Deep Drilling in East Sumba: An Unyielding Commitment to Clean Water, Community Health, and Human Dignity.
How Fair Future and Kawan Baik’s Deep Drilling Project is Transforming the Lives of Over 2,000 People in East Sumba by Providing Sustainable Access to Clean Water
In the heart of East Sumba, close to the modest town of Lewa, a drilling rig pierces the horizon. It stands as a sentinel in a landscape where the struggle for clean water is a daily reality. This isn’t a backdrop for a fairy tale; it’s the setting of an arduous mission undertaken by Fair Future and our partners Kawan Baik.
We drill deep into the earth, more than 60 meters down, to unlock a treasure—water. The process is grueling, physically and emotionally. The machinery’s roar feels like an anthem of human will against the earth’s reluctance. It’s a colossal endeavor, especially for a small Swiss NGO like ours, but the purpose fuels us: To deliver clean water and sanitary facilities to a community of over 2,000 people.
As water finally surges from below, our team gets to work, laying down over 6,000 meters of HDPE PVC pipes. These channels snake their way into the community, filling about 15 storage tanks holding 6,500 liters each. It’s a life network, bringing not just hydration but also a new world of opportunities: improved nutrition, better hygiene, and dignity.
Adjacent to the water supply, we built the village’s first sanitary installations. A simple tap and a functional toilet might seem trivial, but here, they symbolize monumental change. Women no longer spend hours trekking for water, and children are noticeably healthier, and less haunted by diseases like malaria.
Speaking of malaria, it’s not just a disease spread by mosquitoes. It thrives in communities where stagnant water is the only kind available. Clean water not only quenches thirst but also disrupts the lifecycle of disease-carrying mosquitoes. By this simple act, we are not just improving, we’re transforming lives.
Every drop of this clean water symbolizes the collective effort of everyone involved—our team, our partners, and, importantly, our supporters and donors. But this is not a celebratory epilogue; it’s a chapter in an ongoing narrative. The fight is not over. Access to clean water is a right, not a seasonal privilege.
So, we continue, undeterred by the challenges that loom large. And as we publish 60 original photos documenting this transformative project, we urge you to see each image as a call to action. They are a vivid testament to human resilience and to the will of a community to rise, even when the odds are stacked against it.
In East Sumba, water is life, a truth as unyielding as the ground we’ve broken to bring it forth. Action is the lifeblood of change, and we invite you to be part of this narrative to continue writing this ongoing story with us. Together, we give water, and we give life.
Thank you for joining our mission and becoming integral to this remarkable transformation.
Alex Wettstein – Fair Future Foundation medico-social camp in East Sumba – Rumah Kambera, Lambanapu, October 25th, 2023.
Breaking Hard Ground and Shattering Barriers: A Resolve Unyielding as East Sumba’s Terrain.
The ground may be unyielding, but so is our resolve. In East Sumba, every meter we drill deep is a step closer to a life free from disease and hardship. – Alex Wettstein, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Fair Future
Journey to the Depths: A Visual Chronicle of Clean Water Drilling in East Sumba
