THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS
Unsafe water is a leading cause of disease and death throughout the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that at least 1.7 billion (or almost 1 in 4) people on our planet are drinking water each day contaminated by feces, and over half a million people are dying each year from diarrheal diseases caused by contaminated water and inadequate sanitation and hygiene. Many of these are young children – as they are especially vulnerable to the dangers of unsafe water.
In Africa, nearly half of the people throughout the continent lack access to safe water, and only 30% of sub-Saharan Africans have access to adequate sanitation, which is only a four-percentage-point improvement since 1990. In contrast, 90% of northern Africans have access. In the countries we work in, the proportion is:
- Haiti - 52%
- Liberia - 25%
- Nigeria - 19%
- Kenya - 58%
Rising water costs, a lack of infrastructure, and climate change have led to an increase in water scarcity. And the situation is almost always worse in rural areas as they have to travel further to access safe water and sanitation services.
THE FEMALE FACTOR
Hauling water disproportionately affects women and girls, as they are typically responsible for their family's water needs. The task takes a lot of time and effort, causing fatigue and muscular damage over time. It also exposes them to danger along the way from snake bites, disease, and violence from assault and rape, especially when travelling alone in the dark. Gathering water often requires children to miss time in school, and even when able to gather their water before and after school, it leaves them with less time and energy to dedicate to their studies. Additionally, girls often miss school while menstruating, as they lack access to the basic hygiene products and safe water that would enable them to remain in class.
In response, the United Nations has included water and sanitation among its Development Goals since 2010 — insisting that everyone on the planet should have access to safe water for drinking, handwashing, and sanitation by the year 2030.
OUR VISION
Lifewater Canada was founded on the certainty that all lives are of equal value in God's eyes and must be in our eyes too.
We envision a world in which children do not get sick and die because they have no safe drinking water; a world where girls, who would otherwise have to walk miles to find water for their families, can spend their time in school, receiving the same educational opportunities as boys.
We also envision a world in which all people are treated equally, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, family status, race, culture, ethnic or national origin, religious beliefs, age, political affiliation, or other characteristics. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy explains this commitment in detail.
Our goal is to provide people with a lifetime of adequate quantities of safe water, thanks to donors who come from many walks of life and many faiths. We strive for consistency between our beliefs and our actions by:
- Regarding all people as being created equal
- Speaking and acting honestly
- Ensuring that donations are used for the purpose for which they were given
- Holding ourselves openly accountable before God and our donors for all that we do
OUR HISTORY
On Feb. 25, 2021, the Governor General of Canada awarded a Meritorious Service Decoration – an honour bestowed to "individuals who have performed a deed or an activity in a highly professional manner, or at a very high standard that brings benefit or honour to Canada" – to Jim Gehrels and Glenn Stronks for cofounding Lifewater Canada.
OUR STRATEGY
We train and equip local, in-country teams to drill new wells and repair existing ones. Donors fund these projects while villages contribute a token amount of money and "sweat equity." Our teams train and equip a local Well Caretaker, and host Health and Hygiene workshops to help prevent water-related diseases.
We focus our work on Haiti, Liberia, Nigeria, and Kenya because these countries have a desperate need for safe water, their governments have limited capacity to respond, and there is a general lack of required equipment and trained workers. In addition, groundwater is readily accessible at a low cost, resulting in high project success rates and maximum impact for every dollar invested.
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Lifewater is guided by four key Development Goals:
- GOAL #1: Meeting basic water availability service levels
- GOAL #2: Providing safe, drinkable water
- GOAL #3: Actively engaging communities
- GOAL #4: Planning for long-term maintenance
The first two goals focus on ensuring people have a maximum 30-minute round-trip to gather safe water that is available year-round. The second two goals relate to community ownership of water projects and their commitment to long-term maintenance of these projects.
Click on each of the four Development Goals above to learn more about its significance and scoring, and to read stories explaining why we adopted it.
Operational Scorecard |
HEALTH | GENDER EQUALITY | SUSTAINABILITY | AFFORDABILITY | |
1) Basic Water Availability Services |
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| • Located within 1km of at least 90% of users | |||||
| • Available year-round | |||||
| • Usage of 150-600 people per well | |||||
2) Provide Safe, Drinkable Water |
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| • Free of pathogenic bacteria | |||||
| • Nitrate + Nitrite levels comparable to Canada | |||||
| • No turbidity or objectionable taste | |||||
3) Actively Engage Communities |
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| • Health and hygiene training | |||||
| • Community involved in picking the well site | |||||
| • Community participation (financial, labor, etc.) | |||||
| • Facilities built on community land | |||||
| • Dedication celebration (+ deed transfer in Liberia) | |||||
4) Plan for Long-Term Maintenance |
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| • Trained project technician(s) | |||||
| • Clear maintenance plan | |||||
| • Strive for more than one community water source |
WHY INVEST IN LIFEWATER CANADA?
Lifewater is uniquely positioned to enable you to invest in cost-effective, compassionate relief because we:
Lifewater Canada has a proven record since 1995; giving more than six million people safe water so far! We also follow an established framework for fiscal responsibility.
KEEP COSTS DOWN
We consistently keep our overhead costs below 10%! Our small handful of employees in Canada work from their own homes. Overseas, we empower and equip local partners with only an occasional need for someone from Canada to visit. We also employ low-cost, accessible technologies (for example, hand-powered well pumps rather than those requiring electricity or gas engines).
FOCUS ON LOCAL
We seek to make a lasting difference by investing locally – building capacity by forming, training, and equipping registered non-profits overseas that are managed and staffed by local people. We emphasize sustainability by keeping projects affordable rather than free, encouraging volunteerism, and maintaining a long-term local presence to help communities with ongoing maintenance.
REPORT TO YOU
We link all donations to specific projects so that when projects are completed, donors have access to detailed reporting including photos, GPS coordinates, community profiles and thank-you letters.
MONITOR EACH PROJECT
Details about each of the thousands of Lifewater Canada projects is loaded into a custom-designed database that enables us to track when each well was drilled, community toilet built, hand pump repaired, and when they were last inspected. It also includes the contact information for the Well Caretaker we train in each community, and maintenance contract information (type, payments received, etc.).
SAVE FAMILIES MONEY
Families living near our water projects that would spend as much as $120 each month to buy drinking water now spend only $1.35 per month to help maintain their community well. This saves money for other pressing needs and reduces health care costs for individuals and society. It also enables greater economic productivity as people are healthy and able to work.
PROVIDE TRAINING
The training provided to our overseas teams includes well drilling, well repair, pump repair, hydrogeology, water quality testing, prevention of disease transmission, equipment maintenance, and business planning. We enable our overseas teams in various countries to meet together and share knowledge so everyone benefits.
SHARE KNOWLEDGE
Provide free well-drilling training materials for any organization to use; we want to help as many people as possible, and believe that true empowerment comes from sharing knowledge! One of our most important teaching resources is Lifewater Canada’s Well Drilling Manual.
VILLAGE PARTICIPATION IS ESSENTIAL
In a normal marketplace, money must be exchanged before goods or services are provided. We have learned however, that if water wells are provided for free, there is very little village ownership and the well will not be maintained, leading it to break down more frequently.
For projects to be successful in the long-term, we have found that community members must be willing to work together, provide accommodations for the local Lifewater team while they are on-site, and give time, energy, and other resources towards the project.
Villagers perform maintenance, raise repair funds, and establish rules for issues such as:
- When the pump should be locked and when water can be drawn (to guard against over-use and breakdown)
- How users must contribute towards required pump repair work
- Ensuring that women and children have easy and safe access to the well
- Who will be the official Well Caretaker
