We will construct eight ferrocement tanks in Hambarita to provide clean water to isolated families. Six of these are currently funded, but two remain unfunded. We require CHF 2,300 for each tank. Your support guarantees access to clean water for the most remote communities. Donate now and be part of this life-changing project.
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.
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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Kambajawa | Feasibility studies for a deep borehole for 40 families
Following a direct request from the authorities and the Government of East Sumba, we were asked to help 40 families who have absolutely no access to water, even in very small quantities. We went there and were able to meet the villagers during a very interesting session of nearly two hours. Together, we took stock of the situation, and established the existing situation, in particular the fact that the water distributed by the PDAM has not been arriving for more than five years in the houses and the village. The first secretary of the Regent of East Sumba was present with us and a detailed report will be provided to him as soon as possible on what can be done.
Assa 9yo burned on nearly 22% needs urgent surgery
Assaria, 9 years old, must have surgery quickly for his very serious burns to her legs & lower back. A bottle full of fuel (gasoline) fell into the house fire. At the time of the accident, he was wearing only nylon clothing and was burned. Before Assa’s state of health deteriorates significantly, let’s help him get surgery for his very serious burns on both legs. Assaria is a 9-year-old kid, who burned 20% of his body at the beginning of 2021. He is not well and we must find a solution for him together. Linked to terrible burns to both legs and back, he can barely walk and will have significant circulatory and neurological problems as he grows up. If nothing is done, he risks a double amputation. Assa must therefore undergo surgery in order to avoid much more serious health problems.
Toru Ahu, Lewa | The plague of pests that starve people
Toru Ahu, Lewa | As part of our work to improve the living conditions of families in ultra-rural areas, Fair Future Foundation & Kawan Baik Indonesia are looking for non-aggressive solutions (apart from the use of pesticides) to combat the pests that are starving people in the East of Sumba. To do this, we have to go where no one goes to meet the families who are fighting against the destruction of crops, cornfields and almost everything that grows in the families’ fields and gardens. The conclusions are quite terrible! We are looking for ways to deal with this scourge and meet the needs of families who are already very economically disadvantaged. Data is collected, information analyzed and passed on to our teams and those in a position to make a difference.
Other big challenges for our teams on the way to NTT
Notice of departure of the members of our field teams, for the following programs: The program water connections, clean & safe water in rural areas – Collection of data related to the living conditions of families in rural areas – Provide basic emergency care to all children, with a first aid kit for each school/village – Basic health and medical care in very remote areas – Improvement of logistical means in the event of emergencies and disasters – Start-up of the Program linked to our new deep well drilling rig. Fair Future Foundation and all the collaborators who make it live offer medical, social, educational, logistical, and infrastructural assistance to people affected by shortages, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care. With Kawan Baik Indonesia, we operate in the most rural and ultra-peripheral areas of Indonesia. Fair Future in the field, these are teams made up of health professionals – all local -, logistics and administrative staff, also recruited locally. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of impartiality, independence, and neutrality. We do not employ foreigners, we empower local resources and it is we who implement actions on the ground, without intermediaries. This is what makes Fair Future and Kawan Baik unique
Antimicrobial resistances. What happens when drugs stop working?
Bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other microbes are constantly changing to ensure their survival, we have seen this with variants of influenza, COVID-10, etc. Some have adapted so well to medical treatment that the drugs commonly used for preventing or killing them are no longer effective. These microbes cause drug-resistant infections. Their ability to survive the drugs used against them is called antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In the case of bacterial pathogens, for which antibiotics are the most common and important drugs available for treatment, this is called antibiotic resistance (ABR). We mustn’t wait until it’s too late to tackle this major health challenge.
Massive pest attacks that destroy all crops and starve the people
In East Sumba, for several days now, grasshoppers have been destroying all crops, vegetable gardens, soybeans, and corn. For three years, it has come back regularly. During high population years, they feed and severely damage almost all crops, trees, shrubs, and vegetable gardens. We are in contact with the most affected populations who tell us how the fruit of their work, their fields But also their garden, are totally destroyed in a few minutes. The impact is enormous for these poor families since their income is not enough to buy food. Rice in particular is expensive, therefore corn harvests are very important and vital for families. A new trade is in the process of being born: The sale of grasshoppers by the kilo; this is in order to eat and be nourished. The price is IDR. 5,000,000.- per kilo, i.e. less than 50 cents.
Fair Future and Kawan Baik change the nature of water
Clean water is life, health, food, leisure, energy… Water covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface. It is in water that life on Earth began, so it is not surprising that all living things on our blue planet need water. Water is indeed many things: it is a vital need, a home, a local and global resource, a transport corridor, a climate regulator. And, over the past two centuries, it has become the end of the journey for many pollutants released into nature and a newly discovered mine rich in minerals to exploit. To continue enjoying the benefits of clean water and healthy oceans and rivers, we must fundamentally change the way we use and treat water.
There will always be people who live too far away, we are here to help them!
There are no toilets here, everyone practices open defecation. Furthermore, no one has direct access to water of any kind, and no access to a source of clean, drinkable water. Fair Future and Kawan Baik Foundations are changing that with the #waterconnections program, but there will always be people who live even further than far. We meet those people, all those families that we don’t forget. Thanks to all of you and our teams who are there, on the ground at the time of writing this line, they will also have access to one of our solutions, a borehole, a reservoir connected to the network…
We act like dowsers and their magic wands. And it works so well!
“Dowsing” generally refers to the practice of using a forked stick, rod, pendulum, or similar device to locate groundwater. Although tools and methods vary widely, most dowsers probably still use the traditional forked stick, which can come from a variety of trees, including willow, peach, and witch hazel. Other dowsers like us with the foundation use an elaborate box system and electrical instruments. And it works, it’s amazing!
Our new deep well drilling machine for #WaterConnections is finished, here it is!
Water appeared on earth about 4 billion years ago and since then its volume has remained constant. It is always the same water that circulates, transforms, and recycles itself permanently. One of the greatest dangers hanging over freshwater supplies is simply the increase in the world’s population. In 2050, there should be about 9.8 billion people on Earth, some 2.3 billion more than today.
Water is when we don’t have it that we realise how important it is!
Water we do not realize how important it is when we have access to it like that, by opening a simple tap and sometimes forgetting to close it. Water is when we don’t have it that we realize how important it is, how vital it is for our everyday life. So for a moment, let’s try to imagine what our life could be like without water. And if we have access to it, that this water is not consumable! This is what the families experience here, the children of all these villages in which Fair Future works almost 24 hours a day. The health of people, the prevention of diseases, the reduction of infant mortality, offering a better quality of life, food every day, a shower every day and for everyone are just a few aspects that oblige us to work and develop. innovative and sustainable solutions, relating to access to water in quantity and quality for families in the poorest and rural regions.
Magic works, construction continues, people are happy, there is water!
Having clean water close to home is a real challenge that Fair Future and Kawan Baik have taken on, so that the more than 2,200 villagers of Mbinudita can have clean water in their homes for the first time in their lives. This is so that everyone’s life is healthier, happier on all fronts, clearly more harmonious. Even if it is very hard physically, sometimes morally because we are isolated from everything and everyone, there is not a day during which we are not happy to be able to work within the framework of this immense project, one of the largest ever conducted by the Swiss foundation and its Indonesian twin sister, Kawan Baik Indonesia foundation.
Without or with very little water and food, it is very difficult to go to school!
Go to school, learn, concentrate, walk… All this with little water and food! This is the challenge faced by thousands of kids, their teachers and families. Not having enough water when you are a child, sometimes having to walk several kilometres to get to school. Not having enough to eat, not being able to wash. The difficulties of the teachers, their testimonies are revealing of the food, economic and access to water crisis which the children and their families have to face every day of their lives. Fair Future and Kawan Baik try to respond in the best possible way to these vital problems. Avoid malnutrition, improve health, provide access to a source of clean water so that children can go to school and learn in the best possible conditions.
Lifestyle habits: “-Because we’ve been doing it for a long time”
Pollution of streams and natural springs and everywhere. It is rare to find still pure sources whose water is not dangerous for health. Fair Future, within the framework of its prevention programs and access to better health, meets people from the most rural and poor regions of this immense country, offers affordable, simple and understandable solutions for all. At the same time, we are building clean water networks, we are drilling deep wells to provide access to quality water, in quantity, to families, children and vulnerable people.
Water Connections – Where are we right now in building this project?
THE project is progressing well, it is a constant investment of time. We work on the sites every day and thanks to the families of the village of MbinuDita, we are progressing really well. The water now arrives at the top of the hill, where our school is For the first time in the life of the village of #rebuildmbinudita, almost all families have access to clean water in quantity and quality. We are finishing the construction of ten reservoirs of 6200 liters, kilometers of pipes are buried, electricity feeds the pumps in the wells. The construction of the sanitary facilities will be able to begin soon.
The Water Crisis in Indonesia – Focus in Napu, Wunga, Sumba Timur
Drinking contaminated water can lead to serious health problems. Cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, scabies, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, trachoma, typhoid and paratyphoid fevers, hepatitis, malnutrition and poliomyelitis, significant metabolic fatigue causing disorders of all vital systems, to death.
In the long term, consumption of water loaded with heavy metals, pesticides, nitrates and other chemical components such as arsenic are likely to cause serious congenital malformations in newborns: Limb deformation, hydro-encephalitis and other physical or mental disabilities.