to a political crisis that has affected every Nicaraguan, and one that we look forward to seeing resolved soon.

EOS International has had to adapt in these adverse times, however, the combined effort of our team of collaborators in Nicaragua and abroad has allowed us to overcome great obstacles in our work towards fulfilling our bold mission and vision. Our team has worked tirelessly to continue our serving rural Nicaraguan families. We are extraordinarily grateful for your support during these difficult times.

Our dedicated team has grown stronger, and our reach greater, through collaborations with our local partners. One such collaboration includes launching the Nicaraguan SMART Center which is an initiative to develop a supply chain of water and sanitation technologies to improve access for rural communities. EOS has two staff members leading this center’s efforts along with collaborators from the public, private, government, and university sectors.

EOS has continued to expand our Safe Drinking Water program to more rural communities. Our program was nationally endorsed after a Ministry of Health study showed 70 communities reporting a 49% reduction in reported cases of diarrhea after implementing EOS’ technologies. This collaboration of an NGO with the Ministry of Health is now used as an example for other departments to follow.

Over these last ten years of working with EOS International, I have had the incredible opportunity to work alongside my fellow Nicaraguans; people full of enthusiasm and energy, dreaming to build a better world and a more prosperous Nicaragua. All of my dreams would not have been fulfilled without your unwavering support, allowing EOS to thrive for all these years.

In the name of Nicaragua, on behalf of my team and myself, I thank you for believing in us, for helping us when we are most in need, and seeing us as a family with dreams to live brighter futures. Thank you for the support you have provided to our country this past decade.

Our Water Results

In January of 2018, EOS International was afforded an extraordinary opportunity: provide safe drinking water to an entire municipality in Nicaragua. This endeavor required the installation of 70 water chlorinators in communities throughout El Tuma-La Dalia with the support of the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, FIDER (a Nicaraguan NGO), and dozens of community water boards.

Installing these water purification systems would not only provided 35,000 people with safe drinking water and a brighter future, but would also allow EOS a rare and precise look into the effectiveness of our work.

Eight months after the implementation, the Ministry of Health prepared an independent study to compare reported cases of diarrhea in the municipality of El Tuma-La Dalia from January 1st to August 26th in 2017 and 2018. Because of EOS’ exclusive installation process in the municipality, this study would provide highly accurate results on the success of EOS’ technology.

The results were exciting. According to the public health data, the municipality achieved a 49% reduction in reported cases of diarrhea in 2018, after the installation of EOS’ systems. The largest reduction in cases fell in the age range of 5-9 year olds, who experienced 73% fewer reported cases of diarrhea. That translates to 88 children who reported sickness in 2017 and have been healthy in 2018.

These results point to a significant improvement in the municipality’s public health. This includes a major reduction in the healthcare system burden, specifically 203 fewer healthcare visits. Clean water means adults miss fewer days of work, generating much needed income for their families in one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere; and children miss fewer school days, allowing them to maintain their grades and stay in school longer.

According to the World Health Organization, diarrheal disease is the second leading cause of death of children under five years old globally. It is both preventable and treatable, as El Tuma-La Dalia has demonstrated. A significant proportion of diarrheal disease can be prevented through safe drinking-water, adequate sanitation, and hygiene.

This achievement is attributable to a number of factors including: leadership at the community level, continual water treatment, organizational partnerships, oversight from the Ministry of Health, appropriate technology, and diligent training. EOS staff has been instrumental in facilitating these outcomes throughout the term of the study. Our team is using this successful municipality as a benchmark tool to help us provide similar positive results in neighboring municipalities.

EOS International has always strongly believed in doing more than simply installing life-changing technologies. From our early days, we have understood the importance of education and training for long-lasting, sustainable results. Our highly trained team places great importance on working with beneficiaries to understand how to operate, maintain, repair, and benefit from their technologies.

This dedication to ensuring long-term success has led to the establishment of Nicaragua’s SMART Center in October of 2018 in collaboration with WaterAid and the Nicaraguan Water and Sanitation Network (RASNIC). SMART refers to an acronym for Simple, Market-based, Affordable, and Repairable Technologies.

The SMART Center aims to be a networking hub that offers both educational opportunities and access to low-cost water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) solutions to the general public. Trainings and courses include water quality measurements, technology operation, administrative instruction for community water boards, increasing involvement of women within community WASH programs, and guidance for NGO’s working within the WASH sector.

In addition to EOS International’s water chlorinator technology, the SMART Center provides additional purification and sanitation products for demonstration and purchase. The strategically located Managua SMART Center provides products, services, financing, and demonstrations targeted towards rural communities who are most in need of these lifesaving and life-changing technology solutions.

Along with promoting access to sustainably 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.

The ultimate goal for the SMART Center is to provide SMART WASH technologies, best practices, and technical support throughout Nicaragua. This unique model empowers Nicaraguans to easily access products, resources, and information on ways to improve their community’s water quality and sanitation systems.

In a country where critical infrastructure, resources, and information can be scarce, the SMART Center places the power of community development back into the hands of individuals. Emboldened by the technology solutions and expertise of the SMART Center, any Nicaraguan has the power to bring clean water into their community.

EOS Donors and Partners

2018 EOS International Board of Directors