Why is water such an important issue?
Water is the foundation for life, growth and human development. Unfortunately, every day 4,400 children under the age of five die because they don’t have safe drinking water. More than one billion others around the world lack safe water and suffer from health problems as a result, costing $170 billion in medical care costs and lost productivity, as well as 443 million school days each year that are missed due to water borne illness.
The United Nations says that providing access to water is fundamental for achieving its goals of alleviating poverty and hunger, combating HIV/AIDS and malaria, reducing child mortality, increasing gender equality, providing more education and ensuring environmental sustainability. Use of safe water decreases diarrheal illness by 36 percent in HIV-infected children. Diarrhea is a leading cause of mortality among HIV-infected children. Access to clean drinking water is essential to the success of all other assistance.
The urban slums of developing countries have infrastructure that delivers water to household taps, but the water is contaminated due to poorly maintained and inadequate water supply lines. When available, bottled water is expensive.
What is Healing Waters’ approach to the water crisis?
Since 2002, Healing Waters International has provided a unique approach to the water crisis. We affect lasting change in the cities of developing countries with passion, entrepreneurship and creativity by providing safe water through local partners.
Healing Waters projects are located in communities with high population density. Water purification solutions are implemented in partnership with the community. The solution will be chosen from a variety of proven technologies based upon the most appropriate solution for that community. Some solutions are centralized and provide jobs to the local economy. Others provide the water at the point of use, in their homes. Each project has direct, continuing oversight to insure long term success.
The local ministry partner is integral to performing the social and spiritual transformation in the most meaningful way for their community, including ongoing hygiene education.
How do you define Local Ministry Partners? Must it be a church?
Because a component of what Healing Waters International is attempting to achieve is transformation of physical (water), social and spiritual, we insist that the Local Ministry Partner have a passion to do the same in their community. We may identify a partner from many types of organizations including Bible study groups, business organizations, other non-profits or others within a community we determine is in need. We currently have built water purification systems at churches of all Christian denominations, both Protestant and Catholic.
How can I get involved?
There are a variety of ways to get involved with Healing Waters.
- Be A Voice - Educate others about the lack of safe water around the world and the consequences it has on the lives and economies of people in developing countries. Voice volunteers speak in their communities at schools, churches, social clubs and organizations. Click here to learn more about Being a Voice.
- Transformation Trips - We encourage you to join us on one of our transformation trips to see the work of Healing Waters in person. Seeing the needs, connecting with the community, taking a hands-on approach to serving and experiencing the transformation that Healing Waters International can bring is a life-changing opportunity. Click here to learn more about Transformation Trips.
- Water And More - This program allows groups to be more directly involved in poor communities of developing countries that need physical, social and spiritual transformation. Organizations that want to do more than offer financial support can create an alliance with a ministry organization in a developing country through Healing Waters International. They begin to build this alliance with the community by regularly communicating with the ministry partner, learning about their needs – in addition to lack of water – and working with them to meet those needs. Click here to learn more about Water and More.
- Make a Gift – Your gift, no matter the size, will provide safe drinking water to families in need. Click here to learn more about how you can support Healing Waters by making a gift.
Who can participate in the work Healing Waters International does?
We work with any individual or organization that wants to help us provide affordable, safe water to the poor including churches, companies, foundations and civic organizations.
Are you expanding? Where will you be going next?
Although we will continue to expand our reach and serve more people in Latin America, Healing Waters has been very active in scouting new countries and working to lay the foundation for future program expansion. Healing Waters has a formal research process that guides expansion activities and decisions and helps us to determine where the need for safe drinking water is the highest and where we can make the greatest impact.
In August 2008, a team from Healing Waters traveled to East Africa to conduct scouting and research and to determine where we will expand next. We hope to begin the new country launch process during fourth quarter of 2008.
What is the nature of the partnership between Healing Waters and Compassion International?
Compassion and Healing Waters established a partnership to help solve water-related health issues faced by children sponsored through Compassion. Partnering with Healing Waters helps make clean water affordable to the families of Compassion children. In addition, every Healing Waters project that is located at a church with a Compassion program donates clean water to the Compassion project for consumption by the children.
By partnering with Compassion, Healing Waters has access to the Compassion network of church partners. This helps Healing Waters to identify project partners for their water systems with a high level of integrity, professionalism and accountability.
If you have questions about any of the following materials, please feel free to contact us:
Conflict of Interest Policy
Articles of Incorporation
Bylaws
Form 990
Form 1023
Do you have a need for donations?
Most certainly. Healing Waters International is a non-profit organization that depends on the generosity of individuals and organizations that believe in the vision and want to enable the organization to expand into more and more communities. If you would like to support the work of Healing Waters, please contact us at 303.526.7278 or send an email to lreberry@healingwatersintl.org.
