At Living Water International, our approach—to train, equip, and consult nationals—ensures that the energy and resources contributed by volunteers and donors result in sustainable, participatory water systems that meet the long-term needs of communities.
ABOUT LIVING WATER INTERNATIONAL:
Courtesy of Living Water International
OUR APPROACH
Train
We train community development volunteers and professionals how to implement integrated water solutions. Many of our trainees have gone on to work in the field and launch new operations in countries all over the world.
Equip
We provide trained national teams with all the components needed to implement community water solutions. This includes supplying capital outlay and logistic support while the national teams grow to become self-sustaining. We hire local people and buy local materials whenever possible, creating jobs and income to further benefit the community at large.
Consult
We make our expertise and data available wherever water is needed most. Consultation is a natural outgrowth of training and equipping—and is a practical way that we can walk alongside people who want to include a water component to their work. We’re watching the work multiply as we act as a consultant to other organizations that also provide safe, clean water.
PRIORITIES
Appropriate Technology & Community Involvement
Lasting change doesn’t happen unless the community takes the lead. When appropriate, we encourage communities to form water committees. We learn from members of the community what water solution will be the most appropriate, practical, and functional—then we train the them in the operation and maintenance of the new water system after it’s installed.
We’re familiar with most available water technologies, and are committed to using technology appropriate to each community’s culture and lifestyle. In most situations, we find that drilled wells with hand pumps are the best solution for rural communities. The pumps we use are simple to repair, and replacement parts can be easily found.
Maintenance and Sustainability
We are committed to seeing people manage their own water solutions to the greatest extent possible. We work hard to empower people to do what they can for themselves, utilizing local knowledge, and with minimal dependence on high-cost, proprietary equipment and parts.
As communities grow toward this kind of sustainability, we provide a safety net. If a repair is needed that is beyond the skills or means of the local people, the LWI team—usually comprised entirely of nationals—can be called in.
IN JESUS’ NAME
Christian Witness
Our faith in Jesus is the reason we do what we do. Jesus tells us to think more highly of others than ourselves; he calls us to love those on society’s margins, and to see the image of God in the poorest of the poor.
Our Christian identity shapes our view of what community development is all about. In our good moments as a development agency, we empower people, build up communities, and bring an end to cycles of disease and desperation. But this is not the best that we have to offer.
Through Jesus Christ, every human being can be in a right relationship with God; Jesus has the power to transform, to redeem, and to make our lives into stories of hope and purpose. This is the best news that we have, and we are compelled by love to share it. We do not coerce or manipulate. We serve all who are thirsty, regardless of their beliefs. But we do our work praying and yearning for people to know Jesus.
Recognizing God at Work
It would be arrogant to think that God arrives with us when we enter a community. He has been at work there all along, whether the people realize it or not. It is our role to recognize his activity and be part of it. In many communities, living witnesses to God’s work are already present in the form of local churches.
As we enter a new community, it is our greatest hope to empower the people of God who are already there. Through the provision of clean water, we enable them to reach out to their neighbors, meeting physical and spiritual needs better than we, as outsiders, ever could.
Would you like to make a difference? Visit Living Water International today. Every amount helps.
