September 12, 2024 • 28 mins
We are joined today by Andi Gillentine, Vice President of the Board for Gazelle Foundation and Plan Chief Operating Officer at Fidelis Care. In this episode, you'll hear how Gazelle Foundation is bringing clean water to the people of Burundi.
Andi shares her personal and professional background, highlighting her journey from Texas to New York, and her extensive experience in healthcare and public health. She explains how she first became involved with the Gazelle Foundation through a transformative encounter with its founder, Gilbert, a genocide survivor from Burundi.
We delve into the impactful work of the Gazelle Foundation, which has built 70 water systems in Burundi, providing clean water to over 100,000 people. Andi discusses the profound health and educational benefits of clean water, including reduced infant mortality rates and improved opportunities for young women.
Andi emphasizes the importance of clean water for public health and shares her vision for the foundation's future. She also draws parallels between her work in healthcare and the foundation's mission, highlighting the role of health equity in both areas.
If you're in the Austin area, consider participating in the Run for the Water event on November 3rd to support their mission. Learn more about their work and how you can contribute at GazelleFoundation.org.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to Generous Impact. This is Bret Brummitt. And this is Amanda Brummitt.
We are joined today by Andi Gillentine, Vice President of the Board for Gazelle
Foundation and Plan Chief Operating Officer at Fidelis Care.
In this episode, you'll hear how Gazelle Foundation is bringing clean water
to the people of Burundi.
Andi, thank you so much for being here with us today.
(00:22):
I would love it if you could just start out by giving us your background.
Who are you personally and professionally? Thank you. Thank you,
Amanda and Bret, for the opportunity to come and thank you.
I'll start personally and then move professionally.
So I'm a recent New Yorker.
I moved to New York from Texas three years ago. I
(00:44):
lived in Texas for 25 years in
Austin which is where as we move forward into
talking about the Gazelle Foundation where I was first exposed to
Gilbert and the foundation and learned more about found I have two beautiful
children who are now grown and launched mostly which is an exciting place to
(01:05):
be in my life and my husband and I are living this grand adventure of moving
to a new city and bringing,
trying all the fun things that the East has to offer.
Professionally, I've worked for many years on and off in healthcare.
I started, I have a master's degree in epidemiology and I started my professional
(01:26):
career in public health working as a data analyst on Medicare data.
Medicare is the government health plan for people who are over the age of 65.
Just for background. And I moved from that work into supporting the Medicaid
program in Texas, which is the health insurance for people who do not have a very high income.
(01:51):
And then I took a break from healthcare and I moved out of healthcare and I
went to work for a startup company in Austin in 2012.
2006, 2007, kind of the thing to do in 2006, 2007 in Austin.
And I worked at this startup company for six years.
(02:13):
And one of the things that happened in that six years is the Affordable Care Act got passed.
And I began to have real FOMO watching the most transformative piece of healthcare
care legislation that had been created in my lifetime get implemented,
and I was not working in it and kind of hurt my public health background soul.
(02:39):
And so I found a position working for a.
Medicaid managed care organization, which was a movement that started in the late 90s,
early 2000s and had really taken root in Texas and have been with that organization
(03:01):
since then and supported not only Medicaid and Medicare,
but also the Affordable Care Act products now in two states.
So it's been a real opportunity to help America's most vulnerable individuals
ensure that they have access to care.
Healthcare, high quality healthcare that they can afford. And it's,
(03:25):
it's been really meaningful work.
And I wish our guests could see your face right now, the way it lit up when
you said Affordable Care Act.
I've got to be the only person in the world to write stuff. But yes.
Yeah. And I want to go into like, have a whole discussion around,
wouldn't it have been better if it was done like this?
(03:46):
But we won't do that today because that's not what we're here for but we
could but we could it is not perfect yes
certainly true yeah well and
i want to get into the Gazelle Foundation so can you walk us through how you
first came to learn about or experience the foundation so in in 2006 Gilbert
(04:10):
came to speak at my company that I was working for at the time.
It's not where I worked now, not the startup.
And as part of his speech, he gave away two free memberships to his running club.
And his talk that he came and gave was about his experience as a genocide survivor in Burundi.
(04:33):
And I did not win in one of the free running class packets.
But one of the people who did was not a runner and knew that I was.
So she gifted it to me. And that gift had a transformative impact on my life.
(04:56):
One, I showed up for my first workout with Gilbert and I made it through the
warmup and thought I was going to die.
Been there. Been there many days.
Really, though, I kept going back. And after six weeks,
which was how long the free pass was for, I signed up for a monthly membership
(05:17):
with him and really learned more about him and his background.
And as we would
talk more and more he around about that time
he started the foundation and he really talked about growing
up in Burundi you know part of his story that he tells about how he became a
(05:37):
world-class runner in Burundi is that every morning his job was to run two miles
to get water out of the creek and bring it back to his house before he went
to school and the quicker The quicker he got that done,
the quicker he could go play with his friends at school. And...
The idea that people in the 20th century could live in a space where they did
(06:02):
not have running water was pretty amazing and that it wasn't just one or two
people or one small community.
It was huge pieces of Burundi don't have access to clean running water.
And his desire to give back, to make a difference.
Even though he'd had such a traumatic leaving from his country,
(06:24):
really moved me that someone could forgive and go back and still want to make
a change and improve the lives of everyone there really showed me,
I mean, the meaning of forgiveness and the meaning of taking what you have and
paying it forward to someone else. And I didn't start on the board.
(06:46):
I started running the Run for the Water race every year and donating to the
foundation and going to all the events.
And after about five years of that, I began my one-woman campaign to join the
board and really wanted to participate more.
(07:07):
I also had the opportunity at that time, my children were, one was going to
college, one was in high school.
So I had more free time than I had had for years and wanted to do something
with it that gave back to the community, any community, but that one in particular.
So now does that make you like a rare board member that you sought out to get
(07:30):
on the board versus someone coming to see you?
Yes, I, I, I, I hope I'm rare.
I really wanted to be on the board and more directly contribute to the work.
That is absolutely beautiful. Beautiful. I love to hear that.
And Gilbert's been on the show, so our regular listeners have heard his story.
(07:51):
But I think it's really, really beautiful and sweet that you point out the forgiveness part.
Because, yeah, when I hear his story, I just get mad.
And then seeing him fast forward to forgiveness and then wanting to give back
to even the very people that harmed him is just such a good illustration of humanity.
So, tell us, you know, I think everybody
(08:14):
knows the gist, clean water for Burundi, but tell us the details.
Like, how does the Gazelle Foundation do what it does?
It's amazing. We have built, and I should remember, but I believe it's something
like 19 water systems in Burundi, and we build water systems.
So we're not building a well or one thing.
(08:37):
What we create is a system that will sustain and puts clean water inside communities.
And we have tap stands that we've built that are in the communities,
close to the homes, close to the schools.
And we have a team that we work with there. So not only are we providing clean
(08:58):
water and easily accessible,
we're providing jobs and work for a group of individuals in Burundi as well,
which is one of the world's poorest countries.
So we are helping to contribute directly to improving and sustaining the economy
(09:18):
within Burundi, as well as the health of the people who live there.
So kind of hitting it on both ends.
I'm really proud that throughout COVID, which was a really challenging time
for many nonprofits, because when you were not able to have as many events,
it's a lot harder to do your normal fundraising, which makes it harder to continue your services.
(09:41):
And we were able to do that. And it was critical because COVID didn't just hit
in the US, it hit in Burundi too.
And not being able to work for the individuals who build our water systems has
a trickle down effect through the whole community.
So keeping them working and being able to pay them through COVID was impactful,
not to their whole community.
(10:03):
Yeah, definitely. And so I would imagine you're giving people time back that
aren't sourcing water, but possibly also major, major health implications from clean water.
There are several areas where this has really made an impact.
And there is a clinic in Burundi near one of our tap stands.
(10:24):
And that's one of our original ones, one of our older ones.
And the physicians who work at that
clinic have talked about the improvements in
infant mortality rates since they've
been able to have access to clean water at the clinic and not just in the communities
but in areas where you don't have clean water your infant mortality rates tend
(10:48):
to be very high because infants can't fight off as well the bugs that you might pick up from drinking
dirty water, and certainly everyone everywhere has had food poisoning at some
point, unfortunately, in their lives.
Food poisoning is often fatal for infants, especially if you have no way to
provide them hydration in a clean and safe way to combat it.
(11:12):
And this physician talks about he can measure the lives that have been saved
and the opportunity that children have had to grow up because they had access
to clean water. So there's certainly that aspect.
The other aspect is education.
So especially for young girls and women in Burundi, getting water is the work of children and women.
(11:40):
And it reaches a certain point where that begins to impede your ability to attend school.
And if you can't go to school, right, You don't have access to college or higher
jobs, and it creates a cycle where this continues.
And again, we have stories of individuals who that access to the water systems
(12:06):
have meant that they could stay in school.
And so we have children, especially young women, who are now getting access
to higher levels of education than they did before. And if you look at any of
the studies, if you want to raise the economic level of a community, you educate the women.
And so this is, again, a way that we are raising and bringing the whole area
(12:29):
to a healthier, more sustainable space.
Are there any of those stories that just stand out, like just personal stories
that since you've been a board member that just are like, that's,
that's the one that I go back to that keeps me going? I really love the one.
There's an interview and I should ask our ED for the video with the doctor who
(12:53):
talks about the impact because I can only imagine how heartbreaking it is as
a medical clinician to know what you need to treat the person in front of you,
but not have access to it, not be able to provide them the care that you know will save their lives.
And his emotion when he talked about the difference this had made was just, it was amazing.
(13:20):
You know, you really felt the lives of those children.
Wow, that sounds incredible. We're definitely gonna have to try to get our hands
on that video. I would love to see it.
And your epidemiology background totally makes sense on, you know,
how you can really tap into everything that's going on there in Burundi.
I also believe you have an undergraduate degree in mathematics.
(13:45):
So I'm curious, the math and epidemiology combination, how does that change
the lens through which you approach clean water?
So, it certainly is a driving force for the reason why I was originally interested
in supporting this mission.
You know, three, four years ago, nobody knew what epidemiology was.
(14:08):
And I would have to explain all the time, no, I'm not a dermatologist.
I don't study skin. Right.
And so now, of course, thanks to COVID, everybody knows what epidemiology is.
So this is good. We study diseases and epidemics. And I studied in graduate
school in particular, infectious disease was one of the things that I was really interested in.
(14:30):
And I did have thoughts at some point that I was going to go to Africa and study
Ebola and figure out how it came. That did not come to pass.
But when you study infectious disease, you have whole sections on waterborne diseases.
And you learn about the impact of waterborne diseases globally and in the history of humanity.
(14:55):
And they are treatable with clean water. If we can get everybody clean water,
nobody will suffer from a waterborne disease.
But unfortunately, even within the United States, with our very,
very good public health water systems, we have outbreaks of waterborne diseases periodically.
Periodically that is i i
(15:16):
don't know if you saw the news today there was in
in the New York Times health section talking about how
cholera is on the rise again globally cholera is also a waterborne disease and
again it points to not having access to clean water and not ensuring that we
have clean water available impacts health at all levels of society globally.
(15:40):
And so for me, the opportunity to work with an organization that is directly
combating something that impacts everybody on earth, which is the need for clean water, was huge.
I've helped, I think, as a board member, do things like let's see what we can
quantify in terms of how many people have had access to the water.
(16:06):
What does that mean in terms of their disease burden?
Let's work with the clinics to understand how many people haven't died because
of this and then use that information to help.
Get grants or other funders engaged and understanding the impact of this.
Even getting people to just run the race, the run for the water and ensure that,
(16:31):
you know, within Austin, I would go speak at schools and I would,
I would talk to kids about, about not having clean running water.
And, you know, this was something they, they just kind of you know blows their
minds i said well just imagine that you get up in the morning and you run down
to town lake and you fill up your water and that's what you drink all day and
(16:53):
you can see their faces going no i don't want to drink that water i'm like yeah no me either,
that's the point so well and it's why it's wildly different because we're looking
around like do i want to drink from this water fountain this clean like that
we're like is that good water for us or They're not.
It's way better than Townlink, that I will say.
(17:17):
And so I really try and bring that sort of analytical, data-driven impact of
the work we do into what we're sharing and communicating.
And I think it's been successful. We've been able to continue to grow the foundation
and its impact through that. But
yeah, that very much, it's clean water is fundamental to public health.
(17:44):
Yeah. So if you're able to like take that crystal ball and say,
we're going to have the most wildly successful next three years as a foundation,
like what does that look like for the people in Burundi where you're able to make that impact?
So we have a list of water projects that we have not done.
(18:08):
And if we had a banner three years and we were able to do every single one of
them, there would be a whole region of Burundi where every person would have
access to clean water. And that would be huge.
And then that's just the start, right? There's more of Burundi to work on,
more of the world to work on.
(18:30):
But yes, I would love if we could get through the projects that the team on
the ground has identified.
These are communities that need clean water.
And as we've worked through them, some of the communities that are on that list
to come up, they're ones that are harder to get to.
(18:50):
They're more remote. They aren't as easy to build the connections into the clean water systems.
And so we're really getting to that next level.
We've done a lot of the ones that are perhaps a little bit easier or closer
together, and now we're going to be spreading out and really bringing that further into Burundi.
(19:14):
Andy, and I probably should have asked this in the very beginning,
but when you said tying into clean water systems, so are you guys connecting
to some kind of like national water system or are we talking about rain catchment systems?
Rain catchment systems, but they often require kilometers,
they don't use miles, kilometers of piping to bring the water from where it's
(19:39):
being collected and it's cleaned down into the communities. Gotcha.
Or, and then even within to ensure that it's being, you might have multiple
tap stands in a community, but yeah,
really they're, they're water systems designed to bring it down into.
So, yeah, makes sense. And you may have answered this already in your wildest
(20:01):
next three years, but what's next for the foundation? Yeah.
Oh, one of the things that we are really interested in doing,
and this is, thank you for having us on your podcast,
is sharing the story and bringing more awareness to the good work that we're doing so that we can,
like I said, that wouldn't get us, that wouldn't get all of Burundi access to clean water.
(20:26):
And we need more people to
know the story to support the foundation in
order to continue to spread that even further so and
when you're talking about like getting out into the further areas like i i buy
coffee from somebody that sources it from farms in burundi i'm assuming like
(20:48):
those are not the harder areas to get to because there are there's travel ways
you're You're talking much more difficult.
Yeah, it's funny. I also frequently get coffee from Burundi,
and I did reach out to one of the organizations there that I get coffee from
saying, let's talk. Is there a way that we can work together?
But it was really a different part of Burundi. And yeah, they did not feel their
(21:13):
farmers were experiencing a lack.
But I, you know, until everybody in Burundi has access to clean water,
I don't think, I don't think, you know, the initial work is done.
And we've done enough to get clean water for, I believe, more than 100,000 people.
(21:34):
And the entire UT stadium of full of people now have clean water because of the work we've done.
And we need to work on the next one. Got to finish out all the big college stadiums.
That's right. A&M's next.
Well, Andy, I'm really curious. Are there parallels that you find between what
(21:54):
you do in your day job and what the foundation does in terms of how they impact the communities? Yes.
Thank you. It's a great question. And one of the things that draws me to both
aspects of the work in my day job providing health insurance and high quality
health care for people who are in government sponsored programs like Medicare
(22:15):
and Medicaid in the marketplace.
One of the areas of focus that we have is ensuring that we are closing health
equity gaps within our communities.
And there has been much written lately about the differential experiences that
people of color, women of color, people who live in rural communities have in the U.S.
(22:37):
With their health outcomes and their access to health care.
And we actively work to close those gaps to ensure that everybody gets the same
high-quality health care so they can maximize their health and their ability to live a full life.
And I feel that the work we do in Burundi is the same.
(23:01):
Fundamental to public health is clean water. Not having access to clean water
is a huge health equity issue.
You can't have equal health or equal access to good health if you don't have
clean water to drink every day.
And so that work that we do is really, I mean, perhaps more fundamental than
(23:23):
some of the health equity challenges that we're trying to solve in the U.S.
But very important to
ensuring that every person in Burundi has access to the
same health outcomes as as
anyone anywhere in the world right work
I I'm really glad that both of those organizations have your
(23:44):
time and talents thank you and
then with so many you're solving big problems both area both at home and away
where do you go to get refreshed get recharged personally for me that's that's
the running trail so um you know i had the i did have the,
(24:05):
the luxury of running with gilbert and his running group for many years when
i lived in austin and really really learned to value that community and the.
Strength that just going out with a few people and, and, you know,
(24:26):
what's said on the trail stays on the trail.
You work through, you talk about the challenging things, you support each other
at the end of the day, you know, it it's, you always feel better at the end.
You never regret putting on your running shoes and going to meet the group.
And I've been lucky here in New York. I've found a new group to run with,
(24:48):
and I'm learning to enjoy the beauty of Central Park in all four seasons.
And I will say there are some perks. It does not get as hot here.
It's just a little favor there. It's a little favor, yeah. The weather is better.
It does get a lot colder. I'll say that.
(25:08):
So, but yeah, I, I spend and spending time with my family and I'm a big soccer
fan. So going to soccer games.
Well, what are the things that, what are the action items that we can do for
the gazelles foundation?
So if you're one, if you're in the Austin area, sign up for run for the water and go participate.
(25:32):
It's a really positive life affirming event.
There's a 5k and a 10 miler. so and walking it is fine just come out enjoy the
people and the experience and the positivity and then also check out our website
watch our videos see the the.
Looks on the community's faces when the tap scans get turned on and they have
(25:58):
fresh water and you can see the change it makes in their life right there.
Watch our videos. And if you're moved, donate money.
We always need resources to help build the water systems.
Most of the money that we raise goes directly to funding water systems in Burundi.
(26:18):
We keep our overhead as low as possible because we really want to pass all of
the generous donations that we get on to Burundi.
Perfect. And we will put links to all of those with the show notes, of course.
And this year, I believe, is November 3rd, the day for the Run for the Water? Yes.
(26:38):
Perfect. Always the first weekend in November.
Yes. it yes and even if you're a runner you can walk part of it because it does bear it that yes.
Walking is not it's a beautiful part of town you need to stop and enjoy part of it yes,
(26:58):
exactly and if you don't run you can hold a sign and right come to you well
yeah high fives listen to the burundian drummers at the end of the race they're
always fun yes well andy thanks for joining us and we hope to get to see you soon.
Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity to come and speak about the foundation.
(27:19):
Well, I just loved hearing Andy's story and her work with the Gazelle Foundation.
Clean water is changing lives through reduced infant mortality,
removing a barrier to education, providing jobs, and simply helping the people
of Burundi achieve better health.
If you're in the Austin area, consider joining them for the Run for the Water
on November 3rd. We'll be there and would love to see you.
(27:41):
And you can learn more about their work at GazelleFoundation.org.
Welcome to Generous Impact. This is Bret Brummitt. And this is Amanda Brummitt.
We are joined today by Andi Gillentine, Vice President of the Board for Gazelle
Foundation and Plan Chief Operating Officer at Fidelis Care.
In this episode, you'll hear how Gazelle Foundation is bringing clean water
to the people of Burundi.
Andi, thank you so much for being here with us today.
(00:22):
I would love it if you could just start out by giving us your background.
Who are you personally and professionally? Thank you. Thank you,
Amanda and Bret, for the opportunity to come and thank you.
I'll start personally and then move professionally.
So I'm a recent New Yorker.
I moved to New York from Texas three years ago. I
(00:44):
lived in Texas for 25 years in
Austin which is where as we move forward into
talking about the Gazelle Foundation where I was first exposed to
Gilbert and the foundation and learned more about found I have two beautiful
children who are now grown and launched mostly which is an exciting place to
(01:05):
be in my life and my husband and I are living this grand adventure of moving
to a new city and bringing,
trying all the fun things that the East has to offer.
Professionally, I've worked for many years on and off in healthcare.
I started, I have a master's degree in epidemiology and I started my professional
(01:26):
career in public health working as a data analyst on Medicare data.
Medicare is the government health plan for people who are over the age of 65.
Just for background. And I moved from that work into supporting the Medicaid
program in Texas, which is the health insurance for people who do not have a very high income.
(01:51):
And then I took a break from healthcare and I moved out of healthcare and I
went to work for a startup company in Austin in 2012.
2006, 2007, kind of the thing to do in 2006, 2007 in Austin.
And I worked at this startup company for six years.
(02:13):
And one of the things that happened in that six years is the Affordable Care Act got passed.
And I began to have real FOMO watching the most transformative piece of healthcare
care legislation that had been created in my lifetime get implemented,
and I was not working in it and kind of hurt my public health background soul.
(02:39):
And so I found a position working for a.
Medicaid managed care organization, which was a movement that started in the late 90s,
early 2000s and had really taken root in Texas and have been with that organization
(03:01):
since then and supported not only Medicaid and Medicare,
but also the Affordable Care Act products now in two states.
So it's been a real opportunity to help America's most vulnerable individuals
ensure that they have access to care.
Healthcare, high quality healthcare that they can afford. And it's,
(03:25):
it's been really meaningful work.
And I wish our guests could see your face right now, the way it lit up when
you said Affordable Care Act.
I've got to be the only person in the world to write stuff. But yes.
Yeah. And I want to go into like, have a whole discussion around,
wouldn't it have been better if it was done like this?
(03:46):
But we won't do that today because that's not what we're here for but we
could but we could it is not perfect yes
certainly true yeah well and
i want to get into the Gazelle Foundation so can you walk us through how you
first came to learn about or experience the foundation so in in 2006 Gilbert
(04:10):
came to speak at my company that I was working for at the time.
It's not where I worked now, not the startup.
And as part of his speech, he gave away two free memberships to his running club.
And his talk that he came and gave was about his experience as a genocide survivor in Burundi.
(04:33):
And I did not win in one of the free running class packets.
But one of the people who did was not a runner and knew that I was.
So she gifted it to me. And that gift had a transformative impact on my life.
(04:56):
One, I showed up for my first workout with Gilbert and I made it through the
warmup and thought I was going to die.
Been there. Been there many days.
Really, though, I kept going back. And after six weeks,
which was how long the free pass was for, I signed up for a monthly membership
(05:17):
with him and really learned more about him and his background.
And as we would
talk more and more he around about that time
he started the foundation and he really talked about growing
up in Burundi you know part of his story that he tells about how he became a
(05:37):
world-class runner in Burundi is that every morning his job was to run two miles
to get water out of the creek and bring it back to his house before he went
to school and the quicker The quicker he got that done,
the quicker he could go play with his friends at school. And...
The idea that people in the 20th century could live in a space where they did
(06:02):
not have running water was pretty amazing and that it wasn't just one or two
people or one small community.
It was huge pieces of Burundi don't have access to clean running water.
And his desire to give back, to make a difference.
Even though he'd had such a traumatic leaving from his country,
(06:24):
really moved me that someone could forgive and go back and still want to make
a change and improve the lives of everyone there really showed me,
I mean, the meaning of forgiveness and the meaning of taking what you have and
paying it forward to someone else. And I didn't start on the board.
(06:46):
I started running the Run for the Water race every year and donating to the
foundation and going to all the events.
And after about five years of that, I began my one-woman campaign to join the
board and really wanted to participate more.
(07:07):
I also had the opportunity at that time, my children were, one was going to
college, one was in high school.
So I had more free time than I had had for years and wanted to do something
with it that gave back to the community, any community, but that one in particular.
So now does that make you like a rare board member that you sought out to get
(07:30):
on the board versus someone coming to see you?
Yes, I, I, I, I hope I'm rare.
I really wanted to be on the board and more directly contribute to the work.
That is absolutely beautiful. Beautiful. I love to hear that.
And Gilbert's been on the show, so our regular listeners have heard his story.
(07:51):
But I think it's really, really beautiful and sweet that you point out the forgiveness part.
Because, yeah, when I hear his story, I just get mad.
And then seeing him fast forward to forgiveness and then wanting to give back
to even the very people that harmed him is just such a good illustration of humanity.
So, tell us, you know, I think everybody
(08:14):
knows the gist, clean water for Burundi, but tell us the details.
Like, how does the Gazelle Foundation do what it does?
It's amazing. We have built, and I should remember, but I believe it's something
like 19 water systems in Burundi, and we build water systems.
So we're not building a well or one thing.
(08:37):
What we create is a system that will sustain and puts clean water inside communities.
And we have tap stands that we've built that are in the communities,
close to the homes, close to the schools.
And we have a team that we work with there. So not only are we providing clean
(08:58):
water and easily accessible,
we're providing jobs and work for a group of individuals in Burundi as well,
which is one of the world's poorest countries.
So we are helping to contribute directly to improving and sustaining the economy
(09:18):
within Burundi, as well as the health of the people who live there.
So kind of hitting it on both ends.
I'm really proud that throughout COVID, which was a really challenging time
for many nonprofits, because when you were not able to have as many events,
it's a lot harder to do your normal fundraising, which makes it harder to continue your services.
(09:41):
And we were able to do that. And it was critical because COVID didn't just hit
in the US, it hit in Burundi too.
And not being able to work for the individuals who build our water systems has
a trickle down effect through the whole community.
So keeping them working and being able to pay them through COVID was impactful,
not to their whole community.
(10:03):
Yeah, definitely. And so I would imagine you're giving people time back that
aren't sourcing water, but possibly also major, major health implications from clean water.
There are several areas where this has really made an impact.
And there is a clinic in Burundi near one of our tap stands.
(10:24):
And that's one of our original ones, one of our older ones.
And the physicians who work at that
clinic have talked about the improvements in
infant mortality rates since they've
been able to have access to clean water at the clinic and not just in the communities
but in areas where you don't have clean water your infant mortality rates tend
(10:48):
to be very high because infants can't fight off as well the bugs that you might pick up from drinking
dirty water, and certainly everyone everywhere has had food poisoning at some
point, unfortunately, in their lives.
Food poisoning is often fatal for infants, especially if you have no way to
provide them hydration in a clean and safe way to combat it.
(11:12):
And this physician talks about he can measure the lives that have been saved
and the opportunity that children have had to grow up because they had access
to clean water. So there's certainly that aspect.
The other aspect is education.
So especially for young girls and women in Burundi, getting water is the work of children and women.
(11:40):
And it reaches a certain point where that begins to impede your ability to attend school.
And if you can't go to school, right, You don't have access to college or higher
jobs, and it creates a cycle where this continues.
And again, we have stories of individuals who that access to the water systems
(12:06):
have meant that they could stay in school.
And so we have children, especially young women, who are now getting access
to higher levels of education than they did before. And if you look at any of
the studies, if you want to raise the economic level of a community, you educate the women.
And so this is, again, a way that we are raising and bringing the whole area
(12:29):
to a healthier, more sustainable space.
Are there any of those stories that just stand out, like just personal stories
that since you've been a board member that just are like, that's,
that's the one that I go back to that keeps me going? I really love the one.
There's an interview and I should ask our ED for the video with the doctor who
(12:53):
talks about the impact because I can only imagine how heartbreaking it is as
a medical clinician to know what you need to treat the person in front of you,
but not have access to it, not be able to provide them the care that you know will save their lives.
And his emotion when he talked about the difference this had made was just, it was amazing.
(13:20):
You know, you really felt the lives of those children.
Wow, that sounds incredible. We're definitely gonna have to try to get our hands
on that video. I would love to see it.
And your epidemiology background totally makes sense on, you know,
how you can really tap into everything that's going on there in Burundi.
I also believe you have an undergraduate degree in mathematics.
(13:45):
So I'm curious, the math and epidemiology combination, how does that change
the lens through which you approach clean water?
So, it certainly is a driving force for the reason why I was originally interested
in supporting this mission.
You know, three, four years ago, nobody knew what epidemiology was.
(14:08):
And I would have to explain all the time, no, I'm not a dermatologist.
I don't study skin. Right.
And so now, of course, thanks to COVID, everybody knows what epidemiology is.
So this is good. We study diseases and epidemics. And I studied in graduate
school in particular, infectious disease was one of the things that I was really interested in.
(14:30):
And I did have thoughts at some point that I was going to go to Africa and study
Ebola and figure out how it came. That did not come to pass.
But when you study infectious disease, you have whole sections on waterborne diseases.
And you learn about the impact of waterborne diseases globally and in the history of humanity.
(14:55):
And they are treatable with clean water. If we can get everybody clean water,
nobody will suffer from a waterborne disease.
But unfortunately, even within the United States, with our very,
very good public health water systems, we have outbreaks of waterborne diseases periodically.
Periodically that is i i
(15:16):
don't know if you saw the news today there was in
in the New York Times health section talking about how
cholera is on the rise again globally cholera is also a waterborne disease and
again it points to not having access to clean water and not ensuring that we
have clean water available impacts health at all levels of society globally.
(15:40):
And so for me, the opportunity to work with an organization that is directly
combating something that impacts everybody on earth, which is the need for clean water, was huge.
I've helped, I think, as a board member, do things like let's see what we can
quantify in terms of how many people have had access to the water.
(16:06):
What does that mean in terms of their disease burden?
Let's work with the clinics to understand how many people haven't died because
of this and then use that information to help.
Get grants or other funders engaged and understanding the impact of this.
Even getting people to just run the race, the run for the water and ensure that,
(16:31):
you know, within Austin, I would go speak at schools and I would,
I would talk to kids about, about not having clean running water.
And, you know, this was something they, they just kind of you know blows their
minds i said well just imagine that you get up in the morning and you run down
to town lake and you fill up your water and that's what you drink all day and
(16:53):
you can see their faces going no i don't want to drink that water i'm like yeah no me either,
that's the point so well and it's why it's wildly different because we're looking
around like do i want to drink from this water fountain this clean like that
we're like is that good water for us or They're not.
It's way better than Townlink, that I will say.
(17:17):
And so I really try and bring that sort of analytical, data-driven impact of
the work we do into what we're sharing and communicating.
And I think it's been successful. We've been able to continue to grow the foundation
and its impact through that. But
yeah, that very much, it's clean water is fundamental to public health.
(17:44):
Yeah. So if you're able to like take that crystal ball and say,
we're going to have the most wildly successful next three years as a foundation,
like what does that look like for the people in Burundi where you're able to make that impact?
So we have a list of water projects that we have not done.
(18:08):
And if we had a banner three years and we were able to do every single one of
them, there would be a whole region of Burundi where every person would have
access to clean water. And that would be huge.
And then that's just the start, right? There's more of Burundi to work on,
more of the world to work on.
(18:30):
But yes, I would love if we could get through the projects that the team on
the ground has identified.
These are communities that need clean water.
And as we've worked through them, some of the communities that are on that list
to come up, they're ones that are harder to get to.
(18:50):
They're more remote. They aren't as easy to build the connections into the clean water systems.
And so we're really getting to that next level.
We've done a lot of the ones that are perhaps a little bit easier or closer
together, and now we're going to be spreading out and really bringing that further into Burundi.
(19:14):
Andy, and I probably should have asked this in the very beginning,
but when you said tying into clean water systems, so are you guys connecting
to some kind of like national water system or are we talking about rain catchment systems?
Rain catchment systems, but they often require kilometers,
they don't use miles, kilometers of piping to bring the water from where it's
(19:39):
being collected and it's cleaned down into the communities. Gotcha.
Or, and then even within to ensure that it's being, you might have multiple
tap stands in a community, but yeah,
really they're, they're water systems designed to bring it down into.
So, yeah, makes sense. And you may have answered this already in your wildest
(20:01):
next three years, but what's next for the foundation? Yeah.
Oh, one of the things that we are really interested in doing,
and this is, thank you for having us on your podcast,
is sharing the story and bringing more awareness to the good work that we're doing so that we can,
like I said, that wouldn't get us, that wouldn't get all of Burundi access to clean water.
(20:26):
And we need more people to
know the story to support the foundation in
order to continue to spread that even further so and
when you're talking about like getting out into the further areas like i i buy
coffee from somebody that sources it from farms in burundi i'm assuming like
(20:48):
those are not the harder areas to get to because there are there's travel ways
you're You're talking much more difficult.
Yeah, it's funny. I also frequently get coffee from Burundi,
and I did reach out to one of the organizations there that I get coffee from
saying, let's talk. Is there a way that we can work together?
But it was really a different part of Burundi. And yeah, they did not feel their
(21:13):
farmers were experiencing a lack.
But I, you know, until everybody in Burundi has access to clean water,
I don't think, I don't think, you know, the initial work is done.
And we've done enough to get clean water for, I believe, more than 100,000 people.
(21:34):
And the entire UT stadium of full of people now have clean water because of the work we've done.
And we need to work on the next one. Got to finish out all the big college stadiums.
That's right. A&M's next.
Well, Andy, I'm really curious. Are there parallels that you find between what
(21:54):
you do in your day job and what the foundation does in terms of how they impact the communities? Yes.
Thank you. It's a great question. And one of the things that draws me to both
aspects of the work in my day job providing health insurance and high quality
health care for people who are in government sponsored programs like Medicare
(22:15):
and Medicaid in the marketplace.
One of the areas of focus that we have is ensuring that we are closing health
equity gaps within our communities.
And there has been much written lately about the differential experiences that
people of color, women of color, people who live in rural communities have in the U.S.
(22:37):
With their health outcomes and their access to health care.
And we actively work to close those gaps to ensure that everybody gets the same
high-quality health care so they can maximize their health and their ability to live a full life.
And I feel that the work we do in Burundi is the same.
(23:01):
Fundamental to public health is clean water. Not having access to clean water
is a huge health equity issue.
You can't have equal health or equal access to good health if you don't have
clean water to drink every day.
And so that work that we do is really, I mean, perhaps more fundamental than
(23:23):
some of the health equity challenges that we're trying to solve in the U.S.
But very important to
ensuring that every person in Burundi has access to the
same health outcomes as as
anyone anywhere in the world right work
I I'm really glad that both of those organizations have your
(23:44):
time and talents thank you and
then with so many you're solving big problems both area both at home and away
where do you go to get refreshed get recharged personally for me that's that's
the running trail so um you know i had the i did have the,
(24:05):
the luxury of running with gilbert and his running group for many years when
i lived in austin and really really learned to value that community and the.
Strength that just going out with a few people and, and, you know,
(24:26):
what's said on the trail stays on the trail.
You work through, you talk about the challenging things, you support each other
at the end of the day, you know, it it's, you always feel better at the end.
You never regret putting on your running shoes and going to meet the group.
And I've been lucky here in New York. I've found a new group to run with,
(24:48):
and I'm learning to enjoy the beauty of Central Park in all four seasons.
And I will say there are some perks. It does not get as hot here.
It's just a little favor there. It's a little favor, yeah. The weather is better.
It does get a lot colder. I'll say that.
(25:08):
So, but yeah, I, I spend and spending time with my family and I'm a big soccer
fan. So going to soccer games.
Well, what are the things that, what are the action items that we can do for
the gazelles foundation?
So if you're one, if you're in the Austin area, sign up for run for the water and go participate.
(25:32):
It's a really positive life affirming event.
There's a 5k and a 10 miler. so and walking it is fine just come out enjoy the
people and the experience and the positivity and then also check out our website
watch our videos see the the.
Looks on the community's faces when the tap scans get turned on and they have
(25:58):
fresh water and you can see the change it makes in their life right there.
Watch our videos. And if you're moved, donate money.
We always need resources to help build the water systems.
Most of the money that we raise goes directly to funding water systems in Burundi.
(26:18):
We keep our overhead as low as possible because we really want to pass all of
the generous donations that we get on to Burundi.
Perfect. And we will put links to all of those with the show notes, of course.
And this year, I believe, is November 3rd, the day for the Run for the Water? Yes.
(26:38):
Perfect. Always the first weekend in November.
Yes. it yes and even if you're a runner you can walk part of it because it does bear it that yes.
Walking is not it's a beautiful part of town you need to stop and enjoy part of it yes,
(26:58):
exactly and if you don't run you can hold a sign and right come to you well
yeah high fives listen to the burundian drummers at the end of the race they're
always fun yes well andy thanks for joining us and we hope to get to see you soon.
Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity to come and speak about the foundation.
(27:19):
Well, I just loved hearing Andy's story and her work with the Gazelle Foundation.
Clean water is changing lives through reduced infant mortality,
removing a barrier to education, providing jobs, and simply helping the people
of Burundi achieve better health.
If you're in the Austin area, consider joining them for the Run for the Water
on November 3rd. We'll be there and would love to see you.
(27:41):
And you can learn more about their work at GazelleFoundation.org.
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