Just Add Water… but it’s a little more complicated than that!
A Spring of Hope is unique. We are the only NGO in South Africa that partners with rural schools to deliver fresh, clean water to school children and sustainable permaculture programs. ASOH partners with schools to provide them the resources they need to promote learning and promising futures for their students. We begin by drilling boreholes (water wells) at schools, ensuring that each of our schools has access to a clean, sustainable source of water for drinking, sanitation, irrigation, and food preparation.
2,402 schools in south africa
have no water supply
have no water supply
Poor infrastructure, like the lack of clean drinking water in school, can destroy the performance of students even at the best of schools. We act in concert with the small community of other independent development professionals to bring water availability and improved classroom environments to students. We work to make our aid, what we sometimes call our “consulting,” as intelligent and sustainable as possible, by communicating and collaborating with the government, public utilities, and other local groups and using high-efficacy and low-cost equipment.
The world water crisis poses a serious threat to all of our futures, especially those living in poverty. It is no coincidence that in Sub-Saharan Africa, both the poverty rate and proportion of rural houses not using improved water sources are over 50%. (Source: UN MDG) The United Nations defines “unimproved water source” as from “lakes, rivers, dams and from unprotected dug wells and springs.” The availability of clean water dramatically improves health and, hence, productivity. The lack of water in schools and homes is one of the main reasons children in developing areas do not attend school. Thus, in the future, developing countries will realize a dearth in educated adults. Water is an investment in the future.
See the UN’s Millennium Development Goals website and the World Health Organization website for more information.
