Community & Personal Transformation: It starts with water.

by World Hope International | Mar 22, 2023 | Clean Water and Energy, Partnership

Bill Clark

Executive Director

Hope Water International

Water is the most basic necessity of life; the lack of clean water stands between millions of people and their health, safety, and the opportunity to unlock their true potential. This is what Hope Water International (HWI), which has helped provide clean water to countries in Africa since 2017, and World Hope International (WHI), a nearly 30-year-old humanitarian relief organization, endeavor to help change.

Our two organizations have been co-laborers and collaborators on water installation projects in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Now, we are broadening our close relationship. This includes putting more resources in the hands of the communities we serve. One example is to install standalone water systems with taps, which goes beyond simple handpump systems.

Both organizations have witnessed firsthand how access to clean water not only saves lives but enriches them. When water is no longer a daily concern for these communities, its members and, especially women and children, are now free to pursue an education, employment, build businesses, and become self-sufficient. As a result, the entire community flourishes. Access to clean water is foundational to the development of any community.

It restores hope and unlocks potential.

With each well, communities are strengthened, and they invariably grow. Health is restored, and lives are saved.

How we do this is two-fold. First, it starts at home, right here in the United States. Hope Water creates fundraising teams of walkers, runners, swimmers and cyclists who train, race and celebrate together. Training for and taking part in Hope Water events forges lasting friendships, instills a sense of personal fulfillment and purpose, and builds vibrant local communities. Funds raised are then matched, dollar-for-dollar, by World Hope’s generous donors.

Second, we take those dollars abroad by putting them in the hands of like-minded organizations, such as World Hope, to dig wells and install water systems so that communities have access to clean water. Hope Water knows how to connect runners, swimmers, walkers and cyclists whose compassion and care spur them on to devote their time, energy and resources to fundraising. But we are not experts in well installation, community development, or what is needed to further develop a thriving and sustainable community once the water system is installed. This is where we rely on our trusted, experienced partner, World Hope.

Our job continues after the well starts pumping clean water. Part of what we do is work with partners who equip local churches to share the Gospel with the community where the well is installed.

Partnering with World Hope has given us the confidence that we are helping to make a difference in communities across the globe. Today, on World Water Day, we are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead by offering hope and dignity in vulnerable communities around the world through access to clean water.