Unfortunately, due to a lack of personnel, we are currently unable to carry out any well projects. If the situation changes, we will announce it here.
Access to clean drinking water – a human right
Access to clean drinking water is a human right: a matter of course for us in Germany, not so for the people in Afghanistan. In this country with little rain,
it is often necessary to dig deep to find ground water, in many cases 20 to 60 meters. In cooperation with the village elders, Shelter Now digs or drills wells at various locations in the village, secures them and installs hand pumps. A diesel pump would lower the ground water level too much and after some time all wells would dry out.
Digging a well, securing it and providing it with a hand pump costs at least 1200 Euros. It provides drinking water for up to 40 families.
Donate a well – a GREAT idea
A well in Afghanistan costs from about 1.200 Euro.
It started with a family who had the idea to “give” a well to their three children. They remitted us three times the amount for a well, and with this money we could build three wells in Afghanistan. On these are now marble slabs with the names of these three children: Salome, Esperanza and Nathanael. The children are proud to have their “own” well in Afghanistan, which provides clean drinking water for hundreds of people.
Others took up the idea and donated fountains and gave us a dedication, which has since been added to them. So far, more than 200 wells have been built this way!
A good idea for a family or a school class, a church community, staff, …
For safety reasons, the locations of the wells are given only approximately. Not all donated wells can be seen on the photos, because not all donors want their wells published on the Internet.
more recent figures
It is still not easy to obtain reliable statistics. But according to UN figures, more than 60 % of Afghanistan’s population now has access to clean drinking water, compared to 4.8 % before 2001. Also 37% now have access to a private toilet. Not least associated with this, the infant mortality rate (before the 5th birthday) fell from 176 to 1,000 births to 98.5.
However, the differences between urban and rural populations are great.
Fresh spring water in northeast Afghanistan
In Badakhshan province there is enough water in the high mountains. But as this flows through the villages on the surface, it is mostly contaminated and causes diseases. Together with the villagers, Shelter Now is installing water pipes from the source to the village. These provide fresh, clean drinking water all year long. Schools are also supplied with these systems. There is also a hygiene training for teachers and students.