Sumba is one of the poorest islands in Indonesia. One of the keys to breaking the extended poverty cycle is water. For local people the day revolves around obtaining enough water to survive, and starts with a walk of up to 5 kilometres to fill one bucket and then walk back. The compound effect of this lack of water leads to serious health issues and also to malnutrition. Over 90% of schools and clinics in the area do not have running water, nor a water source nearby, none have functioning toilets.
Love Children Foundation’s (Yayasan Cinta Kasih Anak) goal over the next few years is to provide a total of 50 wells on the island benefitting over 1000 people. In 2017, the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation supported the building of 6 wells.
The wells will be sustainable hand drawn wells with no pump is needed so nothing is going to break down. They use a bucket and bring the water up by hand. Previous experience shows that NGO’S have provided super equipment with machinery. Once this machinery breaks, the locals cannot afford to fix the damaged items.
This can change the way a community functions as they will have the basic need of water at their disposal. This will allow for village development and planning from the bottom upwards, with the villagers giving their vision for change and improvements.
