Answering Your Questions on Giving Clean Water

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Written by neverthirst
Photography & Video by Tara Shupe

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Since 2008, neverthirst has been on mission to bring clean and living water to the unreached through the local church.

There are 703 million people who still lack basic access to water. And over 80% of those who need clean water live in rural and isolated communities.

The severity of need is without question, but in solving a multifaceted problem we encounter common questions on how we partner to provide clean and living water and offer unreached people hope.

Our team is built of relentless learners who are committed to improving, adapting, and delivering the most impactful solutions for those we’re serving and remain committed to full transparency. If you have a question you want answered, please contact us and start a conversation.

>> See how neverthirst has earned top financial awards for transparency and ROI

Answering Your Questions on Giving Clean Water

1. How do you evaluate/prioritize what nations to bring clean and living water?

First off, neverthirst is committed to prayer for wisdom and discernment on where to work. We aim to find the most unreached regions of the world that lack access to the gospel. Then we assess where the water need is the highest amongst those areas to further evaluate a range of factors.

There is also a lengthy process to be sure we can find quality partners on the ground to do the work at the standard we expect.
2. Why don’t people lacking access to clean water live closer to a better water source?

Without answering for those around the world and making too broad a statement for individual circumstances, there are some common reasons people live distanced from local water supply.

    1. Most of the time families live on land that has been passed down to them through generations. Due to financial hardships and circumstances, it is difficult to purchase new land as most of the people in need of clean water live on less than $2 a day. Some people will move to other villages if they are able to be closer to a water source. Once a water project goes in, more people are prone to move closer to that location.
    2. There are often circumstances where geographically water supply is seasonal. Due to dry seasons, where water was once in close proximity it is now a 4 mile hike.
When a clean water solution comes to a village, we estimate it typically has the reach and impact to affect 500 local people.
3. In what ways are women directly impacted by the lack of clean water differently than others?

Women carry the burden of the water crisis. In the majority of cultures where neverthirst works, women are the ones responsible for the care of the family’s needs. Men often are focused on day labor or will move away for a period of time to get work to be able to send money home to the family.

When a child turns 5 they are responsible for helping mom collect water as well. Women and families have limited options other than daily treks to retrieve clean water to sustain their family. In doing so, they often have no choice but to sacrifice their education and ambition.

While yes, everyone needs water not all degrees of impact are felt equally.
4. What happens after neverthirst leaves? What does ongoing support and well maintenance require for these people to continue experiencing clean water?

When our donors enable neverthirst to provide a clean water solution, we not only train and equip our vetted local partners, but also make sure that the villagers know who to contact should there be an issue with the water project.

Before a project is completed, the community is responsible for contributing to a repair fund that is owned by a committee within the village. We believe that if they have contributed to the water project, it will be better taken care of and they are set up to have the project repaired with money they have set aside.

In recognizing wells can run dry or need maintenance, some of our work in identified areas is focused on restoration and recovery.

5. How is this per-person cost of $40 to bring clean water to one person determined?

This cost is derived from an average cost of every water solution (view every project type here) and the number of people we serve annually. This average takes into account every country we work in—from the harsh desert of Niger to the mountains of Nepal—and the geographic complexities to bring clean water to different regions.

As neverthirst has grown, our approach has shifted in two ways:

    1. We’re focused on serving unreached and extremely remote areas. As we serve more unreached communities, the cost to travel to and bring materials into more remote locations is higher than serving areas closer to cities.
    2. We’re investing in higher quality water projects with lasting sustainability. For example, serving clean water in the deserts of Chad and Niger means investing in sophisticated solar-powered projects—our most expensive projects to date, partially for the equipment needed in the desert to keep water flowing for years to come.

We are extremely grateful for your partnership. Your stewardship is bringing clean and living water to some of the most unreached regions in the world—through high-quality water systems that last and help end the water crisis.

>> Look at our complete financial reports and see how neverthirst has earned top financial awards for transparency and ROI

Drilling for water in Africa

6. How much of a donation goes directly towards the work of funding a well or providing clean water to those in Africa and Asia?

Our donors have been apart of over 1,000,000 people served throughout 14 countries with clean water and have had the opportunity to help those reached with water hear about the hope found in Jesus, the Living Water. Every day lives are being transformed for generations to come because of the generosity of the neverthirst family.

Every healthy relationship demands transparency for it to flourish. The neverthirst team is committed to remaining completely transparent in everything we do–especially our finances.

You can look at our complete financial reports and see why we’ve earned awards including Top 10 ROI.
7. How is the gospel shared directly through neverthirst’s work on the field?

Local pastors and evangelists are involved with every project. We won’t do a project without an evangelical component. We partner with local pastors and evangelists who are committed to serving the villages long term.

Our heartbeat is to mimic Jesus’ ministry as closely as we can where he would often meet their physical needs but ultimately to meet their spiritual need. We aim to give local pastors a means to meet physical needs so they can have a platform to share about Christ in these villages where they have had limited or no access in the past.

9. What does neverthirst look for in identifying and building its local partnerships?

Local partners are cherished members of our family and essential to our strategy of serving, empowering, and changing lives through clean and living water.

We go through an extensive 23 point process with our local partners / potential local partners to be sure they can meet the high standard that neverthirst requires. We have numerous site visits and interviews with partners as well so we are confident in their work.

As a local partner, you are trained and given as much on-going support as needed to see villages thrive.

10. If I give today, how should I expect to stay up-to-date on the impact of my giving and when it’s used?

What happens next is always a fun question. The answer depends on how you give and to what end.

    • If you give towards a specific project, you will receive quarterly updates on what its happening in the region where your project is being completed. Once the project is completed, you receive a report featuring photos, testimonies, GPS coordinates, and more from the project you sponsored.
    • If you are a monthly Provide partner, we share updates each month from the field showing you how those gifts are being used as well. We want you to be confident that the gifts you entrust us with are being used exactly as you intended them to be, so this is our way of being transparent with you on your generous stewardship.
    • If you donate one time to partner to bring clean water, we share monthly email updates on the growing impact of our mission, our partners, and stories from donors committed to ending the water crisis. We want you to be encouraged that there are many others who are standing with you to see clean water reach the nations.

Clean Water Changes Lives

The way lives change is simple: access to clean water.

Access to clean water is accomplished through donors partnering with us to bring relief to those who are waiting on the hope neverthirst is ready to bring.

We want to bring clean water to every unreached person and are willing to answer any question you may have to invite you into the story of changing these lives and give you confidence in partnering together.

Have further questions? Contact us here.

Here’s how you can get started:

Meet An Urgent Need

1 in 10 people lack access to clean water, and 4 in 10 lack access to the gospel. You can help meet urgent physical and spiritual needs together.

Make A Gift

From a one-time gift to monthly giving, your resources will meet urgent needs in Africa and Asia. Every $40 given serves one person in need.

See Your Impact

No matter the size of your gift, you will change lives with clean and living water. We’ll send you personalized reports and stories from empowered families and pastors.

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