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Community: We are Secular Franciscans and Franciscan Youth from various countries within and outside Europe united for a single purpose – to ensure a fundamental human right to clean drinking water for our brothers and sisters in Africa.

Relations: We have direct relations with target groups – local communities in many subsaharian African countries, thus avoiding any form of corruption during the implementation of the project.

Enabling: Clean water enables the local communities to improve their daily life conditions by avoiding diseases (such as diarrhea, dysentery), farming, keeping livestock, and planting trees. People are given a fishing rod instead of a fish.

Decentralization: This initiative is based on voluntary participation so neither the fundraising nor implementing the project require any administrative expenses and therefore, 100% of the donations go to the main purpose. Both in Europe and in the respective African communities, the initiative is based on the grassroots principle, where ordinary people take concrete action to help those in need.

Opportunity: This is a great opportunity for you to take part in changing the world!

“To ensure the availability of water to all, as a primary good, demands personal and common gestures of respect and charity, concrete choices and policies which contribute to promoting and to realizing the right to life. Taking care of springs, water basins and seas is an urgent imperative. However, it is not enough to take care of these, simply to avoid fines or to appear eco-friendly. It is of ultimate importance to respect the intrinsic value of water, in every context. The wells, according to the Bible, have been created so that the deep and invisible groundwater can be shared among all, men and women, inhabitants and foreigners (Cf. Gn. 24: 10-22; Gn. 29: 1-10; Jn. 4: 7; Ex. 2: 15-17). Thus, water appears as an effective way of uniting the human family; and wells contribute to the realization of the principle of the universal destination of the created goods, water being such a created and common good.“ (“Aqua fon vitae“, document of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, p. 4).

“The benefits of improved water and sanitation are massive. One dollar of investment in water and sanitation saves 4 to 12 dollars in avoided health care costs alone”. (“Aqua fon vitae“, document of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, p. 26).


Benefits of a well



Planting trees:
ecology, improved air quality

Better health: decrease in waterborne diseases, such as cholera, dysentery and diarrhea

Growing vegetables: additional food resources and increased income for local families

Farming: keeping livestock (chickens and pigs)

Building a church: water is needed for molding bricks to build the church

Education: increase in enrolment and literacy ratio, especially for girls

Safety: decrease in incidence of rape, unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV/AIDS