One of our latest campaigns, "My Waste, My Responsibility," combines health and the environment. Poor waste management contaminates water, spreads disease, and damages land. Through posters, training, and door-to-door outreach, we empower communities to protect their health.
All Articles & News: Fair Future’s Impact in Rural Areas
The news and articles page that reveals the essence of our organization. Each article highlights the experiences, values, and efforts of the Fair Future team. Our writing goes beyond reporting; it tells the essence of the communities we connect with and the challenges and triumphs we experience.
Welcome to the Fair Future News! Our teams have crafted each article, story, and update.
These pages showcase unique content reflecting our mission, work, and community interactions.
2,224 SolarBuddy lamps stored at Rumah kambera’s base, ready for distribution
True stories. Real people. Humanitarian action in motion.
Here you’ll find stories from the field—100% real, 100% original. Every article is written by us, by those who live these moments, walk these roads, and treat these illnesses. We write them by hand, after the long days, often from tents or remote villages, because we believe in showing what’s real.
The people, the lives, the wounds, the repairs—this is not fiction. This is our daily reality in ultra-rural Indonesia. Every photo is taken by us. Every word comes from those who act. From emergency responses and clean water to child health and malaria cases, these stories reflect both the daily struggles and the incredible strength of those we serve.
Our News page is more than just updates. It’s a record of direct action. A collection of emotions, medical cases, construction progress, and social encounters. We don’t write for clicks—we write for those who care, those who want to know, and those who support our mission.
It’s raw, human, sometimes difficult, but always true. Read them, share them, let them move you. This is how change begins—with knowledge, emotion, and connection.
Alex Wettstein – Fair Future Foundation – Updated in June 2025
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Learn to live better? There is no age for that!
This "Picture of the Day": To live old, live happily, as the saying goes. This man is not old, but the harshness of life here, the hours spent on gravel and dirt roads fetching unhealthy water and consuming it, give him the traits of an old man from the village. Location: Padi, village of Mbinudita, East Nusa Tenggara.
An old bamboo cane that he made himself, just a pareo to wear, his skin tanned by the sun and the work in the fields, the rice paddies. His thinness is linked to eating his fill here being impossible. Him? He's not that old, but he doesn't know his age. He tells us: 60 years. And he is there, we have known him for a long time. He attends the meeting with the families of Padi, Mbinudita, and East-Sumba.
He listens to us talk about the means that can be put in place so that he too can have a better life, a life with less water stress, less disease, and more to drink and eat, thanks to the means and infrastructures that Fair Future and Kawan Baik have built the last four years here.
Learning how to live healthier in rural areas
Thanks to the Fair Future & Kawan Baik teams on site and the various publications that our two foundations have produced for them, we share a few hours in each group of houses, in each village where Fair Future and Kawan Baik have carried out one or more projects related to access to drinking water and to toilets and other sanitary facilities. Together, we learn the means available to the villagers to have a healthier life, with fewer illnesses, to eat and drink better, to wash more, to take care of themselves and one’s families.
Some of the children of SD Mbinudita, East Sumba sing
This "Picture of the Day": Yesterday, we asked the children to sing a song outside, in front of their school in SD Negeri Mbinudita. A song that we recorded and which will serve as a support for the film "Matawai", which Fair Future produced. A film about the immense problems linked to the lack of clean water here in this region… Location: SD Negeri Mbinudita, East Nusa Tenggara.
In 2019, there were only about sixty, in 2023 there are more than a hundred and this is increasing. From three classes, we went to five and it will grow even more during the year. More children mean more classes, more teachers and more life too.
Yesterday, Kawan Elthon, Primus and Ino recorded the children singing a song called: "Akulah Sang Air", which means: "I am water". So yesterday was a great day for all these little ones, to whom we explained what we were doing. Soon you will be able to hear them as part of the film "Matawai" (water sources) which will be presented in the next two weeks.
"Akulah Sang Air – I am water"… Nothing could be more true here for all these children whose primary mission -in their everyday life- is to often cover several kilometres on foot, to fetch a few litres of water which is potentially dangerous to health. But since 2019, Fair Future and Kawan Baik are changing things here, in this huge region of Prai Paha, Nggaha Oriangu in Sumba Timur. All now have access to a source of clean water via #waterconnections, to a school #sdmbinudita, to primary medical care #primarymedicalcare among others…
A truck full of sanitations and toilets built by us
This "Picture of the Day" shows you a truck loaded with metal constructions, which we transport to the rural villages of East Sumba. These are sanitary facilities built entirely by our teams in Rumah Kambera, which will be assembled in the houses -groups of houses-, so that the families can, for the first time in their lives, benefit from toilets and showers. Location: Prai Paha, East Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara.
Rather than donating tons of medicine to cure these illnesses linked to lack of hygiene, we are building healthy sanitation facilities. Because now, Fair Future and Kawan Baik foundations have given them access to clean water, having toilets is possible.
Access to healthy toilets is an important challenge for children's health. Here in rural areas, very few households use sanitation facilities, often with serious health and environmental consequences. Fair Future and Kawan Baik know better than anyone that quality toilets save lives. They are essential to preserving the health of children by preventing the spread of disease through human faeces.
Together, learn to have a healthier life at home
This "Picture of the Day" shows some villagers from this ultra-rural region of East Sumba. They learn with all of us how to have a healthy, more harmonious life, thanks to the Fair Future & Kawan Baik teams on-site… and to the various publications our two foundations have produced for them. Location: Prai Paha, East Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara
Partnerships for the objectives, because it is all together that they will manage to change things in their villages: How to no longer suffer the inconvenience of water stress and correctly use the #waterconnections facilities that are now available to them. Learn to take care of yourself and the children who make up the majority of children in the region.
To achieve this, we invite them to take care of themselves. By washing more because there is water here now. By no longer using detergent to cleanse the body, hair or private parts, children and newborns included. By treating a minor injury or health problem before it becomes severe. And perhaps more need to disinfect a wound with motor oil, gasoline or diesel, the misdeeds of addictions related to tobacco, Siripinang, and alcohol, especially in children. All this can be done within the framework of the various programs for access to healthcare initiated by Fair Future and Kawan Baik, in particular those linked to access to Primary Medical Care (PMC).
Live better and longer by drinking more, eating better and using the healthy sanitation facilities we have built; and so many things that we are discussing with them here in the field in East Sumba, with the foundation's socio-medical teams.
If I can wash, it’s because I have water now!
In this "Picture of the Day", a young girl from the village of #Mbinudita is happy because now she and her family have access to water, so they can wash. Before for her, washing was once every two weeks, even once a month for others from the same village. Location: Prai Paha, East Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara
The consequences of not washing on the body are disastrous: Development of microbes on the skin causing many skin diseases such as Scabies, ringworm, or dermatosis, and also much more graceful diseases: Typhoid fever, Hepatitis A, and Cholera. Not being able to wash leads to death linked to the development of the diseases mentioned. It is also a strong signal of the lack of water in a village. Not being able to wash for lack of water also means not being able to eat and drink enough.
Practising good personal hygiene is essential to allow proper functioning of the skin (breathing, secretions). Washing keeps the skin healthy, relaxes the body and maintains a positive self-image. This is why Fair Future and Kawan Baik develop solutions for access to better health by providing access to healthy and clean water. The cheapest and most effective drug.
These teachers who save lives!
In this "Picture of the Day" The work of these female superheroes, who have performed hundreds of primary medical procedures since December 2022. This program is because there is no access to medical care here. These women are the only possible resources, and what they do is extraordinary. Location: East Sumba – NTT.
The primary medical care program that Fair Future and Kawan Baik have set up is unique worldwide. A reminder? This program aims to provide theoretical and practical means to teachers in isolated villages to offer first medical care in the event of injury or illness of a child or an adult. It's simply outstanding; it saves lives.
It focuses on specific populations, groups and communities that are excluded from healthcare access systems and left behind. It offers knowledge and tools to teachers in ultra-rural villages to heal and save lives. It is the teachers of schools isolated from everything who provide first aid; 95% of them are women. There is no doctor or access road here, and the nearest health centre is often hours away. Fracture? Malaria? Dengue? A snake bite? A burn? A choking person? Acute fever in a child? These women, these teachers from isolated villages, are also caregivers, real heroines in their interventions.
On-site Primary Medical Care Program Assessment
This primary medical care program in ultra-rural areas, which we initiated and started last year, is extraordinary, it saves lives. Since December 2022, the participants in the primary medical care program – who are the village teachers – have been providing first aid to children and villagers. They treat wounds, diseases, malaria, dengue fever. Images taken by teachers in their villages.
In principle, we should eat every day!
In this "Picture of the Day" a man who must be 40 years old (but who seems much older), is going to prepare the little rice he has found in the house. It will be for his meal or all those of the week certainly. He cleans it with the wind blowing, throwing it in the air from his rattan basket in front of his house. Here in the ultra-rural villages, few people own rice fields, so they have to buy rice when they can. Location: Desa Mbinudita – Prai Paha.
Eating healthy here? It is very complicated, it is even impossible. The water available is scarce, even if we change this in certain regions. All the meals for these families in East Sumba – where Fair Future and Kawan Baik set up socio-medical projects – consist of corn and a little rice when the families have it.
Vegetables are far too rare or you have to look for those found in the forest, in nature. Meat is almost never present, or when there is a feast they will kill a pig or goat to cook it and share it with friends and family. Fruits? Maybe one day, in a photo, they saw some.
In #sdmbinudita, East-Sumba, the #waterconnections project provides access to healthy and clean water sources close to families' houses. They can cook, and have a vegetable garden to grow their own vegetables. Gradually, habits change, and the health of the villagers improves.
Water Connections, look at all we’ve done!
Look at what has been done in the last 20 months, it’s simply extraordinary because doing this in this region was a priori impossible, but we did it. We are at the end of the line in the Water Connections project, we have “only” a few things left to build, including a huge 25,000-liter tank. Here is the project map for you, so you can see all that has been done in this ultra-rural region, one of the poorest in Southeast Asia.
Young girls now go to school more than before
This "Picture of the Day" depicts a 12-year-old girl who goes to the #sdmbinudita school built by Fair Future and Kawan Baik, in East Sumba, in order to follow the lessons given by one of the five teachers. She is lucky to be able to go there every day. Location: SD Mbinudita Prai Paha.
Quality education for all is one of the most robust and proven pillars of sustainable development. You still have to be able to go to school. This is all the more true when you are a girl. But these successes come up against significant challenges in developing regions due to high levels of poverty, lack of food, drinking water and other emergencies to which we are trying to find solutions (access to basic healthcare and Primary Medical Care, for example).
Indeed, the main task of almost all these girls of school age in the ultra-rural villages where we are active is to fetch water that is not very clean and not very healthy, far from their homes. To do this, they have to walk for hours carrying jerrycans.
In #sdmbinudita, East-Sumba, the #waterconnections project provides access to healthy and clean water sources close to residential homes. From now on, it does not take much time to have water in quantity and quality. And so young girls can go to school.
Health, happiness & sustainable development
What does Sustainable Development Goals mean in a nutshell for Fair Future? Reduce poverty (and not eradicate it because it is impossible), increase access to basic and primary medical care, improve access to technology and knowledge, reduce the number of undernourished people, be better health, reduce antimicrobial resistance, provide quality education for all, eliminate gender inequalities, reduce all forms of discrimination against women and girls, ensure universal protection and equitable access to clean, non-lethal water at an affordable cost and much more. Our teams on the ground manage to change things, that’s obvious, but it takes time.
Elthon plays with Mbinudita’s children
This "Picture of the Day" features Kawan Elthon and a dozen children who are schoolchildren at our school in East Sumba, at the top of the highest hill in Mbinudita. These kids, all of us here, have seen them grow, change, and have a much better life than when we arrived here in 2019 to build a new school. The activities we organize with the more than 120 children who walk here to school are part of our daily work. We also play a lot together, and they participate in various tasks at school, in addition to learning to read and write.
All these children, we all know them – as well as their families – and we call them by their first names. They have a very different life from other kids in Indonesia. For them, life is combined with "hardness". But together, we are making a difference for all these families from the ultra-rural areas of eastern Indonesia.
Elthon is one of the collaborators of Fair Future and Kawan Baik Indonesia foundations. It is thanks to him that you can see the photos that we publish on the website, or on social networks. Among other things, he is in charge of the documentation and most importantly, he is a "child of East Sumba – Sumba Timur".
Washing hands to preserve health and life
Some forms of gastrointestinal and respiratory infections can lead to serious complications, especially in young children, the elderly, or people with weakened immune systems. This is why hand washing prevents the spread of disease. Indeed, many infectious and contagious diseases can be transmitted from one person to another through contaminated hands. These illnesses include gastrointestinal infections, such as salmonellosis, and respiratory infections, such as the flu, colds, and coronavirus (COVID-19). Washing your hands properly with water (when available) and soap will prevent the spread of germs, bacteria and viruses that cause these illnesses.
Deep drilling project in Laindatang
This "picture of the day" shows you a family from the village of Mabtakapidu/Laindatang, which like all the others, lives in the greatest destitution and extreme poverty. Malnutrition and infant mortality are high here.
Yes, this is one of the situations we want to act on as quickly as possible here. Fair Future and Kawan Baik are trying to help this community by offering them the possibility of having clean water in quantity in the village. We have the project to drill on-site at nearly 80m deep and build two or three reservoirs. We have found a water source close to the houses; only the funding is missing for the drilling. We have already received the submersible pump and solar panels for the site, and this is thanks to a private company in Europe.
The families of the village of Laindatang have a tough life, which is a euphemism. They do not eat every day, never meat, rarely vegetables. Rice is expensive, so they mix it with corn when they still have it and pests haven't destroyed it. To wash in the sense of "taking a shower" is maybe once a month for everyone. Her life is organized with less than two litres of water per person per day
To get poor-quality water here, the nearest well is a ten-hour walk there and back. You have to leave in the evening to return in the morning with only a few 5-10 litre jerrycans.
Read more here Kawan's.
The school we built, in Mbinudita, East Sumba
On these "Picture of the Day", we show you the school we built in 2020 and 2021 in Sumba East. In the beginning, there were three classes and 60 students. Today in February 2023, there are five classes and over 120 students.
This school is an integral part of the #rebuildmbinudita project, which consists of helping an entire rural community – more than 270 families, more than 2500 people – to have a better life.
This school, Kawan Baik and Fair Future Foundations built it in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, with materials that, for the most part, were delivered from Surabaya (more than 1500 kilometres away). It took almost two years of working in difficult conditions for all of us, for the local families to realize this. To build such a building without water, without electricity, without a road leading to the site.
Mbinudita? It is the name of a village in the heart of one of the most complicated regions in terms of access to water, food and medical care. Here, before our "arrival," there was no school, now there is one, the biggest and most beautiful of all in the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur, of East Sumba (Sumba Timur). Here, families now have access to toilets, drinking water, etc.
This picture of the day was taken by Alexandre Wettstein, by Drone, on the SD Mbinudita school website