Water Needs

In Sumba, the ancient hilltop villages are far from the water sources in the valleys below. Women and children must walk miles each day to fetch just one bucket of water. We surveyed villages, schools, and clinics and found that in most areas 90 percent do not have a water source within a reasonable distance (less than a half mile).

As a result, the hygiene conditions are appalling and create an ideal breeding ground for disease. So, providing access to clean water is the oldest and most established program initiated by the Sumba Foundation.

Since we started in 2001, we have created 78 major water projects where we have installed 161 water tanks with a daily-water-storage capacity of 570,000 liters. These tanks supply water to 280 water stations, providing more than 35,000 people with access to clean water. This includes water for 16 primary schools, two government hospitals, all four Sumba Foundation clinics, and our new learning development center.

Many of these existing water projects are old and in need of upgrading and expanding as the communities around them grow. We are also initiating new water projects in areas where needed.