Imagine next time you turn on your taps, that instead you have to walk four kilometres for a bucket of water. That is what women and children had to do in the village of Nsumte-Quiumbe in Guinea-Bissau every day.

They were faced with an early morning race to the water source due to long queues combined with a limited supply. If you were one of the lucky few to reach the water supply on time, you were still at risk of becoming sick from water easily contaminated by animal and human waste. Lack of sanitation facilities resulted in the local population, especially children, being more susceptible to diseases such as diarrhoea.

In April 2015, we provided local community members of Nsumte-Quiumbe with the expertise and resources for them to construct a public well, four public toilets and a market garden for their village. This single well supports a population of over 1,700 daily, dramatically improving the lives of villagers. Women and children no longer have to walk great distances for water giving them hope to improve their lives for the future and empowerment through the market gardens providing them with a source of income. The villagers are taught how to maintain the facilities, ensuring ownership and a sustainable future.

WellFound is the largest charity operating in Guinea-Bissau, one of the poorest countries in the world. We work in villages where people suffer from extreme poverty and gender inequality, with high mortality rates and malnutrition due to the endemic spread of malaria and diarrhoea as a result of a lack of clean water and sanitation. WellFound’s aim in 2016-2017 is to empower an additional 15 villages in Guinea-Bissau by building 15 wells, 60 toilets and 15 market gardens. In order to do this we need your help! The money we raise will dramatically improve the lives of over 15,000 people. With your support, we can provide thousands of disadvantaged people with the most basic of human needs, access to clean, safe water and sanitation facilities.

‍

The original, open and unsafe source of water

The newly installed pump well

Sanitation facitilies used to be open fields and the bush

Now they have private, clean and safe toilets

Before, villagers relied on only potatoes and nuts for their sustenance

Our training and support has helped them grow healthy vegetables

‍