Bring Health and Education to Children like Sambate’s

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“With unsafe water, you can’t be sure of your future.” - Sambate

Your gift provides a clean water source, health training, and hope to children like Sambate's living in East Africa and Cambodia.

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Your gift provides a clean water source, health training, and hope to children like Sambate’s living in East Africa and Cambodia.

 

Life for Sambate

June 2021

 

In rural Nensebo, Ethiopia water is scarce. Of Ethiopia’s population, nearly one in four people do not have access to safe water or toilets. Children in particular are exposed to preventable diseases that clean water and sanitation could eliminate.

Sambate has four children who have all inherited their mother’s bright eyes and warm smile. 

The oldest, Fatuma, is old enough to go to school. She attends when she can, but only when she is not helping her mother fetch water or home sick with a waterborne disease.

This family gathers their water from a stream that runs through a rocky meadow near their village, Tatesa. But the water is contaminated, and it makes everyone who drinks it sick.

“Most of the time, the money we save from selling crops ends up being used for medical fees,” said Sambate.

Because of this, Sambate and her husband struggle to save any money for future expenses or investments in their children’s education.

“We need an alternative means of income to support ourselves in case we run out of our current resources,” observed Sambate. “Because of this, I’m considering buying sheep to breed.”

However, without safe, accessible water it will be difficult to take care of the sheep and make a profit. 

“With unsafe water, you can’t be sure of your future,” said Sambate. 

Sambate longs for Fatuma and her other children to have safe water so they can live healthy and complete their education. If her children could be educated and have more opportunities, she would be happy.

“Each night before I go to sleep I pray that tomorrow would be different,” said Sambate. “I hope my prayer will come true one day.”

When you give safe water, you give to children just like Sambate’s in Nensebo, Ethiopia

You’ll give young children the opportunity to finish their education and bring joy to their families, answering the prayers of worried mothers who are looking for a reason to hope.

 

Give Children Water

 

Recent data shows that, every year, 525,000 children under the age of five die from diarrheal disease.

In contrast, the results from one of our safe water and sanitation programs in Ethiopia shows that the simple implementation of sanitation and hygiene habits, along with access to clean water, reduced diarrheal disease in children by 98%. 

This means that one of the world’s leading causes of death for children can be virtually eliminated by clean water and basic hygiene practices: using a latrine, washing hands with soap, and washing and drying dishes in a clean environment.

Children without access to safe water also struggle in other areas. They often miss class because they have to help their parents fetch water from a faraway source or because they are sick with a waterborne disease. Without a sanitary bathroom, girls in particular miss school while they are menstruating and risk being forced to drop out entirely.

The good news is, all of this is preventable. Access to clean drinking water and basic hygiene saves lives and allows children to complete their education successfully, creating better opportunities for generations to come.

Children around the world need your help. Give safe water to children today.

Am I sponsoring a specific village?

No, your gift will help provide safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene to women and children living in East Africa and Cambodia.

Will I receive updates?

Yes! You can expect regular updates on the progress of your gift. And, when the communities in the region are transformed with safe water, you’ll receive a story and photos from a family whose life is changed because of your gift.

Can I visit programs and/or my sponsored water project?

Lifewater has local staff that live and serve among the communities and schools where Lifewater works. Our staff know the language and the culture and are best equipped to serve communities. Because we seek to ensure sustainable water projects and community buy in, we do not allow donors to visit the projects they sponsor. However, we do commit to sending real-time updates, photos, and stories from the projects themselves.

Where does Lifewater work?

With more than 40 years’ experience, LIfewater is the longest-running Christian clean water charity in North America. Over those 40 years, Lifewater has worked in more than 45 different countries. Currently, our work is focused in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania) and Southeast Asia (Cambodia).

Why these countries and regions?

Lifewater identifies countries and regions that are unreached and underserved with basic water access and sanitation, which means we focus on areas where other organizations are not serving.

Although great strides have been made in the past 20 years to solve the global water crisis, remote and rural populations still remain unreached with adequate water and sanitation. These distant regions are difficult and often costly for governments and NGOs to serve well. Many of these communities feel as though they have been forgotten.

Can I request a water project in a specific country?

Currently, Lifewater has programs in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Cambodia. You can go to lifewater.org/projects to select a specific water project to help. Because our programs are regionalized and made in partnership with the local governments, we are not able to take requests for specific water projects outside of our existing programs.

What percent of funds go towards programs?

Lifewater budgets 80% of expenditures for programs. The remaining 20% is split between administrative/management and fundraising expenses. This ratio is best in class for nonprofits and is why Lifewater has received the highest rating from Charity Navigator.

Administrative/management expenses are used to ensure that we are effective in managing the funds entrusted to us and include the following types of expenses: accounting personnel, leadership time, professional development of staff, external auditors, legal counsel, government registration expenses in every U.S. state, credit card fees for processing donations, bank fees, database maintenance, and office expenses.

Fundraising expenses generate the income needed to do the work that we set out to do. These include the cost of direct mail appeals and communication, marketing projects, donor relations personnel, and email communication systems. Last year, every dollar invested into Lifewater fundraising efforts resulted in $10 of donation for the organization.

Is Lifewater approved/vetted by 3rd party organizations?

Over our 40 year history, Lifewater has received the highest accreditations from the most respected rating organization in the industry. Lifewater is recognized as one of the top-rated charities in the United States by independent reporting organizations, including:

Charity Navigator (four stars)
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA)
Guidestar (Platinum)
Great Nonprofits (five star)
Excellence in Giving
Learn more at https://lifewater.org/top-rated-charity.

How does Lifewater integrate faith into its work?

Lifewater’s work is founded on the belief that every person is made in the image of God. It is with this conviction that we seek out the globe’s most unreached, marginalized people groups in need of safe water.

Both nationally and internationally, 100 percent of our staff are Christians. These Christian staff help facilitate Lifewater’s Healthy Church strategy in communities. And, where there are no churches, we work with church planting partners to start new churches.

To create Healthy Churches, Lifewater first trains church leaders in foundational theology. These leaders are equipped with the basic story of the Christian faith and the biblical mandate to love others. Leaders learn that stopping the spread of disease and caring for the vulnerable aligns with our responsibility as Christians to love our neighbor.

Second, Lifewater ensures churches have safe bathrooms on their premises, handwashing stations, clean water nearby, and the education to promote health within their congregations. It’s imperative that churches are early adopters of healthy hygiene practices.

Third, Lifewater encourages churches to help vulnerable households become Healthy Homes. Church leaders undergo a training to become WASH (water access, sanitation, and hygiene) advocates in their communities. These advocates are encouraged to identify widows, child-headed households, the elderly, and the disabled to help them meet the health standards of Lifewater’s programs.

What is Lifewater’s process? What does the organization do, and how does it do it?

Lifewater’s Vision of a Healthy Village strategy is a relationship-first method. This model transforms entire regions house by house, village by village, and school by school. It is among the most intensive household-level work happening in the entire developing world and is closely tracked for progress, sustainability, and overall impact.

We construct custom-engineered safe water sources and teach life-saving health and sanitation practices in local villages and schools in need.

Story

Your gift provides a clean water source, health training, and hope to children like Sambate’s living in East Africa and Cambodia.

 

Life for Sambate

June 2021

 

In rural Nensebo, Ethiopia water is scarce. Of Ethiopia’s population, nearly one in four people do not have access to safe water or toilets. Children in particular are exposed to preventable diseases that clean water and sanitation could eliminate.

Sambate has four children who have all inherited their mother’s bright eyes and warm smile. 

The oldest, Fatuma, is old enough to go to school. She attends when she can, but only when she is not helping her mother fetch water or home sick with a waterborne disease.

This family gathers their water from a stream that runs through a rocky meadow near their village, Tatesa. But the water is contaminated, and it makes everyone who drinks it sick.

“Most of the time, the money we save from selling crops ends up being used for medical fees,” said Sambate.

Because of this, Sambate and her husband struggle to save any money for future expenses or investments in their children’s education.

“We need an alternative means of income to support ourselves in case we run out of our current resources,” observed Sambate. “Because of this, I’m considering buying sheep to breed.”

However, without safe, accessible water it will be difficult to take care of the sheep and make a profit. 

“With unsafe water, you can’t be sure of your future,” said Sambate. 

Sambate longs for Fatuma and her other children to have safe water so they can live healthy and complete their education. If her children could be educated and have more opportunities, she would be happy.

“Each night before I go to sleep I pray that tomorrow would be different,” said Sambate. “I hope my prayer will come true one day.”

When you give safe water, you give to children just like Sambate’s in Nensebo, Ethiopia

You’ll give young children the opportunity to finish their education and bring joy to their families, answering the prayers of worried mothers who are looking for a reason to hope.

Give Children Water

 

Give Children Water

 

Recent data shows that, every year, 525,000 children under the age of five die from diarrheal disease.

In contrast, the results from one of our safe water and sanitation programs in Ethiopia shows that the simple implementation of sanitation and hygiene habits, along with access to clean water, reduced diarrheal disease in children by 98%. 

This means that one of the world’s leading causes of death for children can be virtually eliminated by clean water and basic hygiene practices: using a latrine, washing hands with soap, and washing and drying dishes in a clean environment.

Children without access to safe water also struggle in other areas. They often miss class because they have to help their parents fetch water from a faraway source or because they are sick with a waterborne disease. Without a sanitary bathroom, girls in particular miss school while they are menstruating and risk being forced to drop out entirely.

The good news is, all of this is preventable. Access to clean drinking water and basic hygiene saves lives and allows children to complete their education successfully, creating better opportunities for generations to come.

Children around the world need your help. Give safe water to children today.

FAQ's

Am I sponsoring a specific village?

No, your gift will help provide safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene to women and children living in East Africa and Cambodia.

Will I receive updates?

Yes! You can expect regular updates on the progress of your gift. And, when the communities in the region are transformed with safe water, you’ll receive a story and photos from a family whose life is changed because of your gift.

Can I visit programs and/or my sponsored water project?

Lifewater has local staff that live and serve among the communities and schools where Lifewater works. Our staff know the language and the culture and are best equipped to serve communities. Because we seek to ensure sustainable water projects and community buy in, we do not allow donors to visit the projects they sponsor. However, we do commit to sending real-time updates, photos, and stories from the projects themselves.

Where does Lifewater work?

With more than 40 years’ experience, LIfewater is the longest-running Christian clean water charity in North America. Over those 40 years, Lifewater has worked in more than 45 different countries. Currently, our work is focused in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania) and Southeast Asia (Cambodia).

Why these countries and regions?

Lifewater identifies countries and regions that are unreached and underserved with basic water access and sanitation, which means we focus on areas where other organizations are not serving.

Although great strides have been made in the past 20 years to solve the global water crisis, remote and rural populations still remain unreached with adequate water and sanitation. These distant regions are difficult and often costly for governments and NGOs to serve well. Many of these communities feel as though they have been forgotten.

Can I request a water project in a specific country?

Currently, Lifewater has programs in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Cambodia. You can go to lifewater.org/projects to select a specific water project to help. Because our programs are regionalized and made in partnership with the local governments, we are not able to take requests for specific water projects outside of our existing programs.

What percent of funds go towards programs?

Lifewater budgets 80% of expenditures for programs. The remaining 20% is split between administrative/management and fundraising expenses. This ratio is best in class for nonprofits and is why Lifewater has received the highest rating from Charity Navigator.

Administrative/management expenses are used to ensure that we are effective in managing the funds entrusted to us and include the following types of expenses: accounting personnel, leadership time, professional development of staff, external auditors, legal counsel, government registration expenses in every U.S. state, credit card fees for processing donations, bank fees, database maintenance, and office expenses.

Fundraising expenses generate the income needed to do the work that we set out to do. These include the cost of direct mail appeals and communication, marketing projects, donor relations personnel, and email communication systems. Last year, every dollar invested into Lifewater fundraising efforts resulted in $10 of donation for the organization.

Is Lifewater approved/vetted by 3rd party organizations?

Over our 40 year history, Lifewater has received the highest accreditations from the most respected rating organization in the industry. Lifewater is recognized as one of the top-rated charities in the United States by independent reporting organizations, including:

Charity Navigator (four stars)
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA)
Guidestar (Platinum)
Great Nonprofits (five star)
Excellence in Giving
Learn more at https://lifewater.org/top-rated-charity.

How does Lifewater integrate faith into its work?

Lifewater’s work is founded on the belief that every person is made in the image of God. It is with this conviction that we seek out the globe’s most unreached, marginalized people groups in need of safe water.

Both nationally and internationally, 100 percent of our staff are Christians. These Christian staff help facilitate Lifewater’s Healthy Church strategy in communities. And, where there are no churches, we work with church planting partners to start new churches.

To create Healthy Churches, Lifewater first trains church leaders in foundational theology. These leaders are equipped with the basic story of the Christian faith and the biblical mandate to love others. Leaders learn that stopping the spread of disease and caring for the vulnerable aligns with our responsibility as Christians to love our neighbor.

Second, Lifewater ensures churches have safe bathrooms on their premises, handwashing stations, clean water nearby, and the education to promote health within their congregations. It’s imperative that churches are early adopters of healthy hygiene practices.

Third, Lifewater encourages churches to help vulnerable households become Healthy Homes. Church leaders undergo a training to become WASH (water access, sanitation, and hygiene) advocates in their communities. These advocates are encouraged to identify widows, child-headed households, the elderly, and the disabled to help them meet the health standards of Lifewater’s programs.

What is Lifewater’s process? What does the organization do, and how does it do it?

Lifewater’s Vision of a Healthy Village strategy is a relationship-first method. This model transforms entire regions house by house, village by village, and school by school. It is among the most intensive household-level work happening in the entire developing world and is closely tracked for progress, sustainability, and overall impact.

We construct custom-engineered safe water sources and teach life-saving health and sanitation practices in local villages and schools in need.

Your gift reflects your trust in Lifewater International. We commit to honor your generosity by using your gift to help further the mission and vision of Lifewater International. Your donation is used by Lifewater International according to the project objectives to provide safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene. Lifewater International is a charitable organization as described in 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, registered in the United States. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

Donations are non-refundable. Lifewater International will honor a donor’s request for any pre-approved program or project whenever possible. In rare occasions where this is not possible, gifts will be used where needed, in accordance with the organization’s charitable purpose. In accordance with this policy, donor’s explicitly release Lifewater International from further restriction on such funds.