Jeremy sat down with John Nonnemaker, co-founder and Executive Director of Veterans Without Orders (VWO), to hear about the humanitarian work his team does around the world and what comes next for this month’s Community Minute.
John likes to start conversations with one small request: it’s Veterans Without Orders, not Borders. He gets the mix-up a lot. The name fits a group of veterans who still go where help is needed – no orders required.
Who they are
John spent 26 years in the military, almost all of it doing humanitarian work, and co-founded Veterans Without Orders, a veteran and first responder-led humanitarian organization, while he was still on active duty. The veterans who join him have worked in tough environments, speak multiple languages, and are often also engineers and scientists. Since their first mission, they have brought hundreds of veterans and civilians together on projects from Guatemala to Uganda.
John has spent decades working in places where food, water, and energy are all a struggle. He’s learned that most of those problems circle back to one thing:
“If you can just focus primarily on clean water, you’re going to help out all of those different touch points.”
The need is overwhelming. At least half of the world’s population cannot get essential health services, and clean water is at the center of that struggle.
Four lines of effort
Clean water. VWO uses Sawyer water filters. One filtration system lasts about 15 years and gives five families enough clean water, which is roughly long enough for a child to be born and grow up through high school. The cost is roughly $40.
Empowering women. In every country they visit, the team works only with moms. John says it’s moms who take care of their filtration systems, and that is what makes them last.
Purpose for veterans. Many veterans lose their sense of purpose after leaving the military, and that can lead to serious struggles. VWO doesn’t claim to fix that directly, but it gives veterans a mission and keeps them busy doing something that matters.
Honoring the fallen. Every VWO project is named after a fallen soldier. The team reaches out to the soldier’s family and asks if that person can come along in spirit, in a role John calls ‘overwatch’. Overwatch keeps the team safe and even helps them get through customs. When the team returns, they tell the family how much their soldier helped.
And this March, VWO is headed to Kenya to work with a local hospital. The goal is to bring clean water to 4,000 to 7,000 people. A trip like this costs roughly $15,000 to $20,000, and they’re raising those funds now.
Where the money goes
All funds raised go to projects. VWO is 100 percent volunteer, and nobody on the team is paid. Sometimes veterans cover their own plane tickets to places like Haiti.
Many in our community may have met VWO at Wings 4 Water in Lee’s Summit. Funds from that event helped VWO bring clean water to 4,500 people in Malawi.
As Jeremy said during their interview, John doesn’t ask for money, so we will. And if giving isn’t possible right now, sharing this with someone who might help is just as valuable.
Learn more or donate at veteranswithoutorders.org.