When was Healing Waters founded?
Healing Waters International was officially incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in February 2002.
Where are the Healing Waters headquarters located?
Golden, Colorado.
What is the Mission of Healing Waters?
Healing Waters International works to reduce water-related illness and death in developing countries by building self-sustaining projects that make safe drinking water accessible to the poor and empower the local churches to bring physical, social and spiritual healing to their communities.
What are the core values of Healing Waters?
Jesus-Inspired
They are committed to honor Jesus in all they do. They commit to partner with followers of Jesus around the world to respond to His call to serve the poor and the suffering, and to bring healing where there is sickness, brokenness and division.
Sustainability
They are committed to developing projects that are sustainable, not just financially but in all aspects of ongoing operations. They will partner with local, in-country organizations as much as possible to ensure that projects are technically and culturally appropriate and will be sustainable over time.
Integrity
They commit to doing all they do with the utmost integrity. They expect and demand integrity from everyone associated with their work, from their employees and board members to their church partners. They want everyone with whom they work to know that they can trust Healing Waters. They will do what they say they're going to do and won't make promises unless they believe they can keep them.
Accountability
They commit to being accountable to both God and man for the resources with which they are entrusted. They are accountable to both the donors and partners with whom they work and strive to be transparent in all they do. They adhere to the highest industry standards by employing accepted accounting principles and regular external audits. They endeavor to keep their administrative and fundraising costs as low as possible while simultaneously providing adequate support for their mission-critical objectives. They strive to communicate with their donors through timely and consistent updates on how the donors' funds are being used.
Accessibility
They commit to delivering projects that are economically accessible to as many people as possible in the communities in which they serve. Their projects will provide equal access to all in the community regardless of race, beliefs, tribe, social status or any other classification. Just as Jesus ministered to all people without discrimination, so will Healing Waters.
Unity
They commit to follow Jesus' command to be peacemakers and to work to fulfill His prayer that His followers be united as one. They wish to foster reconciliation within the church and to create unity in spirit by encouraging followers of Jesus to focus on what they have in common in their faith rather than those things on which they disagree.
How does Healing Waters work?
Healing Waters creates projects that are sustainable over long periods of time in communities where resources are in short supply. They do this by:
1. Partnering with local churches in water distribution and related ministry endeavors. A fundamental goal of the church is to serve others and help those who are poor, sick, or in need. For this reason, churches have an inherent interest in making a project such as a water purification system succeed.
• A church operates on the foundation of an ethical code that is critical for accountability and the long-term success of the project.
• Churches are typically more stable over time than government institutions, especially in developing countries where governments transition frequently.
• The community needs to understand that the water system is a ministry and not a bureaucracy, and that the money being charged for the water will not end up lining someone's pockets.
• Churches function as community gathering places.
• A church offers a good infrastructure for organizing people to manage a project.
2. Providing clean water at a very affordable price.
The majority of the initial cost of the system is covered by a donor or group of donors. The donor can be a church, business, an individual, a civic organization, etc. The host church (where the system is installed) is required to cover a small percentage of the cost, helping to ensure their long-term dedication to the project. Once the system is operational, the host charges a very low price for the water in order to cover the cost of maintenance on the system and to start community development projects.
This price is typically less than one-fourth of the price of water sold in stores, making the water affordable to many people who previously could not afford to buy bottled water. Even those who could afford to buy water in the stores benefit from having more of their limited resources available to pay for other living expenses.
3. Creating demand by offering a high quality product. The systems that Healing Waters builds produce water with a very high level of purity — even better than what many bottled water companies sell. All systems are required to have the water tested regularly to verify the purity.
Rather than simply disinfecting the water, Healing Waters systems go several steps farther to produce high-quality, great-tasting drinking water that is desirable to the people of the community. When people in the community drink the water, they are immediately able to taste the quality and therefore appreciate its value. This creates a demand for the water and a loyal "customer base" that a more rudimentary system would not be able to establish, and further ensures the long-term success of the project.
4. Offering water free to a local school. Even if families purchase purified drinking water for their children to drink at home, it is pointless if the children are drinking water from the tap while they are attending school during the day. Most schools in developing countries are too poor to be able to provide textbooks for students, much less purified drinking water.
Every partner hosting a water purification system throughout Healing Waters is required to offer drinking water to a local school. They are also encouraged to donate water to other charities that serve the community such as clinics, hospitals, orphanages, etc.
Because the water system is financially sustained by the people in the community who buy the water, these customers are the ones who make it possible to provide this service to the children of their own community. Offering this service to local schools and orphanages helps get the entire community on board with the project and creates a unified sense of purpose.
What is the nature of the partnership between Compassion and Healing Waters?
Compassion and Healing Waters established a partnership to help solve water-related health issues faced by children sponsored through Compassion. Partnering with Healing Waters helps make clean water affordable to the families of Compassion children.
In addition, every Healing Waters project that is located at a church with a Compassion program donates clean water to the Compassion project for consumption by the children.
By partnering with Compassion, Healing Waters has access to the Compassion network of church partners. This helps Healing Waters to identify project partners for their water systems with a high level of integrity, professionalism and accountability.
What is the technology behind the systems used by Healing Waters?
Only through a combination of technologies can water be treated in a way that addresses all aspects of purification and also results in great tasting water. Healing Waters purification systems utilize most or all of the following different technologies to filter and purify the water:
1. Sand filtration
2. Carbon filtration
3. Softening
4. 5 micron sediment filtration
5. Reverse osmosis
6. Ozone or chlorine disinfection
7. Ultraviolet disinfection
The systems are designed to require as little maintenance as possible. Most maintenance procedures occur automatically with no human intervention required. When maintenance is required or repairs must be made, a Healing Waters representative is on hand to work with the local church to resolve problems and keep the system running efficiently.
The components of a Healing Waters purification system are standard water purification components that are readily available, even in developing countries. This enables quick and easy repair and replacement of components, minimizing cost and downtime.
What is the cost of sponsoring a system?
The cost of sponsoring a complete system ranges from $35,000 to $55,000, depending on the country where it is installed. Current sponsorship prices are $35,000 in Mexico, $40,000 in Guatemala and $55,000 in the Dominican Republic. The cost of the system is higher in the Dominican Republic due to the ongoing problem of electrical blackouts and the necessity of using reverse osmosis to treat the water. However, projects in the Dominican Republic distribute more water and serve more people on average than projects in other countries.
When money is given to Compassion International for Healing Waters, how is the money distributed?
Donors' contributions are pooled together to equal the cost to purchase an entire water filtration system then this money is sent directly to Compassion's country offices to buy the system. This ensures excellent integrity in distribution of funds.
What percentage of donor contributions is sent to Compassion's country offices?
80%. At Compassion we take stewardship seriously. Charity Navigator, a watch-dog group for financial stewardship among nonprofits, awarded Compassion its highest rating for the sixth consecutive year. That's why more than 80 percent of all our expenditures go to program activities for our children. It's also why we insist on:
• Annual audits to show exactly how our income is used
• Regular audits for our country offices
• Program audits to evaluate the effectiveness of our child development programs in the lives of children.
Go to the financial section of our Web site for more information.
What does the system sponsorship cover?
Sponsoring a system covers the cost of building a water system capable of purifying at least 5,000 gallons per day, depending on the amount of raw water and electricity that is available. Systems use a variety of technologies based on the condition of the raw water.
Healing Waters systems have used the following technologies: sand filtration, carbon filtration, softening, reverse osmosis, ozone or chlorine disinfection, and ultraviolet light. The sponsorship price includes plumbing, electrical connections, storage tanks, and all the necessary pumps, valves and pressure gauges. It also includes money that goes toward the construction of the distribution point and the room that houses the purification equipment.
The price also includes start-up expenses such as the distribution of free sample bottles to the community, inauguration and promotion expenses, and equipment that the church will use to monitor the ongoing quality of the water.
How good is the water that comes out of these systems, and how do you guarantee that quality over time?
Water that is produced by a Healing Waters' system is as pure as bottled waters sold in the United States. Samples are collected from each project monthly ensuring that the water produced by the system is always pure.
Is the sponsor required to continue putting money into the system after the initial installation?
No. Healing Waters International designs systems to be 100% self-sustaining. All maintenance and repair costs associated with the project are paid for out of the revenue the system generates.
From time to time a project might have special needs such as a generator to provide power to the system when there's no power in the community. In such cases sponsors may choose to provide additional funding, but are under no obligation to do so.
Is the system too complicated for partners in developing countries to maintain?
Healing Waters systems are designed to be extremely user-friendly and easy to operate. The systems are almost 100% automatic, with little human intervention necessary on a day-to-day basis. Healing Waters provides ongoing maintenance to the projects on behalf of system partners in return for a percentage of the net revenue.
|
