Water For Africa was founded in 2002 with the aim of bringing lasting change to the people of Africa. Starting with the most basic of all necessities, water, we set out to disrupt the old aid model and embed fundamental change that lasts a lifetime. For 13 years Water For Africa has delivered dozens of successful projects and changed the lives of thousands of people.
With your help, we can transform the lives of millions.
With most water charities seeing well failure rates of around 60% after five years, Water for Africa knew that they had to take a different approach. They recruited local drilling teams, trained them, and, most importantly, engaged local communities to take ownership of the drilled boreholes.
Once a borehole has been drilled, communities contribute to a ring-fenced social bank account to create a capital fund that will help meet the cost of any future repair. Any shortfall in the capital fund is met by Water For Africa, but even the smallest contribution engenders ownership in the community and alters behaviour, so that the community starts to think long term about infrastructure investment and future development. The local drilling team is trained to maintain, service and repair the borehole to ensure sustained, long term operation.
Using this model, Water For Africa has been able to achieve a 100% operational rate for its boreholes. None of the wells we’ve ever drilled are out of service. This track record is unrivalled by any other water charity operating in Africa.
