Did you know that almost a billion people don’t have access to clean water? This extremely serious problem leads to dangerous health conditions for the people in the affected areas. Since 2002, the Mormons have been reduced the number of people without access to clean water by about seven million through clean water projects in 5,000 communities. Bringing in clean water reduces the threat of cholera, diarrhea, and typhoid. Depending on the needs of the area, the projects include digging wells, creating water storage, building delivery systems, or developing ways to purify existing water.

One way the church’s programs differ from many others is that one goal is self-sufficiency. Some charities go into an area, create projects, and do all the work themselves. Then they have to stay forever to keep it running. The Mormons know that if they can get a project running and then leave, they can do far more work and they can also create self-sufficiency and personal pride.

In Sierra Leone, where many of their seven million people lack clean water, the church is doing a major clean water project. Many people fled the area during the war and are now returning. However, they have to go long distances to find water. The church is now building wells and teaching the people how to do it. They teach them to solve the problems that emerge and to figure out how to sustain the project once the church leaves. The projects often create employment as well.

To keep costs down for the community, they work to make sure projects will last. In Ethiopia, the church funded four water stations in Mecha Borodo. They paid for the wells and the construction. When the stations are open, local residents can be water cans to be filled. The wells were largely built by local people to provide jobs and skills. A local contractor was hired to install the system. The water came from a local spring that was piped to a large storage facility and more pipelines are being planned to make it more efficient. T-meters and pipelines are being developed to bring water to faucets inside several larger facilities, including a monastery, clinics, and a school.

Once the water stations were built, the local community government put together committees to run them. The Mormons trained local people to maintain them and if properly maintained, the pumps will last ten years.

In Lupata, in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa, the Mormon Church’s water project was an answer to fifteen years of prayer for a solution to the water problem. They had been unable to obtain the money to develop their own program. The village, home to 214,000 people, has no electricity or refrigeration, few government services and almost no commercial businesses. Men are sustenance farmers and women care for the home, which included walking a mile twice a day for water. Women who go early in the morning are often raped. The water they brought home was shared with animals and was dirty and filled with diseases, but it was the only water they had. Hundreds of children died each year because of diseases brought on by the water. Willy Binene, a Mormon who lives in Lupata, said it was possible to live without power, but living without clean water was almost too great a burden to bear.

Someone heard about the Mormon’s clean water initiative and began praying the church could help. The Mormons sent missionaries out to evaluate whether or not it could be done and when it was decided it would be possible, the people were overjoyed.

However, bringing water to this remote village would not be easy. The Mormons could provide the funding and the training, but the actual work required some creativity.The pipeline would have to cross some nineteen miles of thick jungle and water pressure had to be maintained through all of it. This portion, building the trench, took 900 days, working six days a week. The trenches were built by local volunteers. One man said the work was hard, but he enjoyed being with the other men and felt the local people should do this because it was for them. He had lost a family member to illness and knew the importance of clean water.

Because they lacked electricity and machinery, volunteers carried the pipes, made in Kinshasa, to where they were needed after they were delivered to Lupata. They had to maintain enthusiasm in the volunteers and in the temporary employees hired locally. They also had to train the people to maintain the system and of course, there was no electricity, so the work had to be done without power equipment.

Large numbers of people moved into the village, requiring the Mormons to increase the amount of water coming through. They and their volunteers and employees built 80 water stations located about every one-third of a mile, significantly reducing the walk needed to get to the water. This required about 40 miles of additional trenches.

The project provided temporary employment for some people in the village and gave many of them job skills for the future. Since the work was largely done by local people with guidance and help from the church, they had a personal connection to it and when they drank fresh, clean water, they took pride in what they had accomplished for themselves. Their willingness to do the work had never been an issue—they had only prayed for money for the project, not for people to do the work for them.

An article on this project outlined the four steps involved:

“The Luputa water project included four steps:

1. Four spring sources were captured and combined in one containment box. Water flow is 21 liters per second, providing 1,800 cubic meters, or 479,000 gallons, of water a day.

2. The pipeline trench was dug by hand over 30 kilometers (19 miles) through jungle and savannah to Luputa. It serves four other villages along the way.

3. Trenches for distribution lines were also dug by hand to provide clean water stations about every 500 meters (a third of a mile) in Luputa.

4. Water stations were constructed. Water flow is distributed and controlled at each by a water-committee representative.

(See A prayer for clean water: New well brings new life to DR Congo by Howard Collett)

The water benefits everyone in the local communities, not just the Mormons who live there, as do all of LDS Charities’ work. This branch of the Mormon Church serves people without concern for religion and without proselytizing. It is funded through donations, with 100 percent of all donated money going to the actual projects. Administrative costs are covered by other church funds.

On January 22, 2010, the leadership of the Mormons appealed to their members around the world to assist in the humanitarian work in Haiti. The church has been an active participant in the work being done there, but they expect to be working there for at least a year, and more funding will be needed.

“Our hearts are filled with sadness as we have watched the suffering in Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake. We turn to the example of Jesus Christ, who reached out to “lift up the hands which hang down” and “strengthen the feeble knees.”  We are keenly aware that many in America are dealing with economic challenges caused by the recession. However, we are appealing to members to donate to Church Humanitarian Services as their means allow in order to help our Haitian brothers and sisters.  Many have already contributed and others are anxious to do so.” (First Presidency Statement on Haiti)

Funds for humanitarian work come from a separate department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints known as LDS Philanthropies. Some aspects of this department cover LDS-specific programs. Others are non-sectarian. The Humanitarian Aid program is non-sectarian. Money donated to this fund is used entirely to help others. The Church pays administrative costs out of regular church funds, making it fairly unique in the non-profit world. Help is given to people regardless of religion or even lack of religion. It is a non-sectarian humanitarian effort. No missionary work is involved in the humanitarian efforts.

In Haiti, the church is again partnering with Islamic Relief  and other organizations, including CARE and American Airlines, to bring much needed supplies to Haiti. Supplies include food, medical supplies, tents, water filtration bottles, blankets, newborn kits, wheelchairs, and first aid kits. The church also arranged for LDS volunteer doctors and social workers to go to Haiti to provide treatment to anyone who needed it, regardless of religion or nationality. Nine LDS chapels have been turned into shelters, and some of the doctors are treating those who are staying in those shelters. The shelters were opened to non-LDS people as well as members. Missionaries who are serving there have turned to humanitarian work instead of missionary work.

The Humanitarian Services program is most often in the news for its emergency response program, but it involves many other programs as well. Since 2003, the Church has donated a million dollars per year to the Measles Initiative, a program carried out by American Red Cross, the United Nations World Health Organization, UNICEF, the UN Foundation, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They also provide manpower for this program, helping with canvassing neighborhoods and assisting in clinics.

Humanitarian Services provides volunteer doctors and nurses to train workers in developing nations in neonatal resuscitation training. In some areas, a baby that isn’t breathing is left to die while workers focus their attention on helping the mother. This program has trained more than 80,000 birth assistants in how to save the baby as well. These trained aids are then expected to train others, which allows an area to become self-sufficient, and allows the Church to move on to another area.

The Mormon’s Clean Water Initiative has helped more than 4500 communities obtain clean water. Local community members help with the planning and also assist in the work. They are trained to maintain their own system after it is in place, creating both employment and self-sufficiency.

The Church also assists people in obtaining wheelchairs. They have provided more than 300,000 wheelchairs in 101 countries. The Church provides wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, cushions, and other assistive devices, as requested by other charitable organizations in the areas, and they also provide training to these partner organizations if they are asked to do so.

The Mormons have a vision care program using volunteer medical personnel in twelve countries. They provide materials and training to local organizations and professionals.

In addition to these organized programs, church members world-wide donate time and materials for countless other projects, including making quilts, teddy bears, quiet books for orphanages, hygiene kits, and other projects which are distributed by Humanitarian Aid. Local congregations and auxiliaries volunteer time in their own communities and select projects of specific interest or need on their own. Many congregations have a literacy specialist who assists members and non-members alike in learning to read, learning to speak English, and other literacy needs. Church organizations help members move, care for children, and obtain food. There are a multitude of service programs going on at any given time throughout the world, wherever Mormons live. And of course, countless Church members volunteer in their own communities as individuals.