Turkish aid organizations deliver clean water to 20 million


Date posted: August 22, 2013

NİHAT POLAT, İSTANBUL

As Turkey continues to help struggling African countries, many Turkish aid foundations are working to resolve Africa’s long-standing water supply problem by digging wells in countries across the continent. So far more than 20 million people in Africa and elsewhere have gained access to clean water thanks to the humanitarian work of Turkish aid foundations.

Drought, a common occurrence in Africa, is one of the main causes of the continent’s chronic shortage of potable water. According to the UN Development Programme, 4,900 children die every day worldwide due sanitation problems and contaminated water.

Through their aid campaigns in African countries, Turkish foundations have dug thousands of wells in Africa.

The aid foundations have said that they have been working on well projects in Africa for many years in a bid to prevent deaths caused by water stress in the region.

A water well takes between three and six months to sink and costs between $3,000 and $80,000, depending on the region and the depth of the well.

So far, the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) has drilled 2,512 wells in Africa while the Cansuyu Solidarity and Charity Foundation has drilled 695 wells in Asian and African countries. The Turkish foundation Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) has drilled 451 water wells and the Deniz Feneri (Lighthouse) association has drilled 152. As a result of these efforts, a total of 20 million people in Africa and Asia now have access to clean drinking water.

The İHH has drilled water wells in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Kashmir and Kyrgyzstan.

The Cansuyu foundation has drilled wells in Somalia, Niger, Ethiopia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Liberia, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.

Kimse Yok Mu has drilled wells in Somalia, Niger, Sudan, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Chad and Pakistan, but the foundation’s goal is to drill wells in over 20 African countries.

Donors to these foundations can choose to cover the full expense of a water well or just a part of the cost. Turkish women have been organizing fundraisers to collect money for water projects in Africa.

Source: Today's Zaman , August 21, 2013

Tags: | |


Related News

Erdogan pushes further to replace Gülen schools in Africa to spread his ideology

A Turkish state-run educational foundation has signed memorandums of understanding with 26 countries in Africa to take control of schools belonging to people from the faith-based Gülen movement. The Maarif Foundation is claimed to have been established to spread President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Islamist ideology abroad.

Kimse Yok Mu repeatedly prevented from offering aid in Palestine

İsmail Cingöz, president of the Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu, has said that the İstanbul Provincial Directorate of Associations and the İstanbul Governor’s Office have rejected 12 proposals for aid campaigns Kimse Yok Mu was planning to conduct in Palestine over the past year.

Kimse Yok Mu officials extend helping hand to Syrian refugees

The Şanlıurfa office of Kimse Yok Mu, a Turkish charity, in cooperation with the Şanlıurfa Governor’s Office, provided food, clothing, blankets and cleaning supplies to 200 Syrian families living in the town of Akçakale on Dec. 21. More than 120,000 Syrian refugees are taking shelter in camps in southern Turkey and more are expected to […]

As Gulen movement contracts in Africa, worry over who will fill the vacuum

Abdallah Kheri, who in Kenya heads the Islamic Research and Education Trust, worries that shuttering Gulen schools and other institutions could leave a vacuum that the so-called Islamic State will seek to fill. “Closing down the institutions would definitely grant gains to the fundamentalists,” he said. In Kenya, the Rev. Wilybard Lagho, Mombasa Roman Catholic diocese vicar general, said he would lament the demise of Gulen schools.

Nigerian govt reacts to planned deportation of 1000 Turks

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama has refuted reports that 1,000 Turks will be extradited from Nigeria on the request of the Turkish government. Onyeama assured all foreign nationals, including Turks resident in the country legally, of full protection under Nigerian and International Laws.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticizes Cabinet ruling on Kimse Yok Mu

Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the cabinet ruling that cut the Kimse Yok Mu aid organization’s ability to collect donation without state approval.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Conference on Hizmet movement to take place in Senegal

Ahmet Şık’s book and Ergenekon’s media campaign (2)

Young Peace Ambassadors Academy 2015 Graduation Ceremony

‘Escape from Turkey’ recounts stories of post-coup crackdown victims fleeing Turkey

Former Filipino deputy: Great that we have Kimse Yok Mu

Turkish-Jordanian relations discussed in Istanbul

Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet Movement by Ori Soltes, Georgetown University

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News