Water for All: Examples

Going for water in western Kenya. Photo: CWS

Two communities in Kenya and Uganda gain water and education for girls

"Seeing the girls empowered with education…girls fetching water near their homes and then going to school--that makes me happy," says Deborah Katina, Executive Director of Yang'at ("care" in the Pokot language), a Church World Service partner in western Kenya. "By empowering women and girls we're improving life for the whole community." Katina is a pioneer in the area of girls' rights to education--something the Church World Service Water for Life program is helping to make possible in West Pokot district, Kenya, and in a community across the border in Uganda--an arid region with a population of some 4,000 people.

It is the responsibility of women and girls in many parts of Africa to collect water for household use. This often means walking many miles to sites that are contaminated.

With help from Yang'at, families in two communities--one community in Kenya and the other in Uganda--are developing clean water resources, some for human consumption and others for livestock. A variety of water structures are used: shallow wells, cattle troughs, tanks, and sub-surface sand dams.

"I think God sent Church World Service to West Pokot because God knew His people were suffering there," says Katina. "When we go to the communities, we're not just talking about water." Read more »

	Providing clean water and sanitation in Northeast Vietnam Some 33,000 people in three mountainous communes in Pho Yen district, Thai Nguyen Province, northeast Vietnam, are benefiting from a new clean water supply and sanitary latrines, with the help of Church World Service.
	Water Cistern Program in the West Bank The goal of the Water Cistern Program is to support communities or individuals in overcoming the problems of water shortage, water unavailability, insecure water supply, and unsafe water access by providing facilities that improve their access to potable water, while simultaneously providing economic support through the generation of employment opportunities for skilled labor groups.
	Water for Life: community water systems in Malawi Some 37,500 households (about 187,500 people) in 150 rural villages in Malawi, southern Africa, are gaining access to clean water, with the help of Church World Service and long-time partner Christian Service Committee. In rural Malawi, only 32 percent of the people have access to a safe water supply.
	Village Clean Water, Laos Some 1,200 students and 30 teachers are benefiting from Church World Service-supported water system projects at two schools in the Sampan district of Phongsaly Province and the La district of Oudomxay Province. Another 12,000 rural villagers are benefiting indirectly from the project.