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. 

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Faith in Water is saddened to announce the sudden death of our Chair of Trustees, James C Morant

With great sorrow, we announce the sudden death of our Chair of Trustees, James C Morant, who has led Faith in Water since we launched in 2015. James was a passionate supporter of Faith in Water and strongly believed in our work. We will greatly miss his wisdom, experience, guidance and humour. 

James had a long and successful career as a US federal employee, most recently in the US Environmental Protection Agency, where he worked on global health and environmental policy and represented US interests in international initiatives.

In later life, he developed a second career as a singer and performer after his magnificent voice was discovered. As well as being a core member of the choir at the New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore, USA,  James performed all over the world, from Parisian jazz clubs to Windsor Castle.

This is what happy sounds like...
Ever wondered what it feels like to learn how to make soft, comfortable reusable sanitary pads? When, until now, you have had to make do with rags? Watch this super short video of our recent training of Catholic schoolgirls in Nebbi, northern Uganda.

We're celebrating the success of our Dignity for Girls programme, which helps more Ugandan girls stay in school and build a better life. We've reached nearly 32,000 people! 

Christians and Muslims in Uganda are helping to break the silence on menstruation and remove stigma and shame through the first project to work with faith communities in this way.

Our Dignity for Girls programme has reached 31,844 people in Uganda with awareness raising on menstrual hygiene management (MHM) – more than four times our original target of 7,232 people. It is the first menstrual health programme to work with three major faith groups in Uganda: the Catholic Church, Church of Uganda and Uganda Muslim Supreme Council.
'I learned how a girl can manage her menstruation... And they told us that menstruation is not a disease but is normal and natural for everyone. I feel
​so good! At this time I feel so good!' 
– Asima Evers, aged 14, Kitoba Primary School, Hoima District, Western Uganda
The aim is to keep more girls in education by helping them manage their periods more confidently, and to work with the wider faith communities to reduce the stigma and shame so many girls feel.

We've established 24 Catholic, Anglican and Muslim schools as centres of excellence in MHM. This includes training girls, parents, teachers and faith leaders, plus improving school WASH facilities. For example, we repaired latrines and  gutters,  built hand washing facilities and girls' changing rooms and constructed ten brick rainwater harvesting tanks.

We also worked with faith-based women's groups and youth groups to break the silence on menstruation and promote periods as natural, normal and nothing to be ashamed of. And, together with the Uganda
​
Muslim Supreme Council, we established Dignity Day as an annual day for celebrating women, girls and menstruation (see the report below on the success of the second Dignity Day).

Mid-term evaluation shows that 96.64% of girls who have started their periods report being 'very' (87.22%) or 'a little' (9.42%) confident about managing their menstruation. Meanwhile, 99.01% of women and 88.16% of men taking part in awareness raising activities say they have a more positive attitude towards menstruation as a result.

The main Dignity for Girls programme involving 18 schools is funded by UK Aid Direct; the remaining six schools are funded by Joffe Charitable Trust.
​

The 2nd Dignity Day was a huge success, with prayers, speeches, singing, dancing and poetry 

Around 5,500 people gathered at Uganda's National Mosque to celebrate the second Dignity Day in 2019. 

It was a happy and joyful occasion, with music, singing, dancing and poetry, as well as more serious speeches about the need to help girls and women manage their menstruation with confidence and dignity. 

His Eminence the Mufti Sheik Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje presided over the celebrations, which began with Friday prayers in the mosque, where the sermon (broadcast across Uganda on Muslim radio) was preached on the importance of good menstrual health and parents' responsibilities for supporting their daughters during their periods. 

The celebrations ended with a meal served to 466 people. Afterwards, 94.17% of those questioned said they had a more positive attitude about menstruation, and 90.51% said they felt more comfortable talking about it, while 93% said faith groups should discuss menstrual health more to end stigma and shame.

You can watch a short video (right) from Salaam TV, which broadcast Dignity Day live, of extracts from the speech by Susie Weldon of Faith in Water, followed by comments by His Eminence The Mufti.
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'There is a serious relationship between MHM [menstrual hygiene management] and education and that's why we are here. The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council is interested in ensuring we have proper MHM in a bid to ensure we improve education. This is a noble cause.'
​– Sheikhat Radhiyah Namakula, Secretary for Women and Youth, UMSC
Above, top row: Women and men pray in the mosque, Uganda Moslem Women Association's Matali band. Bottom row: His Eminence the Mufti, Sheik Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje (right) and the Hon. Secretary General Hajj Ramadhan Mugalu (centre); Nanjobe Hawa Kimbugwe from Uganda Muslim Women Vision recites a poem; Dignity Day organiser Hajjat Sebyala Aphwa and Dr Namala Hanifah Sengendo, discuss menstruation using a model of the female body. Below: A short video from the day.

More than 100 people attended our conference on Dignity for Girls in Kampala, Uganda

We held a very lively and exciting 'Lessons learned' conference for our Dignity for Girls programme in Kampala, attended by more than 100 Anglican, Catholic and Muslim faith leaders, education chiefs and head teachers from across Uganda.

The overwhelming consensus was that D4G had been extremely successful in engaging faith communities on the issues faced by girls in managing their periods with confidence and dignity. 

​The conference heard that the D4G programme had:
  • reached 24,626 people with awareness raising or training (more than three times the original target of 7,232) *** 
  • benefited 9,389 pupils with improved latrines, washing and water facilities
  • trained 1,360 girls on menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and provided them with reusable sanitary pads, knickers and soap
  • trained 708 parents on MHM
  • trained 350 faith leaders on MHM
  • trained 221 teachers on MHM and provided them with teaching resources.
Read more about the D4G programme below.

*** Since the conference, more information has come in – we've reached an amazing 31,844 people!
​
Above: Images from our 'Lessons learned' Dignity for Girls conference in Kampala, Uganda
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.

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.

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.

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. 
'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)​

Reporting concerns

Faith in Water (FiW) has a zero tolerance towards any form of bullying, harassment, sexual exploitation or abuse. We believe everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. We are committed to providing a safe and trusted environment for anyone we work with.

If you have any concerns about anyone involved in Faith in Water's projects, or about any employees of Faith in Water or of our partners, please let us know.

You may report your concerns to us in confidence by emailing info@faithinwater.org. You may also contact the UK's Charity Commission at www.gov.uk/complain-about-charity. 

To download our Safeguarding Policy, click here.

Support us!
Please 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. Click on the Donate 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; Dignity Day photos by Susie Weldon, Faith in Water; Conference photos, photos by Faith in Water; Kenyan child, by Mary Bellekom, ARC;  Children at Vrindavan, by Victoria Finlay, ARC; Kenyan smile, by Brad Ruggles; Ugandan schoolgirls, by Susie Weldon, Faith in Water