Clean Water South Sudan Project #63980

Repair a Broken Well in South Sudan

by Water for South Sudan, Inc

Project Report | Sep 24, 2026
Fall 2026 Report

By Elissa Rowley | Director of Development and Communications

Changing Habits, One Household at a Time

For 12 years, Suzan Wol, WFSS’s Hygiene Trainer Lead, has helped communities in South Sudan turn hygiene education into lasting habits. From handwashing and sanitation to water safety and menstrual health, Suzan trains school hygiene clubs, household promoters, and Water Management Committees on practices that protect health.

One of the clearest examples of her impact began with a 10-year-old student. After learning about hygiene and latrine use through her school’s hygiene club, the student brought those lessons home.

Her family built a temporary latrine and began practicing handwashing, showing how one person’s knowledge can influence an entire household.

For Suzan, success isn’t measured only by how many people attend a training. It’s measured by what happens afterward: whether people continue practicing what they learned and share those habits with others. A well provides water, but education helps communities turn water into healthier daily lives.

Read Suzan's story

The Work After the Well

A new well is a beginning, not an ending.

Once clean water starts flowing, the work of keeping it flowing begins. Water Management Committees help communities manage their water sources, trained mechanics provide local repair support, and communities learn how to plan for the maintenance and supplies their wells will need over time.

But reliable water can support more than drinking and hygiene. For women and families, access to water can also make it possible to tend kitchen gardens. Growing vegetables that can supplement household meals and contribute to food security within the community. Water becomes part of the daily work of growing, caring for, and sustaining a household.

That work may not be as visible as a drilling rig arriving in a village. But it is what helps turn a new water point into something that supports community life long after the drilling team leaves.

For WFSS, sustainability means building that capacity alongside the infrastructure itself. Communities are not simply receiving a well; local leaders and Water Management Committees are actively managing the water system, planning for its needs and helping sustain access to water over time. This active management helps ensure that water can continue to support healthier households, productive work, and local leadership for years to come.

This season, as WFSS prepares to drill new wells, rehabilitate existing water systems, and improve sanitation facilities, that same approach will continue: reliable water that works today, and supported by local capacity to manage and sustain them tomorrow.

Before the First Drop

Water for South Sudan is preparing today for another season of reliable water.

There is a moment, before teams head into the field, when waiting is no longer an option. The plans have been made. The season is approaching. And the people who will spend the coming months on the road, in communities, and in the field begin preparing themselves for what lies ahead.

The WFSS team in South Sudan knows the work will not always go according to plan. They know the dry season will not last forever. And they know that somewhere, a community is waiting for them to arrive.

Reliable water doesn’t begin when drilling starts, it begins months earlier, through preparation. Long before the first project is underway, our South Sudan team is planning how people, equipment, and supplies will reach each community, ordering materials, preparing equipment, and coordinating with local leadership.

Help us reach $85,000 by Wednesday, October 7th!

Your support will help Water for South Sudan work alongside communities to drill new wells, restore existing water sources, and provide the training needed to keep clean water flowing for years to come. Your support not only helps provide safe water and improve health, but also empowers communities across South Sudan to take leadership in managing and sustaining their water sources for years to come.

Help Launch the Operating Season Today

What We're Doing

This season, your partnership will help make the following projects possible:

20 New Wells
40 Well Rehabilitations
4 New Water Yards
5 Institutional Latrines
3 Water-yard Rehabilitations

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May 26, 2026
Spring 2026 Project Report

By Elissa A. Rowley | Director of Development and Communications

Prince of Peace Students Celebrating

Our 12th Year of Iron Giraffe Challenge

Water for South Sudan’s (WFSS) Iron Giraffe Challenge (IGC) is a student-led school fundraising program that brings students and teachers together to support clean water projects in South Sudan. This year, 307 schools from around the world raised more than $445,000—with the grand prize awarded to Prince of Peace Catholic School in Taylors, South Carolina, who earned a special visit from our founder, Salva Dut.

Congrats again to Prince of Peace!

Even more inspiring, since the challenge began, participants have helped raise more than $4.5 million to bring clean water, health, hope, and peace to communities in need.

We are so proud of the students and their teachers for turning compassion into action and making a lasting impact for communities in South Sudan.

With Support from the Netri Foundation

Thanks to a generous partnership with the Netri Foundation, WFSS is bringing safe water to 10 rural villages across Warrap, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and Western Bahr el Ghazal States — reaching more than 5,000 people who currently lack reliable access.

Every project starts with community. Before drilling begins, WFSS meets with village elders and residents to build local ownership from the ground up. Each new well is paired with a trained Water Management Committee to keep it running long after our team leaves.

The impact goes beyond water. Safer sources mean better health, less time spent on long collection walks, and more time for school, farming, and family — building a more stable foundation for everyday life.

Read the full story

The Crisis No One Is Talking About

While the world's attention shifts from one headline to the next, a quieter crisis continues to unfold in South Sudan, largely unseen and rarely discussed.

Following an attack that forced them from their homes, 1,269 households — approximately 7,614 people, fled everything they knew and are now living as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Twic County.

This isn't a story trending in the news. It's real life, happening right now, far from the spotlight.

When our team arrived in Twic, we found 5 broken wells and families relying on river water to survive. We knew something had to change, and we're taking action.

From now until June 15th, we are raising $15,000 to bring safe water, stability, and dignity to these families. Every gift directly supports the people on the ground in Twic County.

Learn more about the crisis in South Sudan and how you can help.

Clean Water Is More Than a Resource

In South Sudan, access to safe water creates change that goes far beyond quenching thirst. Through wells, hygiene programs, and deep partnership with local communities, WFSS works alongside the people we serve to build lasting impact.

Projects We Are Currently Working On
+ Rehabilitating 5 Existing Boreholes
+ Drilling 2 New WellsDrilling 2 New Wells
+ Training 14 Hygiene Promoters
+ Training 94 Water Management Volunteers

Netri Foundation Well

IDP Camp

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Nov 26, 2025
Water for South Sudan News

By Elissa A. Rowley | Director of Development and Communications

In South Sudan, a new season of water is about to begin. As our team gears up for the next operating season, we’re gathering the tools, parts, and supplies to construct sustainable clean water projects for communities in South Sudan. Your support powers the season ahead—because every clean water project begins with you.

And it's not just our team preparing to make an impact. Around the world, elementary, middle school, and high school students are organizing and getting ready for the 2026 Iron Giraffe Challenge, and last year’s Grand Prize winner just showed what student-powered impact looks like in action.

Here's how you're launching another season of change.

Power the Season

Our Impact So Far:
650+ wells drilled | 500,000+ people served

For too many years, families in the rural South Sudan community of Nyoric relied on shallow wells, ponds, rivers, and streams for drinking water, often tainted by windblown debris, animals, and a wide range of waterborne bacteria. Each sip carried the risk of illness.

“We knew the water was making us sick,” recalled one mother. “But the walk to a clean source took hours. We had no other choice.”

That changed when generous supporters like you made it possible for WFSS to drill a new well right in the heart of the community pictured above. Today, families have access to clean, safe water, and as a result, everyone is healthier. Women and girls—once burdened by the long, often dangerous journey to find and haul water day in and day out—are reclaiming time for school, income-producing work, cultivating kitchen gardens, and even moments of rest.

Yet even as this one community celebrates, countless families across South Sudan still face the same daily struggle to find clean water.

Your gift helps ensure our crews have the gear, training, and supplies they need to hit the ground running in December.

Together, we’ll launch another powerful season of drilling, maintenance, hygiene education, and transformation—bringing clean water, healthy hygiene habits, and dignity to more people in South Sudan.

Champions for Change:
Vieja Valley Students Welcome Salva Dut

Last year, the sixth graders of Vieja Valley Elementary in California raised nearly $5,000 for clean water—and won the Grand Prize drawing of a visit from Salva. This month, our team visited their school to celebrate their incredible achievement and honor teachers Amanda Olson and Alexa Mannion, who helped make it possible.

Their passion has sparked new connections. Because of Salva’s visit, students from Santa Barbara Middle School's Teen Press program interviewed Salva for their school newspaper.

See photos and full coverage of the visits on the WFSS blog.

Registration for the 2026 Iron Giraffe Challenge is now open! It’s your school’s turn to make an impact and help bring clean water to South Sudan.

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From students coming together to effect change in the world to supporters powering a new operating season, every action moves us closer to a future where clean water flows for all in South Sudan. Thank you for turning hope into lasting change—one well at a time.

The WFSS Team

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