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Alice carries her son, Patrick, on her back as she collects water from an open source in rural Kenya.
For women in sub-Saharan Africa, collecting water is more than a chore. It is a vital survival skill they learn from their earliest years, carrying larger and larger containers as they grow older and stronger. Without safe drinking sources close to home, looking for water consumes their days and dominates their lives, leaving little room for anything else. They miss school, forfeit opportunities and sacrifice all to ensure their families will have something — anything — to drink.
Little girls, pregnant women, grandmothers. None are free from the constant search for water — but they can be with your help.
Cross Catholic Outreach is working with dioceses, priests and various ministries in Africa to transform the lives of nearly 600,000 people. Your generosity is needed to provide 197 water and sanitation systems in remote villages.
Since 2003, Cross Catholic Outreach has led life-changing poverty relief efforts in Africa. And since 2019, new water and sanitation systems have transformed the lives of more than 1.2 million people, mostly young girls and women who collect water and their families.
Please share the light of Christ this Lent by helping us continue building wells and blessing generations of African families. Together, we can give the transformative gift of water, setting girls, women and families free from the cycle of thirst and bringing greater glory to God!
Watch this video to see the faces of the people who have been blessed with clean water and learn how you can be a part of our continued plan to provide relief and help bless generations for years to come.
A gift of $99 blesses eight people with a lifetime supply of safe, life-giving water!
Giving online is the fastest way to ensure your gift will provide clean water, but if you choose to send a check, note “Project 3667GL” in the memo line and mail to:
Donation Processing Center
P.O. Box 97168
Washington, D.C. 20090-7168
Learn more about:
By living out the Lenten pillars of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, you will bring clean, safe water to remote villages. Your compassion will make it unnecessary for little girls, mothers and elderly women to journey far in search of water. It will also support important health and spiritual initiatives that strengthen bodies and bless souls.
Your generous gift will fuel the lifesaving work of Cross Catholic Outreach’s trusted partners across five African nations: Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Eswatini.
“I’ve never seen a borehole with a hand pump in my life. I didn’t even know that one could pump water. This is the first time, and even I can use it because it is so close and so easy.”
—Witness V., Malawi
“I see the Church and am reminded that God has given us life, he’s given us water. The well has also strengthened community bonds. We are very grateful, and our hearts are filled with joy.”
—Lucy W., Kenya
“I feel free. I have extra time. My health is good. My children’s health is good. We never expected that there would be this kind of assistance, and we feel liberated with the safe water.”
—Wakisa W., Malawi
Work with local Church leaders and chiefs to select villages most in need of safe water and conduct land surveys to pinpoint ideal locations for drilling.
Construct 197 water and sanitation systems, ranging from latrines and simple hand-pump wells to solar-powered systems with elephant-resistant water towers, depending on local needs.
Educate families on sanitation and hygiene best practices and elect local committees to oversee the care and sustainability of new water sources.
Ensure clean, abundant water will flow for years to come by having families contribute a small payment to their local water committee to cover future maintenance.
Build a health center and offer mobile clinics in Malawi, and ship supplies such as vitamins, medicines and diapers to orphaned children and vulnerable families in Eswatini and Zambia.
Provide Bibles and catechism books and host ecumenical workshops in Malawi and offer faith formation workshops and Bibles in Zambia.
Girls in sub-Saharan Africa are taught from an early age to help with household chores. One of the main chores for women, regardless of age or health, is collecting water.
Aurora is just a toddler, but in her community, she must learn how to collect water and carry it back home. This is a responsibility that will be hers for her entire life. A small two-liter bottle is just the beginning. As she grows, so will the size of the water container she carries.
For Aurora and many girls like her, water collection is more than a task — it is a way of life that will monopolize their existence unless the Church intervenes.
This Lent, engage your family in a meaningful project that will promote Catholic values and make a difference in hundreds of thousands of lives. In this season of fasting and sacrifice, we invite you to consider those in Africa who must make difficult sacrifices just to find water each day. Please — give generously to provide clean water and change their future in Christ’s name.
Clean water that is safe to drink and easy to access is the answer to prayer for many young girls, mothers and elderly women.
Donations from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred through June 30, 2027, the close of our ministry’s fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.
