When rainwater is scarce, harvests diminish or fail altogether. Conversely, excessive rainfall can cause flooding. Water is essential for life and deeply tied to human dignity—it allows us to wash ourselves, clean our clothes, and use flush toilets. Here are three aid projects where People in Peril has helped improve access to water.
Building Wells in South Sudan
During the dry season, water scarcity caused numerous problems for farmers in South Sudan, affecting both their cultivation and their crops, which would wither and dry up. A hardy, potato-like crop called cassava, which can be consumed both as tubers and leaves, is capable of surviving in the local fields.
One of our project’s goals was to provide farmers with water by digging wells near their fields. These wells needed to be constructed before the rainy season, as the heavy rains could wash away loose ground and cause the wells to collapse.
Reconstruction of Sewers for Households and Small Businesses
Tripoli, one of Lebanon’s poorest cities, faced neglected sewerage infrastructure, especially in the Beddawi neighborhood. During the rainy season, overflowing manholes would flood streets, blocking roads, causing pollution, and spreading diseases such as intestinal infections and skin conditions.
In just one year, we built a 1,040-meter network of sewage and stormwater drains that improved living conditions for 200 households and small businesses. The new infrastructure was connected to a sewage treatment plant. Alongside the sewer repairs, we conducted a plumbing training course attended by 87 apprentices and trainees—many of Lebanese origin, but also including Palestinian refugees and Syrians fleeing war. Many of them struggled to find work, as one graduate expressed:
"This program is very good and provides us with the work and income we need. Every day, I see the results of my work when I walk down the street. We have no other option but to find proper jobs, but many of us haven't completed our education because we had to help support our families. We want to continue doing this work."
Reconstruction of Toilets for Dignified Living Conditions
In 2020, we installed cisterns, pumps, and replaced water pipes in hospitals and medical facilities in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions. We installed a total of 45 cisterns, 12 pumps, and repaired 1,119 meters of pipelines. In homes for the elderly and internally displaced persons, we installed 66 water tanks, 16 pumps, and 602 meters of pipes and equipment.
A special project supported residents of the Sviati Hory sanatorium, where 226 people—including 29 children—were temporarily displaced after their homes were bombed. Nearly half of them had disabilities, but the building was not originally designed to accommodate wheelchair users, and the premises were not wheelchair accessible.
Bathrooms and toilets were the biggest challenges. The narrow layout of some rooms prevented wheelchair users from accessing them, forcing many children and adults to rely on nappies. We refurbished bathroom and toilet facilities and installed aids to enable people with disabilities to use them with dignity.
You can help support projects like these with a Clean Water gift certificate.
You can also promote access to safe drinking water with a Water Canister gift certificate.
Thank you for your support.
