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End Costly Hospital Trips for Families
Help Serve 461 People
Project Funded!
At least once a month, someone in Shimayu visits the hospital because of a waterborne illness.
Shinyanga region, Tanzania
- Story
- Shinyanga, Tanzania
- FAQ's
Your gift will provide clean water and improved health for families in Shinyanga.
Matthias’ Life in Shinyanga, Tanzania
July 2021
In rural Shimayu village water is scarce. Forty three percent of the population does not have access to safe water. Children in particular are exposed to preventable diseases that clean water and sanitation could eliminate.
Matthias and his wife Willie have lived in Shimayu village ever since Matthias was 22 years old, when he moved there to become a farmer. They built a house for their family in Shimayu, with bricks made from the region’s dusty red soil.
Now, almost 40 years later, they have 8 children and 20 grandchildren. Matthias is still a farmer, growing and harvesting mainly rice to provide for his family.
Willie and one of their adult daughters share the other main responsibility in the family’s life: to fetch water every day for eating, drinking, and washing.
This family relies on a small pond for water. The water is unsafe to consume, but it is their only option. Tall reeds and rushes screen the water source from sight except for an opening where the women kneel to fill their buckets.
Drinking this water leads to illness for Matthias and his family, especially the children. They estimate that once a month a family member becomes ill enough from the unsafe water that they need to go to the hospital.
This is a costly trip out of town, and it greatly eats into the profits Matthias makes from the rice harvest.
Sometimes the family filters or boils the water, but it is not a standard practice for them, nor is it a long-term solution for the problem of unsafe water in Shimayu.
Matthias and Willie know that with safe water to drink, they and their children would get sick much less frequently.
With the time and money they would save from diminished hospital trips, the children could focus on their education and the adults could focus on farming and providing for their family.
Matthias and Willie are eager for the day to come when access to safe water will provide their children and grandchildren new opportunities for education, vocation, and raising healthy families.
When you give safe water, you give to families just like Matthias’s in Shinyanga, Tanzania. You help bring new life and hope to families that have been struggling for generations, helping them to hope and thrive as God’s children.
About the Region
Shinyanga, Tanzania
In the northern part of Tanzania lies the region of Shinyanga, home to 390,000 people. In Shinyanga, 66 percent of the population drinks unsafe water.
In Shinyanga, 96 percent of the population relies largely on agriculture and crop cultivation for their income. Nearly one in five people in the area where Lifewater serves have never been to school.
Gathering water in Shinyanga takes around 90 minutes, with many families relying on unprotected wells or ponds for water.
Concerningly, 30 percent of children under five years old had diarrhea during the seven days prior to the most recent 2021 survey. Diarrhea is a global leading cause of death in children under the age of five years old, and it’s primarily caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
The good news is, this is entirely preventable. Lifewater’s work shows that waterborne illness can be nearly eliminated with basic access to things like safe drinking water, proper sanitation, and washing hands with soap.
Children and families in Shinyanga need your help. Give to Shinyanga today.
No. Your gift will help provide safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene for the Shinyanga region rather than one specific village, making it possible for Lifewater to reach families like this as well as their neighbors.
Yes! You can expect regular updates on the progress of your gift. And, when the communities in Shinyanga are transformed with safe water, you’ll receive a story and photos from a family whose life is changed because of your gift.
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.
With more than 45 years’ experience, Lifewater is the longest-running Christian clean water charity in North America. Over those 45 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).
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.
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.
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.
Over our 45 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.
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, hand washing 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.
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.
“We are confident Lifewater’s work will have life-sustaining impact.”
– Cary A. Paine, The Stewardship Foundation
Story
Your gift will provide clean water and improved health for families in Shinyanga.
Matthias’ Life in Shinyanga, Tanzania
July 2021
In rural Shimayu village water is scarce. Forty three percent of the population does not have access to safe water. Children in particular are exposed to preventable diseases that clean water and sanitation could eliminate.
Matthias and his wife Willie have lived in Shimayu village ever since Matthias was 22 years old, when he moved there to become a farmer. They built a house for their family in Shimayu, with bricks made from the region’s dusty red soil.
Now, almost 40 years later, they have 8 children and 20 grandchildren. Matthias is still a farmer, growing and harvesting mainly rice to provide for his family.
Willie and one of their adult daughters share the other main responsibility in the family’s life: to fetch water every day for eating, drinking, and washing.
This family relies on a small pond for water. The water is unsafe to consume, but it is their only option. Tall reeds and rushes screen the water source from sight except for an opening where the women kneel to fill their buckets.
Drinking this water leads to illness for Matthias and his family, especially the children. They estimate that once a month a family member becomes ill enough from the unsafe water that they need to go to the hospital.
This is a costly trip out of town, and it greatly eats into the profits Matthias makes from the rice harvest.
Sometimes the family filters or boils the water, but it is not a standard practice for them, nor is it a long-term solution for the problem of unsafe water in Shimayu.
Matthias and Willie know that with safe water to drink, they and their children would get sick much less frequently.
With the time and money they would save from diminished hospital trips, the children could focus on their education and the adults could focus on farming and providing for their family.
Matthias and Willie are eager for the day to come when access to safe water will provide their children and grandchildren new opportunities for education, vocation, and raising healthy families.
When you give safe water, you give to families just like Matthias’s in Shinyanga, Tanzania. You help bring new life and hope to families that have been struggling for generations, helping them to hope and thrive as God’s children.
Shinyanga, Tanzania
About the Region
Shinyanga, Tanzania
In the northern part of Tanzania lies the region of Shinyanga, home to 390,000 people. In Shinyanga, 66 percent of the population drinks unsafe water.
In Shinyanga, 96 percent of the population relies largely on agriculture and crop cultivation for their income. Nearly one in five people in the area where Lifewater serves have never been to school.
Gathering water in Shinyanga takes around 90 minutes, with many families relying on unprotected wells or ponds for water.
Concerningly, 30 percent of children under five years old had diarrhea during the seven days prior to the most recent 2021 survey. Diarrhea is a global leading cause of death in children under the age of five years old, and it’s primarily caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
The good news is, this is entirely preventable. Lifewater’s work shows that waterborne illness can be nearly eliminated with basic access to things like safe drinking water, proper sanitation, and washing hands with soap.
Children and families in Shinyanga need your help. Give to Shinyanga today.
FAQ's
No. Your gift will help provide safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene for the Shinyanga region rather than one specific village, making it possible for Lifewater to reach families like this as well as their neighbors.
Yes! You can expect regular updates on the progress of your gift. And, when the communities in Shinyanga are transformed with safe water, you’ll receive a story and photos from a family whose life is changed because of your gift.
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.
With more than 45 years’ experience, Lifewater is the longest-running Christian clean water charity in North America. Over those 45 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).
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.
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.
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.
Over our 45 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.
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, hand washing 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.
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 within the specified program area. 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.
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