“Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and, therefore, a basic human right. Contaminated water jeopardizes both the physical and social health of all people. It is an affront to human dignity.” -Former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan
Where would you like to go?

At Free The Children, we believe that clean water isn’t a luxury—it’s a basic human right. The clean water component of our Adopt a Village model provides communities with localized clean water sources and sanitation facilities, reducing the spread of waterborne diseases and ridding children of their daily treks to collect water, freeing them to attend school. Our clean water and sanitation projects include the construction of wells, rain catchment systems, hand-washing stations and latrines. We also work with community members to promote local education in basic hygiene practices and waterborne disease prevention.

the issues.

For many developing communities around the world, the same water source that’s used to collect household water for drinking and cooking is also used as a dumping ground for human and animal waste. These remote water sources are also plagued with bacteria and contaminants. It’s no wonder, then, that 80 percent of illnesses in the developing world are linked to poor water and sanitation.

What’s more, these stagnant, unclean water sources are frequently located many miles from communities, forcing women and children (especially girls) to spend hours each day hauling back-breaking loads of water to their homes.

The result is that children are either too sick or don’t have time to go to school. And so, the cycle of poverty continues.

  • In developing countries, about 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions.
  • Roughly 1 in every 8 people around the world does not have access to safe drinking water.
  • Worldwide, 2.5 billion people are without access to adequate sanitation facilities.
  • Around the world, 1 out of 4 deaths in children under the age of five is due to a water-related disease.

sea street, sri lanka

Changing Lives: Meet the Thisera Family

Housewife Mrs. Warnakulasuriya Thisera and her daughters spent four hours each day collecting water for drinking, bathing and cooking. “My family wasted a lot of time collecting and storing water,” she says. “My daughters were always late for school because they had the responsibility of helping with the water collection.”

This is the case for many children in the small village of Sea Street, Sri lanka, located just two hours away from the capital, Colombo. As a result of the country’s decreased investment in social sectors, like water and sanitation, the only source of water was provided by the municipal government, but only for a few hours every day. Women and children especially had to spend much of their productive time away from work or school collecting water. Also, the water was often collected under unhygienic conditions, which lead to infections like diarrheal disease: a leading cause of child mortality.

As a result of the work done by Free The Children, 500 families now have open access to clean water collection systems by way of water tanks connected through a network of pipes. This directly leads to less risk of infection and allows children to attend more hours of school; leading to a better quality of education for youth. Mrs. Thisera is very thankful for the work done by Free The Children, “Now we don’t have to worry about the water supply. All we have to do is turn on the tap and we have water. I am so happy, and my daughters too because they are now never late for school.”

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get involved!

Ready to start taking action for water issues? Here’s how you can:
1 Take a trip overseas and build a well. 2 Fundraise to build water systems overseas. 3 Investigate global water problems in our issues library.
Follow these steps to get your class involved in water issues:
1 Check out our educator resources here. 2 Teach your class about water issues with info from our issues library. 3 Fundraise as a class for water projects overseas.
Want to get your family involved in ending global water issues? Follow these steps:
1 Download our Family Kit to take action. 2 Fundraise as a family for clean water projects through Adopt a Village. 3 Make a group donation to build clean water projects overseas.
Your workplace can make a difference in water issues. Here’s how:
1 Donate a day of pay for water issues. 2 Hold a corporate fundraiser for water projects overseas. 3 Take a staff trip overseas and build a water project.
You’re on: AAV: Water page! Looking for a different pillar? Try our Alternative Income, Education, or Health pages. Still not finding what you want? Try here >