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.
Collaborating with Rotary Australia to bring essential resources and solutions to Indonesia’s most remote areas.
We’re excited to introduce a new guidebook for teachers and storytellers using our Kawan Sehat book for children in isolated rural areas. This guide offers a clear, step-by-step approach to explaining the book effectively, ensuring that vital information is consistently and clearly conveyed. It will be distributed to all teachers along with the Kawan Sehat book.
In the remote region of Mbinudita, East Sumba, two dedicated health workers are making a difference through the Primary Medical Care program. Equipped with essential care guides, they deliver life-saving medical care and provide education to thousands. Their impact extends beyond health, influencing every aspect of community well-being. These women are more than caregivers – they are superheroes in their communities.
#WaterConnections here in Laindatang was established for various reasons. Firstly, to improve the living conditions of the residents, promote better health, and combat issues of malnutrition and infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue, cholera, hepatitis, polio, and others.
But to combat malnutrition and unhealthy eating habits, it is essential to provide adequate knowledge. The residents here have no concept of what it means to eat healthily. As part of this program, for several months, Fair Future and Kawan Baik cook on-site, not only for our team of workers but also for the village workers, about 30 to 50 people each day. We categorically refuse to prepare unhealthy meals.
Instead, we educate them on new tastes, showing them what fresh vegetables like carrots, potatoes, cabbage, green vegetables, and corn look like, cooked in different ways. It is crucial for children's growth to have a healthy diet. Many of them travel kilometres to get to school, arriving tired, exhausted, and unable to concentrate.
Most of the time, they haven't eaten before leaving home. Additionally, they lack access to water. For us, nutrition is therefore one of the key pillars of this program, along with the prevention of infectious diseases.
Throughout the duration of the project, we focus on nutrition, in addition to preventing infectious diseases. We spend much time cooking for the villagers and teaching them the basics of a healthy diet. The #WaterConnections program is there for them, to offer them a better future and better health, as we believe that it is through clean water that we can accomplish almost anything.
Growing vegetables, generating income through their sale, this is what awaits us in the coming weeks as we cook for the school children every day, helping them adopt better eating habits. This is crucial for them because they represent the future generation, those who will outlive us.
Alex Wettstein – Fair Future Foundation medico-social camp in East Sumba – Rumah Kambera, Lambanapu – The 3rd of March 2024
SolarBuddy lamps assembled by children overseas arrive with personal letters for children in rural Indonesia, connecting two communities through practical access to safe light.
From April 17 to 24, Fair Future hosted five members of the Rotary Club Australia. They visited East Sumba to learn about our work, including clean water projects and efforts to combat diseases like malaria and dengue. Together, we distributed SolarBuddy lights and promoted healthy living. We deeply appreciated their support.
The first medicines are arriving, and we’re sorting and packing them. In a few days, we’ll transport them to East Sumba with our two fully loaded trucks. These medicines are vital, as we’re nearly the sole provider for hundreds of thousands of people. Thank you for supporting the third year of our #PrimaryMedicalCare program.
In 2025, the Water Connections project aims to provide clean water and sanitation in Lapinu Village, improving health and reducing preventable diseases. The initiative will engage villagers in sustainable solutions, helping families achieve better health, nutrition, and a dignified life.
The Water Connections project by the Fair Future Foundation is transforming life in Laindatang, East Sumba. By providing clean water to 600 residents, including nearly 100 schoolchildren, we are not only improving hygiene and reducing the risk of diseases like malaria, polio, and tuberculosis, but also teaching sustainable living practices.
In this new “Picture of the Day”, around ten people are seen burying HDPE pipes between a new 5000-liter ferro-cement tank and another 5000-liter ferro-cement tank. These pipes will later connect the new sanitation facilities, the school, the village houses, and the latest installation of eight sinks These sinks will allow the village’s children to wash their hands.
The #WaterConnections projects we carry out in ultra-rural villages in Indonesia, such as Laindatang, embody much more than a simple water installation. They symbolize a profound transformation in the living conditions of the communities where we work. By connecting kilometres of heavy and robust HDPE pipes, we weave water supply networks and links of solidarity and mutual aid between residents and our team.
These pipes, which we carefully bury to protect them from savannah fires—a work we do with the villagers—are not only water pipes; they are the vectors of better health and a vastly improved quality of life. Access to clean water radically changes the daily lives of these families. Drinking, cooking, washing, watering a garden, or simply washing have become simple and safe, eliminating many risks of using contaminated water.
The availability of clean water has a direct and measurable impact on the health of communities. Infectious diseases, often spread by unsafe water, see their rate drastically reduced once access to quality water is secured. Ailments such as malaria, diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid, and other water-related illnesses, which previously were part of daily life in these villages, are beginning to disappear. By providing a reliable source of drinking water, we attack the root of one of the leading causes of malnutrition, allowing safer food and facilitating the irrigation of small vegetable gardens, sources of better, fresh and nutritious food.
Beyond health, #WaterConnections is also revolutionizing villages’ social and economic fabric. Women and children, who were often responsible for collecting water, sometimes from long distances, were freed from this time-consuming and exhausting task. Children can devote more time to their education, and women to income-generating activities or personal development. This creates a dynamic of progress and empowerment within communities, promoting the emergence of new opportunities for all.
This project is not only a technical response to the problem of access to water; it is a door to a healthier, more equitable and more promising future for hundreds of families. By building these facilities, training residents in their maintenance, raising awareness of the importance of hygiene and sharing our knowledge, Fair Future and all our teams on site are sowing the seeds of an innovative and, above all, sustainable transformation. Each pipe laid, each meter of buried pipe, and each drop of clean water that arrives in a home brings us closer to this future for those families officially qualified by the national authorities as “Extreme Poverty”.
Thanks to the support of donors and partners, these projects can come to fruition. We are grateful to everyone from Rotary, those involved in the fight against malaria (RAM), and supporters from Switzerland, Indonesia, and worldwide. Together, we can save lives.
Your help is vital in supporting our mission to reach more villages and improve more lives. Water is essential, and together, we can make life healthier, safer, and more full of opportunities for Indonesia’s ultra-rural communities. Thank you for your ongoing support and for believing in our cause.
Alex Wettstein – Fair Future Foundation medico-social camp in East Sumba – Rumah Kambera, Lambanapu – The 27th of March 2024
The new “Picture of the Day” features the newly completed sanitary facilities in the village of Laindatang. It’s a revolutionary development for these families, who previously lacked access to toilets, showers, and clean water. Fair Future has been actively involved in this area for 18 months and is making significant changes to improve people’s health and preserve lives.
In the village of Laindatang, the concrete and vital action of the Fair Future Foundation is manifested through the #WaterConnections project. Before our intervention, living conditions in this village were precarious, and there was no access to basic sanitation facilities or clean water. Families live daily, facing the daily challenges posed by the lack of hygiene and the health risks that arise from it.
Completing the second sanitation facility in the village marks a turning point. These facilities, including a handwashing sink, represent a revolution for the community. Hand hygiene’s simple yet crucial importance cannot be underestimated in the fight against infectious diseases. The source of this transformation? Four new ferro-cement reservoirs, the fruit of our ingenuity and determination, and a deep borehole that symbolizes our ongoing commitment to the Laindatang community.
These facilities, separated by gender, offer private space for showering, washing clothes, and much more. They are equipped with safety tanks divided into three parts, designed to filter and separate water at different stages of use in accordance with international water purification standards. This distinction between clean, shower, and dirty water is essential for preserving water quality in the village, a pillar of our mission to combat transmissible diseases.
Implementing these sanitation facilities has a profound impact on the health and well-being of the villagers. By eliminating unsanitary practices such as open defecation, we directly reduce the risks of infectious disease transmission, a primary concern in these ultra-rural areas. This action represents a significant step forward in our fight against diseases like Malaria, Diarrhea, Cholera, Polio and other water and hygiene-related infections.
Beyond the sanitary aspect, these facilities strongly impact the dignity and privacy of individuals, particularly the women and girls of the village. Having access to private toilets with a closed door is a matter of personal respect, safety, and female health preservation. This dramatically changes the daily dynamics of the village, offering a healthier, safer, and more dignified living environment.
This achievement results from the commitment of the Fair Future Foundation and its partners, but above all, it demonstrates our will to put humans at the heart of our actions. Each project and each initiative we undertake aims to concretely improve the lives of the communities we serve by providing sustainable solutions to the challenges they face. In Laindatang, as in every village where we intervene, our mission is clear: to build a fairer, healthier, and more equitable future for all.
Alex Wettstein – Fair Future Foundation medico-social camp in East Sumba – Rumah Kambera, Lambanapu – The 27th of March 2024
We’ve completed two days of project studies in the ultra-rural village of Lapinu and hope to begin a six-month Water Connections program in January 2025. The project will provide clean water infrastructure and a well for nearly 60 families living in extreme isolation. More details to come soon!
The new “Picture of the Day” features the new healthy handwashing facility at Laindatang School. This is the first time such a facility has been built and put into service in a public school. It is part of a unique program aimed at effectively combating infectious diseases in a region greatly affected by health issues, especially those impacting children.
In the Laindatang region, where challenges such as lack of water, electricity, and sanitation are combined with the fight against high rates of infectious diseases like malaria, the Fair Foundation’s #WaterConnections project represents a significant step forward towards improving the living and health conditions of the most vulnerable communities. By inaugurating the first handwashing facility in a local school, we have taken a crucial step in our commitment to ensuring access to essential sanitation services for children, for whom regular hygiene practice has been a rarity until now.
This sanitary facility comprises eight sinks, six visible in the shared image, and two are located in new healthy sanitary facilities built by our team. It marks a turning point in Laindatang’s children’s daily lives. Previously, the opportunity to wash their hands was a luxury, with families having to walk long distances to the nearest river for water. This journey could only be done every two weeks or, in some cases, once a month. In the dry season, these challenges become even more overwhelming, further limiting access to water for basic needs.
The project is not limited to providing convenient access to water for handwashing; it is also a head-on fight against infectious diseases that have long afflicted the community, particularly malaria. By introducing these handwashing facilities, the Fair Future Foundation aims to introduce vital hygiene practices that can significantly reduce the spread of infections. This effort is even more critical in a region where children and families face the threat of life-threatening illnesses every day.
Beyond improving hygiene, this project highlights our commitment to sustainable development and community involvement. By working hand-in-hand with residents and tailoring our solutions to Laindatang’s specific challenges, we ensure that the benefits of these facilities will endure over time and continue to serve future generations.
Through the #WaterConnections project and similar initiatives, the Fair Future Foundation reaffirms its dedication to building a future where access to clean water, sanitation, and healthy living conditions is no longer a barrier to the health and well-being of the poorest communities in Southeast Asia. Our actions on the ground, guided by an in-depth knowledge of local needs and a desire to create a lasting impact, allow us to bring these communities closer to a healthier and safer future every day. Together, we are creating a future where every child has the fundamental right to clean water and good health.
Alex Wettstein – Fair Future Foundation medico-social camp in East Sumba – Rumah Kambera, Lambanapu – The 27th of March 2024
