Joost Verbart
YEP period 2021 - 2023, batch 24
Young Expert at Wereld Waternet - KenyaFirst position after YEP
Asset Manager at World Waternet, the Netherlands
YEP Role
My role in Kenya is to be a local project coordinator for World Waternet. I am involved in two large programs, the WaterWorX program, and the Blue Deal program. WaterWorX is a partnership of public water operators to increase access to sustainable water services for 10 million people between 2017-2030. I am stationed around two days a week at the office of Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, with whom we undertake various projects to improve the sustainable water services in Nairobi. The Blue Deal program is a partnership between different water boards from the Netherlands, that join forces to give 20 million people access to a sustainable water source in 2030. For this partnership, I cooperate with the Water Resources Authority (WRA), both from their head office in Nairobi and from their regional office in Embu. Finally, I take on several spin-off projects that result from our partnership.
Skills
Project management, technical expertise in Non-Revenue Water (through MSc-thesis), Dutch – Kenyan communication (I am working on developing this skill).
Background
- Nationality: Dutch (the Netherlands)
- Education: BSc Civil Engineering (TU Delft), MSc Water management (TU Delft), Annotation Entrepreneurship (TU DelfT)
Experience before YEP
My ambition to work in the African continent arose during six months of voluntary work in an orphanage in Kenya after high school. Living with a Kenyan family and working with local staff and children gave me a lot of valuable insights about work ethics and life in general. I have gathered international working experience during a minor in the Gambia (constructing a solar dryer for food preservation), a multi-disciplinary project in Ecuador (assessing the feasibility of floating solar panels on the sea as a sustainable energy source), and finally during my MSc-thesis in Kenya (using smart meters to access water losses in the drinking water distribution system). After my graduation, I worked a few months as a technical teachers’ assistant at a high school in the Netherlands. This will be my first job in line with my education. I can’t wait to attempt to make an impact in the Kenyan water sector, the country of my brothers and sisters from the orphanage. Please feel free to reach out if you have similar ambitions, so we can make an impact together.
