Light in Action…
65 ferro-cement tanks built
Illness often begins long before someone arrives at the hospital. Our campaigns on smoking, waste management, alcohol, and sexual health display straightforward messages across schools and village walls in local languages. Through simple posters, talks, and games, we help protect thousands of children.
The Water Connections program aims to provide fair and safe access to clean water. This initiative not only prevents diseases and reduces health risks, but also sustains lives, decreases infant mortality, and promotes economic prosperity.
The Water Connections category of Fair Future Foundation shares our vital work in improving clean water access and sanitation in ultra-rural Indonesia. Through wells, reservoirs, and water-saving initiatives, we help communities secure reliable, safe water. These stories highlight how our water projects improve health, reduce disease, and bring new hope to children and families living in the most remote and challenging environments.
In rural villages in eastern Indonesia, where we work, toilets are very rare. This is particularly a problem in rural areas where a third of the population must continually defecate in the open air. For Bapak Rinto, it is a relief and a great pride that his family finally has a toilet, thanks to the support of Fair Future and Kawan Baik Indonesia.
The health burden of poor-quality water is enormous, and providing clean water to such a large population is a considerable challenge. Indonesia, particularly the east of this immense country, is characterized by a non-uniformity in the level of awareness and socio-economic development. Therefore, our two foundations do what they can. These few images are taken from the sky and show you what this major project consists of, Water Connections: Drinking water and sanitation for 2,500 people.
The past few weeks have been hectic for all of us here in East Sumba. What a titanic job we are all doing with the help of our friends, the villagers, and members of the rural communities of Mbinudita. The nights are short, and the days are very long and hot too. Imagine, friends, it’s almost 40°, and we work under a blazing sun, which almost anaesthetizes us if we don’t hydrate ourselves enough.
With a few friends from Kawan Baik and Fair Future, we had the privilege and emotion to experience a touching moment, thanks to the strong words of villagers living in a very isolated region of eastern Indonesia. We felt that these brave people had hope that time and the Lord might bring them a better life. For that, we have no choice but to help them.
The procedure for drilling the first well in Mbinudita as part of the Water Connections project. A work of Titan in insane conditions. Three weeks of life on site in the rain, working around the clock to reach a relatively deep water table since clean, clear and healthy water is found at a depth of just over 60m.
We are in the process of completing new clean water tanks and new sanitation facilities in Mbinudita. Our teams are on-site with the help of the entire local community, women, men and children who help us in this work. These infrastructures are made of Ferro-cement, like all the others, with the difference that we give the possibility to the villagers to choose the type of construction. Once again, this type of collaboration works wonders on site because it allows everyone to learn and work.
The Benefits of Clean Water Influence the Daily Lives of Children and Adults and Impact the Quality of Life in a Community for Generations to Come. Fair Future sees a change in the habits of families who benefit from the Water Connections program. Without drilling deep wells here, families will not be able to access clean water and will have to continue walking for miles and hours to fetch dirty, unsanitary water. Most of the time, women and children are assigned to this exhausting task. Access to better health has always been the foundation’s primary mission, and healing people simply by giving them water is incredible for us. It is the only possible solution.
For months, Fair Future has noticed a fundamental change in habits in families who benefit from the “Water Connections” program. Gardens are created. People eat better, drink more, have more energy and are less ill. This observation fills us with joy and comforts us in our choices and decisions. Access to better health has always been the foundation’s primary mission, and healing people just by giving them water is incredible for us.
These women play a major role in the rural economy of their village. They are the ones who transport sand for the construction of a new drinking water reservoir on the Mbinudita site. They sing traditional songs to give themselves courage, because it takes a lot. They are the ones who are in charge of helping us, in what is certainly the most difficult work. Yes, strong women represent a strong nation.
Although access to clean water continues to be a problem, it isn’t easy to ensure it is safe. In this sense, Fair Future is putting in place measures to ensure that it is sustainable. By tests, of course, filtration systems that use elements present in nature. But also, and above all, the education of users on “how to keep the installation clean and in optimal working order” is part of the “water Connections” program. On the other hand, it should be noted that individual practices also play an essential role in determining the quality of the water that we make available to the villagers here in East Sumba.
The first idea was to treat people at the source of their health problems because our medical teams and us allow the expression: “-We were a little tired of giving medicine with a glass of inedible water. …”. And as we have told you many times before, the vast majority of patients who come to us are primarily because of the poor quality of the water they use. But also because they simply don’t have enough or no water.
Sanitary facilities, showers, toilets, a wastewater collection tank… This was a pilot project for the foundation. Today it is something normal. How do we build healthy, ecological, environmentally friendly sanitary facilities using mainly local materials (apart from sand, iron and cement)? How not to waste the water we found by drilling so deep here in Mbinudita? Where had drilling never been attempted? How to reuse wastewater to be able to water the gardens, the plants, and the vegetables that do so much good to and improve the lives of everyone here? It was a challenge, but it is now a reality.
