Change Study: Water is Basic

Right from the start, Water Is Basic did things a little differently. They asked rather than told.

Many NGOs come to countries with an agenda set long before they ever arrive. They make assumptions about what needs to be done, how it should be done and who should do it.

A team from Irving Bible Church took the time to ask the people of Southern Sudan what they thought they needed most, then devised a way to make it happen. Water Is Basic is the result of that question.

But taking it a step further, everything done in Sudan with Water Is Basic is done by the Sudanese. There are no white guys back in Dallas choosing which villages get wells, no trips needed from the U.S. to dig or do maintenance. Anything involving the digging and maintenance of a village well is all done by the Sudanese team of Water Is Basic.

"No non-Southern Sudanese person will ever drill a well, never do anything with the money, determine where a well goes, anything like that," said Steven Harrell, the director for WIB. "It's not my job to dig wells in Southern Sudan. My job is to empower people there to dig wells. I supply the funding, training, encouragement and support and assure them there's someone else on the other side of the ocean who cares and wants to help them fix the problem themselves."

Water is something we take for granted in America. Turn the tap and there it is. And we use far more of it than we need - 100 gallons per person per day. Compare that to the five gallons per day most families have in Sudan.

This is a concept easy to grasp by most people. Water is a necessity for all humans, but a scarce resource in parts of the world. The cost of drilling a well that benefits an entire village is just $3000, a number also easy to grasp. It's big, but not out of reach.

The simplicity of the concept and the low barrier to success have combined to make WIB's primary (and unique) fundraising arm middle and high school students. Schools around the Dallas area have chapters dedicated to raising money for wells and maintenance. Harrell has continued to help students organize fund-raisers, branching outside the Dallas area to other schools and relishes the opportunity to work with his unique bunch of fund-raisers.

"I look at my job as one of empowering people to participate in this ministry," Harrell said. "No one else gives an 11th grader the chance to change the world. By raising just a little money, they can see an actual difference made."

Harrell is working on creating new funding avenues for WIB, including a 5K race this year and partnering with non-high school groups.

Charity Navigator exists to help people make wise choices in determining which organizations to make donations to. Among the statistics smart donors keep an eye on is the percentage of funds spent on administrative and fundraising costs.

Thanks to its unique set up, 100 percent of the donations given to Water Is Basic go toward drilling and maintaining wells in Southern Sudan. Administrative costs - including Harrell's salary - are covered as part of the IBC missions budget and funded by donations to the church.

"It's certainly not the typical sort of arrangement," said Harrell (pictured here in October in Sudan). "IBC doesn't give WIB any money, which allows us to be totally separate. They provide accounting for the money that comes in and that's about it."