FAITH IN WATER
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Inspiring change, transforming lives

Working with all the world's major faiths
to improve water, sanitation and hygiene
for children and communities



Read more
Faith groups are involved in at least 50% of schools worldwide and up to 
70% in some countries. That's why we work with all faiths to provide 

cleaner water, better sanitation and improved hygiene – transforming 
children's lives and creating widespread community impact. 

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Find out

Read about our exciting work in Uganda in our 2018 Annual Review

This has been a very busy and exhilarating year for Faith in Water. We have been focusing heavily on our Dignity for Girls project in Uganda, where we are working with three major faith groups – the Catholic Church, Church of Uganda and Uganda Muslim Supreme Council – to keep more girls in education.

You can read more about it in our 2018 Annual Review:  how we are improving puberty education for girls and boys, providing reusable sanitary pads for girls, upgrading school latrines and improving access to water in 24 schools, as well as working with faith leaders and faith-based women's and youth groups to address issues of stigma and shame.
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Dignity for Girls: How we are helping girls to stay in school and build a BETTER future

Photo by Brad Ruggles
Imagine having no sanitary pads when your period starts, just old rags or leaves. No one has taught you about menstruation. And the school latrines don't have doors or water for washing. That's the reality of life for many girls in poorer countries. No wonder so many girls drop out of school early – putting them at high risk of teenage pregnancy, child marriage and a much poorer future.
Many girls in poor communities face great difficulties in managing their periods because of lack of information, lack of resources (such as sanitary pads or clean, private school toilets) and a crippling sense of stigma and shame.

​Studies show that a significant proportion of girls often miss school every month and some even drop out altogether. 

​This has a serious impact on girls' future prospects as well as their health and wellbeing. Girls who drop out of school early are more likely to become teenage mothers or child brides and remain trapped in a cycle of poverty.
​
Our Dignity for Girls Uganda programme is the first project to work with faith groups to tackle 
this problem and help keep girls in education. ​We are working with three faiths in Uganda – the Catholic Church, the Church of Uganda and the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, which are all major providers of education and key influencers of opinion. Together, we are:
  • Helping faith schools develop policies and practice to support girls to stay in education;
  • Improving teaching on menstruation and puberty – for both boys and girls;
  • Establishing 24 faith-managed schools as centres of excellence on this issue;
  • Addressing stigma and shame by breaking the silence on menstruation and changing attitudes.
FIND OUT MORE

Did you know...?

Girls in sub-Saharan Africa miss an estimated 10%-20% of school time because of difficulties managing their periods.

Fewer than two thirds of Ugandan girls complete primary school and even fewer secondary.

Children of uneducated mothers are nearly three times more likely to die before age five than those born to mothers with secondary education.

Photograph of two children looking at a Bangladesh pond filter, by Shawn

The crisis

Diseases caused by contaminated water and poor sanitation kill children and blight lives. Around one in ten people lack clean, safe drinking water and one in three don't have adequate sanitation, causing people to become trapped in poverty and illness.
Read more
Photograph of two children in a washroom

Why work with faiths?

Faith groups are the biggest organised element of civil society and often the most trusted and influential. They have massive outreach through youth groups, Sunday schools and madrassas, and they play a major role in education.
Read more
Photo of woman with water carriers; by cstepin/Flickr

Harvesting water out of air 

Could we get our drinking water from the air? It's still a long way off from becoming widely available but one US tech firm is using solar panels to do just that. And the long-term promise is to go from 'water scarcity to water abundance', says Zero Mass Water.  
Read more

Faith in Water works with all the major faiths to inspire them
to give greater priority to water, sanitation and hygiene issues
in their schools and communities. 
We also ​help to build powerful
partnerships between secular and faith groups
.
Read more

Photograph of a smiling girl in Kenya

What we do

Faith in Water grew out of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), which was founded in 1995 to help the world's major faiths develop environmental programmes based on their beliefs.

Our faith partners told us that water and sanitation problems were the biggest environmental, social and health issues in their schools. ​Given that faiths play such a big role in education worldwide, and that water and cleanliness have spiritual significance in many religions, we realised that working specifically with faith schools could have a significant impact.

Faith in Water has a long experience of engaging faith communities. We also understand how secular groups work and what they need. By building closer relationships between faith and secular organisations, we aim to help each group to work more effectively with each other – for the benefit of people, nature and the planet. 
Read more
'The biggest change to many of the activities 
we are doing is hope. So many people have 
lost hope. We have to change this and show 
that tomorrow will be better than today.'


Muguluma Hamed, chair, Uganda Faiths Network 
on Environment Action (UFNEA) 


​
The church can do more for a struggling African village than any other organisation because it is with the people all of the time. Organisations come and visit, but the church is here not only 
on Sunday, but every day of the week.’


Pastor Harry, Fombe village church, Malawi
(as told to Tearfund)​

Support us!

Can you help us TRANSFORM LIVES by bringing clean water, safe sanitation and good hygiene to some of the world's poorest communities? Support us with a one-time donation or a regular payment. Simply click on the PayPal button on the right to be ​taken to a secure online donation page. Thank you!
Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. 

​St Teresa of Avila

Image credits, from top, left to right: Zata school well, Ethiopia, by Gary Edenfield. Red ribbons by Dan Lundmark. Bangladesh pond filter, by Shawn. 
​
Children at Vrindavan, 
by Victoria Finlay, ARC. Rain drops, by Michael Johnson; Kenyan smile, by Brad Ruggles, Ugandan girl, by Susie Weldon.   

About faith in Water

Our aims
Our history
Our approach
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Contact


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Registered Charity no: 1164290

Contact us

Faith in Water
6 Gay St
Bath
BA1 2PH
​UK  
Tel: +44 (0)1225 758004 / +44 797 0466 830
Email: info@faithinwater.org
Skype: FaithinwaterBristol
Twitter: @FaithinWater

​
​Sign up to our quarterly newsletter here.

What we do

The issues
Water
Sanitation
Hygiene
Sustainable solutions
Sustainable Development Goals

Why faith schools?

Why work with faith groups?
Religions FAQ
Working with faith schools
​Putting Clean Hands Together
WASH in Schools Mapping
​Faith-based ESD Toolkit
DONATE
You can easily support Faith in Water's work by clicking the PayPal button above or by going to our Support us page. Thank you!