What It Is
Working with local community leaders, Humanitarian Services provides access to clean water with wells and other water systems where no such service is available.

Volunteers from the village provide labor to install and maintain the wells to ensure their long-term operation. Local contractors are employed, and a local site supervisor is appointed to ensure the work is performed as agreed. Each village establishes a water committee to oversee the maintenance of the facilities.

Involving the community helps local people feel an ownership of the project, an important cultural consideration in the long-term use and proper maintenance of the water supply.

Why It Is a Priority
The World Health Organization reports that more than a billion people lack sanitary drinking water. Clean water is essential to proper hygiene and disease prevention. Each year more than three million people—mostly children—die from diseases related to poor hygiene and unclean water sources.

Lack of water robs many poor villages of productive workers. Studies show that, where clean water is not readily available, children do not attend school regularly, and more people need medical attention, straining already limited health resources in the community. Many people, old and young, spend several hours per day simply fetching water.

What It Does and How It Helps
Residents of the village and the surrounding area can use the water for washing and culinary purposes, helping them avoid water-borne diseases and reduce the spread of diseases caused by poor hygiene due to lack of clean water. It has been shown, for example, that where clean water is provided, the mortality rate associated with diarrhea is reduced by 65 percent.

Ready access to clean water also allows people to spend more time on other important tasks, such as farming and gathering food. Healthy people are more able to work, learn, and solve their own problems.