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Water for Life
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Alice Mueni collects water near her Kenyan village while carrying her son, Patrick, on her back.
Africa
Build Wells and Bless Generations
Cross Catholic Outreach began partnering with ministries in Africa in 2003 to bring life-changing poverty relief efforts, like building wells and bringing clean water to those, in need. Since 2019, new water and sanitation systems have transformed the lives of over 1 million young girls and women who collect water and their families.
The new wells are much closer to their homes, making the journey safer and reducing the time and distance it used to take them to collect the water. With water access closer to home, young girls do not have to choose between collecting water and attending school or doing homework.
Families now have safe, clean water to drink and use for cooking, so they no longer get sick from drinking contaminated water. Girls like Miriam in Zambia have more energy because now they don’t have to walk such long distances for water. Miriam is also healthier because she is not suffering from the effects of drinking contaminated water.
Mothers like Francisca in Kenya have more time to spend with their families and focus on their businesses. Before, she spent most of her time fetching water. Now, she produces enough from her farm to feed her family with the extra harvest, and she has enough water for her livestock. Francisca can also confidently send her children to the water point, knowing the water is close, clean and safe.
Join us today in this important mission of mercy to bless families with nearly 200 water and sanitation systems and other life-changing interventions. Together, we can bring safe, clean water and sanitation to almost 600,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa.
Learn how water is the beginning of health and hope for families in need.
A gift of $5,002 can bless 406 people with clean, safe water for life. Join us as we build wells and bless generations!
Our Strategy
Cross Catholic Outreach is collaborating with local ministry partners in sub-Saharan Africa to build 197 water and sanitation systems in remote communities. This will include a combination of hand-pump wells, solar-powered systems and elephant-resistant water towers, along with ventilated, improved pit latrines. With your help, we’ve already brought clean water to over a million people, and we can keep the momentum going by bringing clean, safe water, as well as health care and spiritual guidance to hundreds of thousands of people this year!
Water
Build 197 community water systems and sanitation systems tailored to local needs.
Health
Train families in sanitation and hygiene practices, build a rural health center, offer mobile medical clinics, and provide medical supplies
Spiritual Outreach
Provide family Bibles, catechism books and workshops to strengthen evangelization and promote peace.
A Community Empowered by Clean Water
Meet Jacinta
Jacinta is a leader in her community in the Diocese of Machakos, Kenya. She is also the mother of two children. Jacinta knows firsthand the struggles women and girls face when they have to travel long distances for water. She remembers seeing how difficult it was for older women to make the round-trip.
In 2021, Cross Catholic Outreach partnered with Good Samaritan Water Sanitation Services to bring clean water to her village.
The community united to plant trees, cultivate a garden, and harvest maize to help those in need. The well has also strengthened many people’s faith, as they now have enough time to attend Mass regularly.
Jacinta is grateful for these changes and has a message for friends like you: “May the Lord continue to bless Cross Catholic Outreach and give you more energy to serve the very poor.”
Expanding the Gift of Clean Water
Our ministry partners include Good Samaritan Water Sanitation Services and the Diocese of Nyahururu in Kenya, the Diocese of Wa in Ghana, the Diocese of Karonga and the Diocese of Mzuzu in Malawi, Daughters of the Redeemer and the Diocese of Chipata in Zambia, and Challenge Ministries in Eswatini.
We have expanded our Water for Life campaign to include new partners in Zambia: Archdiocese of Ndola, Diocese of Solwezi and the Religious Sisters of the Holy Spirit.
This year, we are building 197 water and sanitation systems, bringing clean water to nearly 600,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa. We will also provide medical supplies and medicines to Eswatini.
Transform Futures for Women and Girls
Contaminated water harms entire communities, but women and girls suffer the most because they are typically responsible for the difficult task of water collection. It can take up to eight hours to collect, boil and cool a single bucket of water, leaving little time for school, family and friends, economic activities or Mass.
Your gift will free women and girls from these hardships, allowing them to embrace the joy God intends for their lives. You can fill their cups with life-giving compassion!
Bless the Children of St. Theresia Academy
Kyua Village is part of a new parish in the Diocese of Machakos in Kenya. A church is being built to accommodate the village and its pastor. However, the people of Kyua hope that a well will also be drilled there someday.
St. Theresia Academy, a K-8 boarding school, sits behind the property of the new parish. Without a nearby water source, the school relies on a water truck and pays for water for the children to drink and wash themselves, as well as to cook the children’s meals and clean the classrooms and boarding rooms A new borehole near the church would be close enough to the school to make a significant difference. It would allow the school to use the money it spends on water for other needs to benefit the children.
Meet Our Ministry Partners
KENYA
Diocese of Malindi
Clean Water Creates Opportunities
Bishop Lagho believes that water is a vital resource for child welfare, particularly for girls. Access to clean water plays a key role in keeping girls in school, preventing domestic abuse linked to household chores, and providing girls with a safe space to grow. Clean water also opens opportunities for education in hygiene and sanitation, promoting preventive health care and helping families save money on future medical expenses.
MALAWI
Diocese of Karonga
Sharing Water Is a Noble Cause
“It is a noble cause to share water with others.” Bishop Mtumbuka encourages prayers for those in his diocese. He sees the struggle of his people as they travel long distances to fetch water that often carries disease. He believes that this burden must be lifted through the actions of faithful Catholics who, through prayer, hear God’s call to love the poor.
ZAMBIA
Diocese of Chipata
Water Affects Everything
“The need for water will be with us for quite a while. We cannot satisfy all the thirst that is there, but we do our best as a diocese. Water affects everything — issues of health, issues even of spirituality.” Bishop Lungu knows the struggle of the poorest in his region and has looked for ways to ease their pain for many years. Despite the great task before him, he is hopeful and expresses deep gratitude for those who have already helped bring water to his people.
Bless Generations to Come
Access to clean water is an answer to prayer for families who have long relied on distant and contaminated sources — and you can play a crucial role in this important work of mercy. Join us in supporting dioceses, religious communities and other ministries in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia as they build life-sustaining wells while also helping a ministry in Eswatini provide medicines and medical supplies.
By supporting this powerful mission, you will make the Gospel’s message known and give African families the tools they need to work toward the abundant life Christ promises.
Download the Proposal
Donations from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred through June 30, 2026, 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.