Ghana Partner Sends Great Report on 20 Living Water Project Wells

Paul Partey, Living Water Project’s Ghana coordinator, took the initiative to visit all 20 wells that his group has overseen in Ghana since our partnership began in late 2018. His report from the field was so encouraging! Here’s a portion of his letter to the LWP board:

We are thankful to God for letting us see this day. … Two years ago we began a partnership with you to provide clean water for the communities in Ghana, for which we are grateful.

“Last Monday we decided to visit all the 20 wells … and see if they are working or not. It may interest you to note that 18 out of 20 are perfectly working and providing clean water for the communities, including Trawa. Two have minor electrical problems, but we have advised them what to do to ratify it. Those communities are thankful to God and to you, the Living Water Project.

Thank you so much for being there for our communities and the work.

“Not only are 18 of the 20 wells working perfectly, but even better is that Paul was able to advise on repairs for the two that were having issues,” said Jon Lee, LWP board member. “We are so blessed to have such wonderful partners in every country where we're active.”

Sharptown Church's 5th Annual Water Walk Raises Thousands for Clean Water

For the last five years, our friends at Sharptown United Methodist Church in Pilesgrove, N.J., have hosted an interactive, hands-on Water Walk to raise money for the Living Water Project. Despite the pandemic, this year’s Water Walk hosted about 100 walkers and raised $17,500.

“After God laid the cause of clean water on my heart, we brought our mission committee together and created the Water Walk,” said organizer Cindy Dutton. “I did a lot of research for a fitting recipient of the funds and found the Living Water Project online. We love LWP!”

Usually held at Fort Mott State Park, the 2020 Water Walk was held at Camp Roosevelt, a local Boy Scout camp in Elmer, N.J. Participants chose a bucket, filled it up in a nearby pond, then carried it on a course throughout the park.

“We wanted this experience to help people get a greater understanding of what those without water have to do on a daily basis,” Dutton said.

Read more about past Sharptown Water Walks here, and contact us for ideas on involving your own community in a fundraiser for clean water.

Dine In for Water Sets Ambitious Goal

If you've ever said, "I'd pay a lot of money instead of going to another fundraising dinner," 2020 is your year!

The Living Water Project is hoping to raise $100,000 at our Dine in for Water virtual event on October 18. It's an ambitious goal, but our on-the-ground partners in Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Philippines and Zambia will be ready to drill new wells by the end of the year—and we want to be ready to help them!

This year's COVID-19-friendly format invites you to donate from the comfort of your home while enjoying a meal with family or a few friends. Choose from one of our three options:

-Prepare a Filipino meal with our recipes and step-by-step directions. ((Click this link for recipes for Adobo Chicken, Eggplant Omelet and Biko Sticky Rice Cake.)

-Reserve your meal from our curbside pickup option. (Up to 75 plates available.)

-Serve whatever you like and just tune in to our Facebook Live event at 4:45 p.m. on Oct. 18.

To get all the details on participating, register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2020-the-living-water-project-dine-in-for-water-tickets-123424198099! Hope to "see" you October 18!

2020 Fundraising Dinner Focused on Filipino Partnership

Register for Living Water's 2020 Dine in for Water fundraiser on October 18: http://bit.ly/DineinforWater! 

This year's event is centered on Filipino food to honor efforts to bring clean water to the Philippines. Multiple tropical storms—including 2013's Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm on record when it struck the island country—have wiped out access to clean water in many regions. Working with partners Bob and Annie Wellerding, the Living Water Project recently sent funds to build three new wells in the village of Busali Barangay, on the island of Biliran.

Will You Dine in for Water?

The COVID-19 pandemic is making efforts to expand clean water access—especially in impoverished communities around the world—even more vital. Will you help us raise $100,000 to get clean water to those without at this year's Dine in for Water?

Registration is open for our 2020-style fundraising dinner on Sunday, October 18, and we hope to see you there! 

This fun new format invites you to raise money for clean water from the comfort of your home. Enjoy a meal with your immediate family, or invite over a few friends for a socially distant dinner outside choosing from one of our three options:

• Prepare a Filipino meal with our recipes and step-by-step directions.

• Reserve your meal from our curbside pickup option*. 

• Serve whatever you like and just tune in. We’ll be happy to have you as a part of the evening, no matter what!

Register here to get all the details on participating! And donate on our special page here!

* Up to 75 plates available.

'A Great Blessing for all the People': New Wells Inaugurated in Chad

Though the digging of wells in some parts of the world have to remain on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re excited to report that some clean-water projects have been able to move forward. 

Issa Keitoumar, one of our on-ground partners in Chad, recently sent a report about the well inaugurations in Chad so far this year. Living Water Projects funds helped dig wells in the following community villages: Bagaou, Ham Bogol, Wadang, Billiam-Oursi and Karsao.

“Digging a well in [a] village is a great blessing for all the people living in the community,” Issa writes. “Our plan is to get more wells for the community because, for a population of 12,000 or 15,000 people, only one well is not fair. As we inaugurated the wells we put people in the villages to take care of the new wells and [taught them] how to maintain it in case the well broke. Our joy is that water wells open doors for us to present Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to the communities.”

A New Well for the Hope Community in Liberia

In the midst of the pandemic, we’re happy to share a spot of good news from our friends abroad. In May 2020, a new well in Liberia was completed and dedicated. It honors the father of Alfred Beyan, our on-ground partner in Liberia, who suddenly lost his father, David Beyan, in January 2020. Alfred was very touched by our offer to dedicate the well to his dad, and he selected the Hope Community as the location for this honor. A beautiful sign was posted at the dedication. The photo shows the sign and the Beyan family: Alfred on the right with wife, Mina, daughters, Krubo and Eve, and a family friend.

Celebrating Loved Ones With Memorial Gifts to the Living Water Project

A dear friend and supporter of the Living Water Project, Susan Stumne, passed away in January 2020. Knowing of her passion for the cause of clean water, her family graciously made the LWP the recipient of memorial gifts. We're grateful to report that those gifts covered the cost of a new well. 

Recently, in celebration of Susan's birthday on August 15, her friends began a campaign to raise an additional $5,000 for the cause of clean water. In just two weeks’ time, the campaign proved successful! Susan’s memory will long be cherished as more wells will soon be built in her name.

Donating a well in someone’s honor is a touching and long-lasting gift, and we are more than happy to talk you through the possibilities and help facilitate such a loving gesture. Contact the Living Water Project for more information, to receive a copy of our grant application and selection process details, or with any other questions.

2020 Zambia Campaign for Clean Water Exceeds Goal

We are thrilled to announce that we surpassed our $20k in 20 days goal in the 2020 Zambia Campaign! Our generous donors gave $23,733 to build new wells in Zambia, home to one of our most vibrant partnerships.

Through the excellent oversight of Shadreck at Namwianga Mission, the Living Water Project has completed 76 wells in Zambia since 2011. Because of this year’s successful campaign, we will be able to keep that momentum and continue to help the Zambian people in tangible ways: with greater and easier access to clean water!

Pandemic Makes Clean Water Access Even More Critical for Vulnerable Communities

The COVID-19 pandemic is making efforts to expand clean water access—especially in impoverished communities around the world—even more vital.

While in the United States, we’re fighting the virus by following infectious disease experts’ advice to wash our hands for at least 20 seconds, easy access to soap and clean water is not a privilege that everyone on the planet enjoys.

Research from the World Resources Institute reveals that 3 billion people (40% of the world’s population) don’t have the facilities to wash their hands at home, and almost an additional billion people don’t have secure access to water, with frequent shutoffs reducing their ability to practice safe hand hygiene.

“Water crises were ranked above both infectious diseases and food crises in the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Risks Report. This year, the world is likely to see all three,” writes Alan Nicol, strategic program for the International Water Management Institute, in the May 12, 2020, issue of Foreign Policy. “It is essential that clean water reaches as many people as possible to enable them to take the basic precautions needed to reduce the risk of infection from the coronavirus.”

Even before COVID-19, 780 million people in developing nations were already vulnerable when it came to securing clean and safe access to water, according to a 2012 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. The water crisis in many nations can be deadly: Unsafe drinking water, inadequate water supply and lack of proper sanitation contribute to about 88% of deaths from diarrheal diseases. Added to those numbers are the millions of people infected with tropical diseases related to water-related issues and poor hygiene practices.

But it’s not all gloom and doom: The Safer Water, Better Health study from WHO study shows that water, sanitation and hygiene intervention programs could prevent at least 9.1% of the global disease burden and reduce the number of deaths by 6.3%. These interventions include wells like the 614 well projects spearheaded by the Living Water Project since its founding in 2000.

Not only will expanded water access keep rural and impoverished communities from being disproportionately affected by the coronavirus during this time of heightened crisis, but it will help these communities stay resilient, healthy and sustainable far into the future.