Lumbie Mlambo is the founder/CEO of JB Dondolo is a nonprofit organization in Zimbabwe named after her late father, JB Dondolo.
Their mission is to remove barriers of access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene in underserved and impoverished communities to reduce poverty and promote gender equity. Their vision is to see a world where clean water is not an obstacle to pursuing a better and more equitable life.
Lumbie Mlambo shared with Today Africa about her entrepreneurial journey.
Tell us about yourself and what your organization is into?
My name is Lumbie Mlambo, I am a philanthropist first and an impact entrepreneur and a mother. I like what I do because I’m working with people making sure that I give them healthy lives and restore their well-being.
So I like what I do very much and I take it seriously. I don’t just talk for the sake of talking. I talk for action. What I say is what I’m going to do. And what I say is what my organization does.
My organization is called JB Dondolo. It’s a nonprofit, of course, founded in 2012 and named after my father, JB Dondolo. It addresses issues related to women and girls because we want to really tackle the issue with water.
We know that women can get out of poverty if we focus on water. A lot of women, a lot of communities and don’t have water. Women work miles and miles to fetch water. So we wanna make sure that we address that so that they don’t have to walk far and that the water is just right there near them.
Because when they walk far, also girls walk far, meaning that girls don’t go to school anymore. And when there’s no water in school, girls don’t go to school which is why we see less and less girls in school.
With us coming in, we work with science and technology institutions to find a solution that is customizable in each community in a sustainable manner. So far we’ve been in Zimbabwe, we’ve served over 120,000 people without water, we’ve served clinics, we’ve served schools, we’ve served the communities. And now we’re looking to expand to other countries and provide water systems.
What were the challenges you faced when starting your NGO and how did you overcome them?
The challenges are that we are non-profit, of course, and we are women-founded and women-owned, and a lot of people that work here are women. And anytime there’s a woman behind anything, it is not funded.
So we fund ourselves. We’ve become very creative and we do know that when we apply for grants, 100% of the time we’re not gonna get it, because when they look at the name, JB Dondolo, they’re gonna toss it out through the window.
They’re not going to fund that. And if they don’t toss it through the window because of the name, they’re going to say, oh, that’s a woman. Well, toss it through the window. We’re not going to look at that.
We really don’t care about whether we get a grant or not. All we care about is that we’re doing work on the ground and that we’re trying to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. That’s what we’re focusing on.
We are focusing on the work on the ground. The only reason why there’s no progress with the UN SDG goals in achieving that by 2030 is because we are talking. A lot of people are just talking, talking. There’s no work on the ground.
We don’t just talk. We talk and put our talk to work on the ground. So the challenges have always been no funding and because we work in Africa, well, who would want to find somebody in Africa. Nobody cares. So we care.
And we don’t care that they don’t care because we’re gonna do our work anyway. So we’re gonna help the women, we’re gonna help the girls and we’re gonna get what we want to do done.
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How does your background in software development security influence your approach to creating sustainable water solutions?
The thing is that we work with science and technology institutions, that’s why I come in as well. Because I understand so much about technology and about security. So that really is in line with my organization.
So I try to at least use my experience and skills to develop the right solutions that we want. Solutions that are sustainable. We do know that technology is not going anywhere. Technology is here to stay. So why not combine those two.
With my background in technology and security, it really simplifies things because my thought process is in that direction. Our systems have to be secure, our systems have to be sustainable, they have to be affordable, they have to be accessible, and they have to have the technology piece of it.
We monitor the systems to make sure, monitoring is part of technology. Because that means you’re either going to develop software or you’re going to use existing software. So that’s what I come in as well.
To evaluate the software that we use or discuss what we’re going to use, how we’re going to implement it, how we’re going to develop it in the first place. Is it appropriate for that region? Most of the places in Africa don’t have electricity. There’s no internet connectivity.
We try to use technology that doesn’t require all that. That doesn’t burden people with having to incur bills due to elevated bills of electricity use and stuff like that . We try to make sure that everything is affordable and they don’t have to worry about any of that.
What have been the most rewarding impacts of JB Dondolo’s effort on the communities you serve?
We’ve actually become so well known. Wherever you go, people will say, if you want the water system to be installed, just call JB Dondolo. Because they know that our impact is not just temporary, it is lasting.
We don’t create any impact, that is just one time impact. We wanna make sure that that impact is sustainable. Depending on the region, how dry it is and how rocky it is and how reachable it is, we install either above ground water systems, technology water systems or underground water systems where we dig or drill a borehole and stuff like that.
Or we harvest water from the atmosphere or from the sun or from the rain. The communities that we serve have benefited from those systems in that they’re able to utilize those systems and stay sustainable.
This year we’re even making a bigger impact in that we’re creating our own water system called Climate H2O. We’re going to be piloting it for three to six months. We’re going to pilot it in five regions, in South Africa, in Zimbabwe, in Rwanda, in Cameroon, and in Sierra Leone. So already, we’re going to make an impact.
We want to test various different regions that have a different atmosphere. Is it rocky or too dry or rainy or whatever the outcome may be, whatever the status is. We want to measure and make sure that our system is going to work effectively.
In March I’m going to be down on the ground in South Africa building that system. We’re creating mini factories to build these systems. We’re going to be hiring, we’re going to be creating more jobs.
Could you share more about the ‘100 Voices for Planet Initiative’ and its global significance?
That’s the initiative that I really love. It is so dear and near to my heart. Why? Because we’re talking about the planet. Anytime when we talk about the planet, it excites me because I get to talk about how we live consciously, eco-consciously without damaging the planet.
How do we live so consciously that we live it better than we found it? Better than when we were here before. I like it that I like this initiative because it is not just me working on it or my organization working on it. There are a lot of people working on it.
We’re galvanising all these people bringing them together to say, let’s work together wherever you are, do what you do best. We’re going to do what we do best. Everybody does what they do best.
But they are living consciously, recycling and not thrashing around, not dumping any chemicals, whatever they do, and farming sustainably without damaging the environment, drilling sustainably. Just living your life right and planting trees.
We know that when there’s no water in a desert. You cannot farm in a desert. Nobody can. What if we plant trees? And what if we plant trees that are appropriate for that region? Not just any tree. But what if we plant fruit trees, orchards and all the stuff?
What happens? Do we live better? For the people who are very impoverished, if there are trees that are bare fruits, now they have nutritious fruits. Tomatoes, mangoes, guavas, apples, bananas, grapes, vegetables, anything that we can plant.
We’re just saying learn to plant something so that we can be healthy again. Women can be healthy, because we care about women’s health. We care about women’s wellbeing. We care about girls going back to school. And we care about the whole community being well and healthy.
So the ‘100 voices for Planet Initiative’ looks to find the 100 people who are committing to living consciously through their actions. And also amplifying their actions by showcasing and letting people around them know what they’re doing and encouraging them to do the same so that we all are doing something that actually benefits the environment.
We are going to find 100. Each person is going to find their own 100. So it is a ripple effect. Everyone is finding their own people. It keeps growing and growing and growing so that eventually we have a better planet and we’ll be better than we found it.
That’s what this is about. And this initiative actually is a UN Water Action Agenda. It is reported on the UN partnership for progress websites. We report on a quarterly basis. We keep adding more people. Right now we have about 27 voices for Planet. By 2030, we’re gonna have 100 voices that are at the forefront of everything that we report upon and stuff like that.
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How do your partnerships with scientific institutions help your work in providing clean water and how is it community specific?
We are non-political. We only work with the stakeholders to get our work done, to make sure that we follow the requirements so that we’re not in violation of anything. But we’re not a political organization, we’re very much a nonprofit.
We don’t talk about politics because people who are just eager about giving others a better life and making sure that women and girls are healthy. We’re just eager to get women and girls out of poverty because we know that they’re the ones that are left behind.
I normally talk about women and girls and not about men because they’re the ones who are burdened about the collection of water. I don’t see men carrying buckets on their heads most of the time.
So our focus is on women and girls, because we know that when we help the women and girls, they are going to help their families, their husbands, their boys, and whoever they help, you know. That’s why we target women and girls.
But having said that, our partnerships help us in advancing our cause, because for example, we work with science and technology institutions. They are the ones that actually help us find the right solution in each community. To know what is the water system that is appropriate for that community.
And they’re gonna test the water to make sure that it’s clean. They’re gonna sample the waters before and after to make sure that it’s good. if it requires any filtration or anything like that. So science and technology institutions are very good for us.
Also other institutions are our partners as well, who may have the parts that we need. We use recyclable parts now for our systems. So we work with several various partners in steel, in restaurants, in construction, etc.
We work with all kinds of partners now. Also government institutions become partners because we want to make sure that what we do is in compliance and in line with what they prescribe for that region. We don’t want to go against what the government says. We do what’s right for that region and if they don’t want a water system for that region, we simply leave.
What role does gender equity play in your mission and how has JB Dondolo empowered women and girls?
We empowered women and girls in that once they have water they can do other things like farming. Our systems are enabled for irrigation and farming. We make sure that they have irrigation and farming when we leave them. Or at least they are enabled for that.
We have partners that work in that area of agriculture. They make sure that they help them with seeds and where to plant and get the ground ready for planting anything. They work with them to find out what kind of trees, what kind of plants, what kind of vegetables they want to plant, or they are used to planting.
And they also suggest what they think will be sustainable for them. So we leave them in a better place in that a lot of women don’t really know sometimes how to do these things, because they’ve never been exposed to that.
They learn to do things like composting. Girls learn to do composting and women learn to plant sustainably and they learn to harvest and sell at the markets. Or we find the markets where they can sell products and earn a living and also do other things that they are passionate about.
We encourage them to do more than just having water. Because nobody can live on water alone. Water doesn’t do anything other than keep you hydrated and healthy. There’s more to that.
How did the ‘International Music for Water Campaign’ come to life and what role does music play in driving social change?
That’s one of the initiatives that I really love very much. How it came about, ideas can come from anyone. That’s one thing I learned from the Tony Elumelu Foundation. He said ideas can come from anyone, not just from the founder.
This idea came from one of the board members, Beatrice Davis. When she suggested it, I thought, nah, that’s not going to work. But it turned out that people actually loved it. They loved it because we’re giving the winners of the music for water competition a recording and a distribution deal.
One time distribution deal with an international record label. I mean, who would say no to that? All these unfunded musicians got a deal. They got to be known worldwide. So the music for itself aligns with our mission, which is water and music.
It streams all that together so that there’s a different way of people understanding more about water. It’s a different way of campaigning that touches people’s hearts through music. And people loved it and I loved it. So since then, we’ve actually won a gold award through AVA.
We won two golds. And next, I cannot tell you where we’re going to be, but we’re working on a song right now, an international song. All the Music for Water winners are working on a song. We’re going to be recording next month at the studio. And it’s going to be distributed internationally by a record label.
So we’re very excited about that, in that we can attract many humanitarians and non-humanitarians through the song, Music for Water song, to rally for water, for climate, for women, for girls, and above all, for women’s health, mental health, and well-being.
What hopes and aspirations do you have for JB Dondolo?
Our future plans are to scale to five countries. We’re already in the US. But we’re going to scale to other countries, those five countries. And we’re going to implement our new water system called Climate EF2O to five regions.
The future plan for us is to pilot test the water systems that we’re building and fine tune before we actually implement them all over. That is our goal right now. And then our next plan, which is not a future plan, is to really get more voices to the 100 voices for our planet.
Because now we work with a very large organization that has become members of a larger organization other than the UN. We have another organization that is a big organization that is backing us up. Our goal is to get more voices and to get the work on the ground and find a better way to report the impact.
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What advice would you give to women who want to start their own NGO or business?
My advice would be don’t ever wait for anyone, especially if you’re a woman and a woman of color. Don’t wait for anyone to give you money because most of the time it’s not going to come. So just do what you do and do it in the best way you can find, become innovative, create your own stuff like ourselves now we’re creating our own things.
Instead of relying on people, create your own stuff. Don’t wait for someone to, don’t say it’s gonna be expensive to do this. Find an easier and cheaper way to do it so that you know you can always do it yourself without spending too much money, but be willing to spend your own money for what you’re passionate about.
Pursue your passion. Just because it’s not working or because no one is funding you, it doesn’t mean that you should just give up and pack up and just say, I’m done. No, that’s what everybody’s wanting you to do. They want to see you fail, but show them that you’re not a failure.
Show them that you are a success and you’re going to make it work. Because I truly believe in women and girls. I truly believe in the power that they have to turn things around and make this world a better place.
And I think through women doing all these grassroots work or whatever they’re doing, I believe that we can see progress with the UN SDG goals by 2030. So I am counting on women. So my advice is don’t give up, find better ways. You can do it.
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