Fields of Life

"Most rural villages are without any sanitary water source. People wash clothes, bathe and dump untreated waste up and downstream from where water is drawn. Watering holes are shared with animal populations, which drink, bathe, urinate and defecate at the water source. Unmanaged human waste pollutes water with infectious and often deadly bacteria. Stagnant water breeds mosquitoes, which bring malaria. Infectious diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, TB, malaria and famine are the top killers in Africa. But in 1985, they became AIDS. The public service announcements that run on VH1 and MTV, informing us of the millions of infected, always fail to mention this. I don't know what we're supposed to do with the information that 40 million people are dying and nothing can be done. I wonder why we wouldn't be interested in building wells and providing clean water and sewage systems for Africans. Given our great concern, it would seem foolish not to immediately begin the "clean water for Africa" campaign..." - The Hidden Face of HIV - Part 1 By Liam Scheff

Clean accessible drinking water is a basic human right, essential to life; however, over one sixth of the world does not have access to safe water. Instead, it is a luxury in many parts of East Africa. Many people suffer sickness and death due to water borne diseases. Valuable hours are lost fetching dirty water long distances.

Indeed, for Fields of Life, there is great concern for the ready supply of water as children miss out on valuable school time in pursuit of this prerequisite to wellbeing. The provision of water to the communities where we have established schools along with the vulnerable and marginalised groups, especially the women and children, is of major concern.

Our team is committed to addressing the vital need of supplying safe, clean drinking water. We are able to drill 25 wells at a cost of 5,400 sterling/ 8,000 euros/AU$16,000 (per well) last year. Experiencing the excitement and improvement in the daily lives of the village communities is uplifting, as well as being wonderful to see children and the community at large being able to have access to clean drinking water.

 Please support Fields of Life as we help people in East Africa achieve adequate supplies of drinking water, leading to improved health and better standards of living. We have funding for more wells and hope to be able to complete the same successful boreholes (wells) as last year. If you would like to contribute to this work, please click here