Water Connections Project: Bringing Clean Water, Sanitation, and Health Facilities to Lapinu Village for a Healthier Future.
Fair Future Foundation works with Lapinu villagers to ensure clean water access, improved health, and sustainable skills development through meticulous project planning and active community involvement.
Lapinu village is 2.5 hours from Waingapu, the main town in East Sumba, and is accessible only by rough and unmaintained tracks. The village, home to 300 people, 65% of whom are children, lacks clean water, sanitation, electricity, and healthcare. Poverty is widespread, and diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and polio are constant threats.
Fair Future has worked in Lapinu for almost two years to improve living conditions. Despite efforts under the Zero Malaria and Primary Medical Care programme and the provision of basic healthcare by two health workers from Kawan Sehat, the village’s health remains at risk due to the lack of clean water and adequate sanitation.
Feasibility Study and Project Objectives
Our teams of drilling and water experts and social workers conducted a detailed feasibility study last week. This study led to the development of a project plan, including the drilling of deep wells, the construction of ferrocement tanks and Healthy Sanitation. We will work directly with villagers for over six months to implement these essential changes.
The project aims to replace unsafe sanitation facilities with clean and safe toilets to reduce soil contamination and prevent the spread of disease. Villagers will also be trained to build and maintain these structures to ensure their long-term sustainability.
Community Empowerment
A key aspect of this project is the involvement of villagers. Women, village leaders and teachers are learning new skills and spreading messages about healthy living. Visual and auditory teaching methods adapted to local customs are used to raise awareness about hygiene and nutrition.
The introduction of clean water will have an immediate impact on education. With water systems in place, young girls can attend school instead of spending hours collecting water for their homes. Healthier children mean less absenteeism, leading to better educational outcomes for the entire village.
Medical and Social Impact
With clean water and sanitation facilities, we anticipate significantly reducing infection rates and deaths from preventable diseases. Our medical teams collect health data from villagers, which will be monitored to track improvements and shared with local health authorities.
Fully enclosed toilets provide privacy and security for women and girls. In addition, vegetable gardens close to homes aim to improve nutrition in a community where malnutrition affects up to 80% of children.
Building a Sustainable Future
This project aims to build a sustainable future for Lapinu. Villagers will gain valuable skills that can be used to replicate these facilities in other communities, spreading the impact of clean water and sanitation throughout the region.
This project will hopefully begin in January 2025 and last for six months. During this time, our teams will work with the community daily, following detailed plans that include interactive maps and timelines. This collaboration will ensure that villagers receive the facilities they need and the knowledge to maintain them.
Conclusion
The Water Connections project is a humanitarian and medical intervention to transform the village of Lapinu. By providing clean water, hygienic toilets and health education, we will help this community thrive. Together, with the involvement of villagers and supporters, we can create lasting change and give the children of Lapinu a future free from preventable diseases.
Today, September the 22nd, 2024 – Alex Wettstein
50 original images on this project study - Water connections in Lapinu - Click here
Water Connections Project: Ensuring Clean Water, Sanitation, and a Healthy Future for Children and Families in Lapinu Village, East Sumba, with Fair Future Foundation.
The Fair Future Foundation’s mission is to improve the health, nutrition, and daily lives of families in Lapinu Village through the provision of clean water and sanitation facilities.
Water Connections Project: Saving Lives in Lapinu Village: Fair Future has been working in Lapinu village, East Sumba for almost four years. This extremely rural community of 300 people, 70% of whom are children, lives without access to clean water, electricity, sanitation, or healthcare. It is a village where the essentials of survival are lacking, and the impact on health is significant.
Last week, our teams – including deep drilling specialists, water experts, and social teams – spent three days conducting a detailed feasibility study to bring the Lapinu Water Connections Project to life. This project will provide clean water and transform lives, improve health, and reduce the burden of infectious diseases like malaria and polio that affect this village.
Through this study, we could understand the community’s immense needs: access to clean water, adequate sanitation, and healthier living conditions. The lack of these essential elements directly impacts health, especially for children who are most vulnerable to diseases.
“Access to clean water is the most cost-effective medicine we can offer. In Lapinu, it’s not just about survival, it’s about dignity and the future of an entire generation.”
— Alex Wettstein, CEO and Founder of Fair Future Foundation
Fair Future is a medical foundation. Our mission here is not only to build wells and toilets but also to preserve life. Introducing clean water means fewer sick children with waterborne diseases, fewer cases of malaria, and better nutrition. The project will include a deep well, ferrocement tanks, and new hygienic toilets. We will remove the contaminated and unsafe toilets currently in use, reducing the risk of soil contamination and disease transmission.
This is not just about infrastructure; it is about giving these families the chance to live in dignity, with access to the most basic human need: clean water. It’s about giving children the opportunity to go to school, to grow up healthy and strong, free from the constant threat of preventable diseases.
The photos in this gallery capture the heart of this effort. They show the faces of those we serve, the hands that will build, and the eyes filled with hope for a future where water flows freely, toilets are safe, and disease no longer defines daily life. Together, we can make this vision a reality. Clean water is the most cost-effective medicine, and it’s a medicine that Lapinu’s village desperately needs.
We cordially invite all captivated by this story to explore our photo gallery, witness this extraordinary effort, and further engage with our mission through our Instagram account.
Alex Wettstein – Fair Future Foundation medico-social camp in East Sumba – Rumah Kambera, Lambanapu – The 22nd of September 2024