Turn on the tap to safe water

Life, hope, and a future for millions.

The need

The lives of more than 1.46 million people around the world have been transformed by access to safe water, improved hygiene, and sanitation through Samaritan’s Purse Water Projects. Unfortunately, about 842,000 people are still dying each year from diarrheal diseases caused by dirty water, poor sanitation, and bad hygiene. That means a death every 37.5 seconds.

The water crisis

Samaritan’s Purse relies on support from you, our generous donors, to tackle this issue through water projects in 30 countries. Those projects have already provided safe water to more than 1.46 million people. However, there is still so much more to do, and we need your help to provide many more people with life-saving safe water.

We also teach families how to store water safely, construct latrines, and practice good hand-washing. These lessons work together with the filters, wells, storage tanks, and reservoirs we help provide to transform villages in many countries including Cambodia, Nicaragua, Kenya, the Philippines, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. None of this would be possible without sacrificial giving by Canadians from coast to coast.

The solution

Home 250

For households:

We provide effective, easy-to-use and long-lasting household filters like BioSand Filters (BSFs), a Canadian invention. These filters transform contaminated water into safe water in seconds. In addition to the filters, each family will receive health and hygiene training and, when appropriate, a latrine. As a result, not only is their thirst quenched, but their health and income will improve. And in many cases, children and adults are saved from devastating illness and even death.

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For schools:

We provide schools that desperately need safe water with a community BioSand Filter (cBSF), hand-washing stations, health and hygiene training, as well as male and female latrines. Your contribution can help keep up to 225 students healthy and engaged in class by keeping them hydrated with safe water that won’t hurt them—or their education—while also reinforcing good hand-washing habits.

Communities 250

For communities:

Samaritan’s Purse builds water wells, rainwater reservoirs, and storage tanks that give the gift of water security to struggling communities for years to come. Combined with health and hygiene training and latrines, they enable villages to conquer water-related challenges.




You can help

Hundreds of thousand of people—often children— die each year from drinking contaminated water that contains potentially deadly bacteria, parasites, and viruses. Your generous donation can help provide solutions for families, schools, and communities by giving them the gift of safe water.

Get Involved

You want to change the world? We can help! From running a marathon to hosting a bake sale, your efforts can help struggling people and glorify God. Start by creating a fundraising campaign, following the simple steps below. Together, we can help people in some of the most desperate and remote places on earth in the name of Jesus Christ.

 

Create a Sponsor Me account

Take your support to the next level through our SponsorMe website! The process is simple. Go to SponsorMe.SamaritansPurse.ca, decide on your campaign name, set your goal amount, and click “Start Campaign”. It’s that easy!

Share your campaign page through email and social media, and ask people to spread the word about your goal. Encourage your family, friends, neighbors, and church group to get involved too. SponsorMe easily enables them to make a tax-deductible donation. Check out the fundraising tips here.

Visit SponsorMe

3 Stories of lives changed by safe water

Water heals a broken home

Cambodia

Chen Sakham’s family was known as “the sick people” in their village in Cambodia.

Chen did not understand the contaminated water his household used was causing regular illnesses. He took out his frustration-from ailments that often impacted his ability to work and the family’s income— his wife and their three sons by provoking arguments that created a family rift.

Chen’s son learned Samaritan’s Purse was installing BioSand Filters (BSFs) in their region of Cambodia, so he signed up to help build a filter so his family could have access to safe water for the first time in their lives. After the filter was installed, Chen was a changed man.

“I am happy because [Chen] is getting along with the family and neighbors,” said his wife, So Harn. “Now he is able to work every day to serve the family.”

Chen now tells other villagers how drinking and washing their hands with safe water from the BSF initiated a healthier, happier life for his family.

 

Teachers in the Philippines grateful for clean water

Alma Talipasan is a daycare teacher in the Philippines who struggles to make ends meet. Yet she chooses to sacrifice the little she has because it pains her to see the children suffer.

“We earn little. It’s not even enough to sustain our daily needs,” she said. “But the children need it more than me.”

Alma spends her own money to buy bottled water for the children. Her classroom lacks clean drinking water, toilets, and hand-washing stations.

Access to clean water and properly built latrines is a huge problem in the Philippines, as more than 26 million Filipinos use unhygienic facilities. Sewage often ends up in culverts or the ocean, and waterborne diseases leave many people sick or dying with cholera or dysentery.

Children are among the most vulnerable, and maintaining proper hygiene practices can be challenging in daycares and schools, especially in Cotabato province. Samaritan’s Purse is improving the quality of life for Alma and other daycare teachers and children in Cotabato, one of the nation’s poorest provinces, by providing clean water, latrines, and hygiene education.

 

Students learn—and teach—good hygiene

Uganda Water 250

Norbert has been teaching at various schools throughout northern Uganda for the past 30 years.

“Growing up, I always admired the behavior of teachers and the way they were respected,” said Norbert, who first encountered Samaritan’s Purse while working at Atura Primary School.

Samaritan’s Purse worked with Atura Primary School to promote safe hygiene and sanitation. The partnership encouraged Norbert to become involved in each step of the school training. He constantly encourages his students to share with their families the hygiene messages they are learning in school. Norbert is optimistic about the future of hygiene and sanitation practices at Atura Primary School.

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