How much does a well cost?
Can I volunteer overseas with WaterCan?
Can I directly fund a specific project?
How much money is spent on WaterCan’s administration?
How does WaterCan leverage my donation?
Why does WaterCan only work in eastern Africa?
Can I request a project to be completed in a specific community?How does WaterCan ensure that donated funds are properly used overseas?
WaterCan’s emphasis on supporting water and sanitation projects that cater to the unique needs of each individual community means that determining an exact cost to be applied in all cases is difficult. Many factors that affect cost fluctuate from one community to the next, including: size and location of the community, type of water and sanitation facilities deemed appropriate, technology used, labor costs, availability of materials and transportation etc.
While wells are indeed a common feature of WaterCan projects, we focus on selecting locally appropriate water systems that might include other solutions such as protected springs, rainwater catchment tanks or perhaps the expansion of piped systems in slum areas.
It’s also important to remember that WaterCan’s projects do not focus merely on water systems, but rather incorporate three inter-related elements—water supply, basic sanitation and hygiene education—which together have an even further reaching impact.
Rather than focusing on the cost of a project or a particular water system, WaterCan believes that cost per beneficiary is a more useful figure to consider. Based on our extensive experience working overseas, on average it costs $25 to provide one person with basic water, sanitation and hygiene education services for life.
Can I volunteer overseas with WaterCan?
WaterCan is not a volunteer-sending organization. We work exclusively with indigenous partner organizations in keeping with our belief that supporting the development of local/ indigenous human resources lies at the very heart of effective international development. To contact Canadian volunteer sending organizations please visit the Canadian Council for International Cooperation website.
Can I directly fund a specific project?
To help contain our administrative and fundraising costs WaterCan is pleased to assign gifts of $5000 and more to specific projects. Please contact us with further enquiries.
How much money is spent on WaterCan’s administration?
In the fiscal year 2009-2010 WaterCan spent a total of 17.6% of its total expenditures on administration and fundraising costs. 82.4% was spent on programming, which includes both international project activities and domestic public engagement initiatives.
How does WaterCan leverage my donation?
The Canadian government through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) allows you to leverage your donation through 3:1 matching grants on pre-approved projects. WaterCan is also able to match donations with non-CIDA resources. Contact us for further information.
Why does WaterCan only work in eastern Africa?
Starting in the mid-1990s, WaterCan adopted an approach of focusing efforts in a few countries at a time in order to make the most effective use of its limited resources. Currently, WaterCan works in four countries in eastern Africa—Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda—all identified by the United Nations as among the poorest countries in the world.
These countries all have a significant proportion of their population without access to safe water and proper sanitation, and all are lagging in meeting the Millennium Development Goal targets of halving the number of people without access to clean water and basic sanitation by 2015. The regional focus also provides the added benefit of more efficient and cost-effective program management.
Can I request a project to be completed in a specific community?
WaterCan does not accept unsolicited proposals for projects. Beneficiary communities are selected exclusively by indigenous partner organizations in collaboration with WaterCan’s program staff on the basis of need, feasibility and community consultations.
How does WaterCan ensure that donated funds are properly used overseas?
In order to carry out our mandate, WaterCan needs to ensure that all funds entrusted to our charity are used in the most efficient, effective and transparent manner possible. There is no room for fraud and corruption, which divert resources elsewhere from their intended use.
All local African partner organizations, service providers, and individuals working with WaterCan must subscribe to WaterCan’s "zero-tolerance" anti-corruption policy. If it has been determined, through an investigation performed by WaterCan personnel or its representatives, that fraudulent, corrupt, collusive or coercive actions have occurred in projects financed through our grants, we shall enforce a range of sanctions in accordance with applicable WaterCan rules, regulations and legal instruments.
Please never hesitate to contact the WaterCan national office by email at info@watercan.com or toll-free at 1.800.370.5658. We promise to respond personally and promptly.
