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The Fair Future Foundation in East Indonesia combats social and medical injustice and aims to ensure everyone has access to healthcare, clean water, and education. Join us in making a difference.
Fair Future’s vision: supporting healthy lives through clean water, medical care, and education.
We do not stop; the teams of Fair Future and Kawan Baik foundations have already built, as part of the #waterconnections project, site of #mbinudita #sdmbinudita, more than thirty (30) tanks of more than 6000 litres, six ( 6) complete sanitary facilities including two toilets, showers, laundry washing and water collection point.
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.
In these few images, the teams of Kawan Baik Indonesia and Fair Future Foundation, with the help of volunteers from the village, are building two new Ferro-cement tanks of more than 6000 litres, which in a few weeks will provide clean water to a group of houses.
We are building safe and healthy sanitation facilities for these reasons: Ending defecation in the open rather than in toilets will have “transformational benefits” for the most vulnerable people in East Sumba. Open defecation is when people defecate in the open -for example, in fields, forests, bushes, lakes and rivers rather than toilets.
In East Sumba the road often ends long before sickness does. With the Truck of Life mobile clinic we drive where there are no doctors, no pharmacies, sometimes not even a road at all, to offer examinations, treatment, prevention, and follow up to families otherwise left alone for years with pain and unanswered questions.
This "Picture of the Day" shows young children's struggles in East Sumba. The jerry cans are heavy and sometimes more prominent than the children themselves. With limited access to drinking water sources, the kids who live there (here in these images in the villages of Kabanda, Mahu, Laindatang, and Tana Mbanas) are forced to walk long distances to fetch water. Water in rivers or wells which are also contaminated. It takes up a lot of their time and puts them at risk of injury or illness by carrying heavy loads of water. Lack of access to clean water also contributes to poor hygiene and sanitation practices, further compounding the health problems of those East Sumba communities where Kawan Baik and Fair Future work so hard. Together, we are taking action to improve access to clean water sources, in these areas where no roads lead, to ensure the health and well-being of young children and their families. In addition to the physical hardship of fetching water, and as explained in this post, children in rural areas of East Sumba are often deprived of education and other opportunities because of this task. It is widespread (like in this picture of the day) that they miss school or other activities to help collect water, which affects their academic progress and social development.
Here people mainly only have access to contaminated water. This leads to many diseases, including gastrointestinal infections, skin diseases, parasitic diseases and other infectious diseases such as Malaria, Dengue Fever, Cholera, typhoid fever, hepatitis A or diarrhoea. Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to illnesses caused by contaminated water, a significant cause of infant mortality here.
In conclusion, ensuring access to clean water through a program like the #waterconnections project is our top priority that cannot be overlooked. Access to clean water is essential to sustaining life and maintaining good health for everyone here. Water plays a vital role in preventing the spread of the diseases mentioned above, ensuring people can lead healthier lives. Whether for drinking, cooking or cleaning, clean water is essential for everyday life. Without access, communities in the ultra-rural areas of East Sumba suffer from a lack of sanitation and hygiene, leading to various health problems.
Therefore, we must do everything we can to ensure that clean water is available to everyone who needs it.
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.
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.
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…
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)?
Skin infections are not cosmetic. In ultra rural areas, small cuts, insect bites, or scratched skin can quickly become dangerous infections. Heat, dirty water, and delayed care increase the risk. Early cleaning and simple prevention save lives every day in the field.
