At Equal Aqua Uganda, people have always been at the heart of everything we do.
That’s why we’re so excited to share our refreshed organisational values, developed by our whole team, now brought under one simple acronym: W.A.T.E.R.
W.A.T.E.R stands for:
- Working Together
- Agency
- Transparency
- Environmental Stewardship
- Respect
These values reflect who we are, how we work, and the future we’re building together. Here’s how we came to decide on them:
A process shaped by our global team
As a grassroots, volunteer-led organisation with diverse team members from different countries and backgrounds, it was essential that our new values were shaped by involving as many people from the organisation as possible.
To kick this off, we ran a dedicated team meeting to talk about what values actually meant to us. Our volunteers shared what values look like in their own lives before exploring what these should represent at Equal Aqua Uganda.
We discussed what it feels like to work at EAU – how we collaborate internally, how we engage with partners, and how we serve communities. We then revisited our old values, figuring out which still resonated and how we could upgrade what we had started with.
It was important we refreshed our language, but also remained close to several core principles that volunteers felt strongly connected to, and that reflected who we are today.
This was not a complete change, but an evolution.
After each team member had contributed their ideas to a word map, they were then grouped into themes and refined through discussion and voting. This involved selecting the best description of each value, and what defined each theme.
From this collaborative process, W.A.T.E.R. emerged — a memorable acronym that captures both our mission and the cultural influence of our global volunteers.
Why W.A.T.E.R matters
The W.A.T.E.R framework naturally connects to our work in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), but it also defines how we operate every day as a team.
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Working Together – We foster an inclusive working environment across our international team of volunteers. Everyone has a voice and diversity of thought.
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Agency – By providing agency for those facing the greatest inequalities, we are empowering WASH changemakers to co-deliver culturally empathetic programmes.
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Transparency – Honesty and integrity are at the core of all our operations. We are fully accountable in the eyes of our partners, donors, supporters, and communities that we serve.
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Environmental Stewardship – We are leaders in environmentally-sustainable WASH solutions that protect people and the planet for generations to come.
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Respect – We operate with a deep respect for all volunteers and community partners, with a consistent culture of empathy, kindness, trust, and mutual understanding.
Respect, in particular, stood out strongly during our discussions. With volunteers of all nationalities and backgrounds, it was clear that inclusion and mutual understanding are essential to how we will succeed together.
Living our values every day
W.A.T.E.R is more than an acronym. It’s a shared commitment to each other, to our partners, and to the communities we work alongside.
When asked about the new values, Tom McLenachan, Equal Aqua Uganda’s Co-founder and CEO, said:
“Our values underpin who we are as an international NGO and a group of people. I truly believe these new values accurately represent the culture at Equal Aqua, as we’ve evolved, learnt and grown over the past 6 years.
They will be our guiding light in how we work together internally, and interact with our ever-growing base of supporters, donors and community stakeholders in Uganda. It is therefore now all of our responsibilities to live and breathe these new values.
WATER we waiting for?”
So, whether you’re speaking to a partner, a donor, or are hearing about Equal Aqua Uganda for the first time, our values are designed to be simple, memorable, and easy to explain.
Because at EAU, our values aren’t just words. They’re the basis of how we continue to create real, lasting change.
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