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A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER

Hi there, 

Not a day in my life has gone by where I have had to concern myself with where I would find safe water to drink. If you are like me, you have never truly experienced the literal meaning when saying, “I’m dying of thirst!” If you are like me, being forced to walk 6 miles to fetch dirty water every single day is the furthest thing from reality. If you are like me, clean and safe drinking water is expected. Unfortunately, the narrative is very different in the developing world—especially in Mozambique. The water crisis is in fact ravaging over 700 million people worldwide—and represents not only the single most vital ingredient to preserve human life; but access to clean water is the pivotal first step that gives education, health, dignity, self-reliance, prosperity for opportunity its only chance at survival. Simply put, as you dream to change the world in whichever way, the very first move is clean water.

Yes, my reality is different from that of a similar man in a community in Mozambique. However, I don't feel a sense of guilt that my reality isn't burdened by a lack of access to clean and safe water—and the following pages are not meant to evoke that emotion in you either. As it happens, the intention is quite the opposite. The words and stories that follow are meant to fuel the gift of perspective and show that we can solve this. The following pages are meant to connect our realities. They are intended to reveal a way to change 14 million lives in Mozambique, illuminate a path towards shaking up the paradigm in philanthropy and the water sector—and hopefully inspire us to suck the marrow out of life; where together, the substance of our actions no longer leaves us as simply observers of the human condition… but a part of it.

I would like to invite you on a journey. A journey to leave a legacy. A journey to change 14 million lives and the fabric of an entire country— one that can influence an entire region and global affairs. I invite you on a journey to meet the unseen people that are grouped as ‘those without access to clean drinking water’. They are not a statistic. They are vibrant. They are full of life. They are elegant and graceful. And they are not only needing clean water to quench thirst, but to quench their ambitions to seize a life not dictated by the winds of circumstance.

The next Einstein, Isaac Newton or Mother Theresa? The one who finds a cure to cancer? Will they be in one of these vulnerable villages in Mozambique?

Even a mother who doesn’t have to worry and struggle with the lack of dignity about serving her child dirty water has a legacy to contribute. The effects of a person's legacy can quietly ripple across entire continents and oceans for many years to come. Giving an entire rural population the opportunity to seize life and be a part of this global community is not just a gift to them, but it is a gift to each one of us.

So, I invite you on a journey. We need your support and generosity. Let us leave our mark—so that others can leave theirs.

Yours,

Justin

Who will be the next Mandela?

You are reading this for a reason.

Be water, my friend.

   Justin

Access to clean, safe drinking water can change absolutely everything.

THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT WE CAN SOLVE

Simply put,

Access to safe and reliable water

is not a reality for many people.

Access to reliable, clean water doesn’t just sustain life,

it is the key that opens the door to health, education, income, agriculture, empowerment and dignity.

Having access to clean drinking water

Impacts Health.

80% of all disease in the Developing World is caused by a lack of access to clean drinking water. With no source of clean water available nearby, women and their children are forced to walk an average of 3 miles each way to get dirty water twice a day. The most common water sources are stagnant ponds or pooled water usually shared by livestock that defecate along the perimeter.

Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. 

(scroll to learn more)

Access to safe and clean water

Impacts Education.

Consuming this contaminated water, and being consumed by the burden, translates not only into disease, but deplorable attendance in schools because fetching water with their mother takes priority over school.

Furthermore, because there is no water source at the school and no place to clean, out of shame and embarrassment, girls do not go to school while they are menstruating.

The poorest and most deprived children in the rural areas (where we work) are more likely to die before their fifth birthday than in other parts of the country.

90% of these deaths are attributed to drinking unsafe water (from rivers, stagnant ponds and old abandoned traditional wells), as well as having inadequate sanitation (no toilets) and poor hygiene (most specifically, lack of hand washing with soap).

Access to safe and clean water

Saves Time.

On average, women dedicate 5-6 hours each day to fetching water. There are zero development productivity hours left for these women to pursue income generating projects as all of their time is devoted to obtaining the most basic of human necessities.

Poverty, and all trappings associated with it, stem from water issues.  Conversely, the ability to lift oneself out of poverty and towards development is fundamentally rooted in water access.

If a global effort is to alleviate poverty and give people the tools necessary to climb themselves out of their vulnerable situation, while instilling dignity and self-reliance, then water is the most bottom rung of that development ladder.

Water Underground always places the new water well in the school - but the excitement only begins there. 

We accompany the water well with a 27,000 sq ft garden, a Sanitation Center which includes menstrual hygiene rooms, and the establishment of a Water Oversight Committee that is trained over a month who become the guardians of the project.

The student attendance rates increase, girls' confidence is nurtured, ownership of a future is fostered, income generating projects are explored, disease and cost of caring for the sick dwindles, and the once fragile idea of a future now becomes something to tangibly pursue.

This is a development partnership with the community.

Not Charity.

We must have our eye on the end-game and focus on

36% of Wells Fail

There is no question that the water crisis in the developing world is urgent - and many donors have pledged to solve this issue. 

Huge sums of money are invested in water-supply systems around the world. Yet many of these systems fail - especially in rural areas - because local communities are not involved in their planning, construction, and management.

In Mozambique, 40% of all funding in the water sector is used to rehabilitate broken or abandoned wells.

This water well should last for 20 years.

As you will see, via the establishment of Water Oversight Committees and training over a month with Water Underground, we emphasize sustainability, and encourage healthy development for the community - on their terms.

Monitoring &

Evaluation

With that in mind, we continue to work with the community long after the main project and training is complete. This is indeed a partnership with the community, and we must be accountable for our own work and ensure that our good intentions are in fact being actualized.

We must be transparent with our work, which includes successes and difficulties - and report on them. We are committed to the transparency of our projects to the community, the local government and most importantly, to you - the donor.

We also must challenge our model and its effectiveness in order to continue to push the limits of our impact.

Our staff returns to the community every 3 months for the first 3 years, every 6 months for years 3-5, and yearly after that. 

As a donor, you will also recieve these updates on the community - which include the exciting growth they are experiencing because of your generous willingness to change the world with water - one community at a time.   

this

project belongs

to the community,

not

Water Underground.

Why Mozambique

Mozambique is ranked the 6th most vulnerable country in the world in terms of a lack of access to safe, clean drinking water.

70% of the rural population does not have access to clean drinking water.

80% of disease in the rural population is from water-borne diseases — diarrhea kills more children in Mozambique than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.

72% of foreign aid for water access is allocated to urban areas and improving its infrastructure. This leaves a devastatingly ignored rural population which is already among the most vulnerable in the world. These people living in the rural areas are fundamentally trapped in poverty— and water access is the only logical first step to address it.

Mozambique has a total population of 25.83 million people. The rural population in Mozambique is 14.4 million—where 8.1 million are the most vulnerable rural poor. Of this rural population, 70% do not have access to clean, safe drinking water.