African Well Fund

And that's (really!) a wrap! This year's Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser is done and dusted, and together we raised over $25,000!

We don't have words to express how grateful we are for your continued support. Thanks to you, we will be able to fully fund ten wells in ten villages in Homa Bay County, Kenya this year!

Stay tuned for more on the project - we can't wait to share all the details!

And again, and again, and again - thank you for all your support, this year and every year!

We're over the moon to announce that this year's Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser has raised over $23,000! We're blown away by your generosity, kindness, and dedication.

Normally, this is where we'd wrap up the festivities, but this year is different. This year, we're hoping to sponsor the construction of ten community wells in Kenya. The total cost of the project? $24,200.

We're $817.90 away from being able to fund the project outright!

So we've decided to extend this year's celebration! Can you help us reach our goal by the end of this week? We need to raise just over $100 a day to put us over the finish line!

https://africanwellfund.org/build-a-well-for-bonos-birthday-2024/

Thank you so much for all that you do!

Have you always wanted to give, but feared your donation would be too small? Do you want an excuse to give up a fancy coffee once a week?

With an average per person cost of ~$5, our projects do a lot with a little. Join us for Give Five Fridays where we start the weekend off right by donating enough to provide one community member in Senegal with clean, safe drinking water! What could be easier? Donate today!

http://www.africanwellfund.org/donate

Do you miss cursive? Have a drawerful of stamps? Long for that personal touch when supporting your favourite charities?

Checks!

While we love each and every donation zinging its way to us through PayPal, we know that electronic donations don't suit everyone!

You are always welcome to send us a check at:

African Well Fund
P.O. Box 9486
Schenectady, NY 12309-0486

Let us see those marvelous designs! Give us a reason to be excited to check our mail!

And if you ever need to remind yourself of the address in the future, it's at:
https://africanwellfund.org/donate/

We're so excited to join the fine folks over at for a chat Sunday, May 12th at 7PM (ET) to talk all things Build a Well for Bono's Birthday and U2.

We'd love to have you along - head over to https://u2conference.com for access to their discord server (and all the fun)!

Friends! We can't believe the response to this year's Build a Well campaign. Bono's big day is still roaring on, and you've already brought us to $5406 raised. A generous donor has offered to match all donations of $64 or more up to a total of $6400. Can you get us over the finish line today?

Donations will help to fund the construction of ten wells in Kenya! What better gift?

DONATE Visit the post for more.

It doesn't have to be this year! Donate today to fund the construction of ten wells in ten villages in Kenya. No amount is too small (or too big)!

https://africanwellfund.org/build-a-well-for-bonos-birthday-2024/

Happy Birthday to the most Bono of Bonos! We'll be posting all day in honor of the great man's 64th birthday! We'll all finally know what happens "when he's 64."

Share your favourite memories - meetings, concerts, beloved songs - in the comments.

And of course, don't forget to donate. Any amount, no matter how small, will go toward building TEN wells in ten villages in Kenya. If you happen to have a little more flexibility in your budget this year, your gift can go even further. A generous supporter has offered to match the first 100 donations of $64 or more!

Let's Build a Well for Bono's Birthday!

https://africanwellfund.org/build-a-well-for-bonos-birthday-2024/

Bono's big day is almost here, and we want to give you a present! Donate $100 or more to fund a clean water project in Kenya, and we'll send a hand-woven bracelet. The bracelets are sourced through Mayan Hands, and crafted by skilled Mayan workers in Guatemala who are paid fair wages for their labor. A win for everyone!

https://africanwellfund.org/donate/

What do you give the man who has everything? We have one idea...

This year, contribute to the 22nd annual 'Build a Well for Bono's Birthday' fundraiser to help fund ten wells in ten villages in Kenya.

But wait, there's more! Donate $64 or more in honour of Bono's 64th birthday, and a generous AWF supporter will match your gift! Blessings upon blessings!

And once you're done donating, don't forget to sign the card:

https://africanwellfund.org/build-a-well-for-bonos-birthday-2024/

This year marks our 22nd annual Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser. With over $340,000 raised during B*W fundraisers alone, that's a lot of wells!

Did you know you can explore our past projects on our website? Take a gander today and see what your donations have accomplished!

https://africanwellfund.org/our-projects/

Each year, as part of our 'Build a Well for Bono's Birthday' campaign, AWF board member and resident artist Lara Wineman designs a custom card to carry all of your best birthday wishes to Bono. Last year's was a real beauty!

Have a look, and don't forget to sign the birthday card for this year's fundraiser once you've donated!

https://africanwellfund.org/build-a-well-for-bonos-birthday-2024/

Last year's 'Build a Well for Bono's Birthday' campaign raised over $20,000 to fund a project in Burkina Faso, and we're so pleased to be able to share an update on that project:

The project is being implemented in the village of Ilawassio in the commune of Dassa. It will provide access to clean water for drinking and for irrigation of a market garden to help diversify the diet and improve nutrition in the village.

Burkina Faso country director, Hubert Badiel explained that technical advisors for the project recommended that drilling wait until the water table is at its lowest from April to May so that the well does not go dry during the hottest months. He reports, "Drilling was carried out on April 4, following a meeting with the women on April 3. Blowing was done last week, and the next step in the coming days is to install the pump and build the polytank support."

We expect another update soon, and we'll be sure to share it with you as soon as it comes!

In the meantime, if you'd like to donate to this year's fundraiser, please click click click through!

https://africanwellfund.org/build-a-well-for-bonos-birthday-2024/

The wonderful One World club at Lakewood High has just completed their *7th* annual Water Walk. This year, they raised $3485 for AWF to fund clean water projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. As always, we're blown away by their passion and steadfastness.

If you're interested in hosting a Water Walk in your own community, drop us a line! We'd be happy to help!

It's here! The 22nd annual 'Build a Well for Bono's Birthday' fundraiser! Join us from May 1st to May 31st as we raise $20,000 to raise funds to construct *ten wells* in ten villages in Homa Bay County, Kenya in honor of Bono's 64th birthday.

And thanks to the incredible generosity of an anonymous donor, we're going to start things off with a bang: They will match the first 100 people to donate $64 or more, up to a total of $6400. Donate today, and double your impact!

Click on through to read more about this year's campaign, and to donate donate donate!

Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday – 2024! Visit the post for more.

As the U2 Sphere shows settle into the memory like a particularly vivid fever dream, we wanted to take a moment to thank the fans who came together to bring water to the desert! The "Merry U2smas" fan party in December raised a massive $1650 to benefit AWF.

Our eternal gratitude to everyone who came out, said hello, and donated to the cause! Keep an eye out for project updates, coming very soon!

For many years, African Well Fund was blessed to have the support of E Art by Elsha Stockseth. Elsha, also known as "the world’s biggest little U2 fan," designed holiday cards each year and donated the proceeds to AWF.

We are thrilled to announce that due to donor generosity, we were able to fund two projects in 2023, the second of which will be dedicated to Elsha's memory. Elsha’s project will be a rainwater harvesting initiative that will provide 50 rainwater tanks for Rwankuba, a community in southwestern Uganda. Currently, community members must currently travel 3 to 4 kilometers across steep terrain to carry water from valley sources. Rainwater harvesting has been identified as a suitable method to boost access to clean water for this community. Work on the project will begin in April 2024, and we can’t wait to share updates as we receive them.

We are incredibly grateful to our donors for making this project possible and to allow us to honor Elsha’s memory.

In Memory of Elsha Stockseth African Well Fund is thrilled to announce that due to the incredible generosity of our donor community, we are able to fund a second project with funds raised in 2023. The project will be dedicated…

Attention, all ye Vegas bound! Join us for a night of U2 merriment at the Hard Rock Café Vegas. Catch up with your fellow fans, enjoy the music courtesy of Velvet Rebel, and take a chance on winning some very cool raffle items to support AWF in its mission to provide clean water and sanitation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Admission is free, and all are welcome!

Did you donate to this year's Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser?

Don't forget to sign B's card! Messages will be printed and worked into one of resident artist Lara Wineman's masterpieces. We'll accept comments through this weekend, ending July 2nd at 11:59 EST!

https://africanwellfund.org/bono-birthday-card-2023/

[Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up immediately - manual approvals are needed on account of spam, but everything is visible to us on the backend. :D]

Bono Birthday Card – 2023 Once you’ve donated, sign Bono’s card below! Looking for the main page for our 21st Annual Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday extravaganza? Head over here.

The 21st annual Build a Well for Bono's Birthday has come to a close, and we are thrilled to announce that we raised $21,405.21 to fund a clean water project in Burkina Faso. The project will provide safe water for cooking, drinking, and even market gardening!

Stay tuned for more details on the project over the coming week, but for now we just want to say thank you, thank you, and thank you again to everyone who contributed. Your faithfulness and commitment blow us away every single year!

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!

This is it, folks! With two days to go in our 21st annual Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser, we are less than five hundred dollars away from our goal of $21,000! Money raised will fund a project which will provide clean water for drinking, cooking, and market gardening in Burkina Faso!

Can you help get us over the finish line today?

https://africanwellfund.org/build-a-well-for-bonos-birthday-2023/

Are you one of the hundreds of generous donors who have already contributed to this year's Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser?

Don't forget to sign the card! Artist Lara Wineman comes up with a beautiful creation each year to house your messages to the man himself. We can't wait to see what she dreams up next!

https://africanwellfund.org/build-a-well-for-bonos-birthday-2023/

A hundred thousand thank yous to the wonders at Lakewood High School! Their annual Water Walk raised over $2,000 for African Well Fund this year!

Funds will go toward a project in Burkina Faso which will provide clean water for drinking, cooking, and market gardening! The kids are all right.

Dubious about this whole online banking thing? Prefer to share your personality and your cash through the beauty of novelty checks?

Don't forget, we have a P.O. Box! And we love mail!

To donate through the post, simply send a check made out to African Well Fund to:

African Well Fund
P.O. Box 9486
Schenectady, NY 12309-0486

Our final update (for now!) from our 2022 project in Senegal, which provided safe water for drinking and gardening to 13,000 community members.

Today Aissatou Diallo shares how this project impacted her life:

"My name is Aissatou Diallo, 51 years old and living in the village of Bida. I testify my satisfaction and joy since the installation of this standpipe in the village; and this feeling is shared by the whole community. Previously, we traveled long distances of more than 300m to draw water from the borehole and it took long with a long. And today, this infrastructure has made water accessible and drinkable for the village and is beneficial for elderly people like me as it is 30m from my home, in addition to also helping to limit the spread of diarrhea in the village.

We are also satisfied with the establishment and training of the members of the management committee, this will allow us to take good care of this precious asset. The project has changed the life of the community of the village of Bida, we thank all the staff of the NGO PanAfricare and its partner AWF for this support."

More from our 2022 project in Senegal, which provided safe water for drinking and gardening to 13,000 community members!

Today we hear from Kadiata Dabel Ba, a member of the market gardening plot of the village of Diamy Galo.

"Since the installation of taps within the perimeter, our agricultural activities have resumed, water is available and accessible at any time. Long before it was a very difficult situation, we encountered huge problems related to water for farming with long queues to access water . With the support of the project, the area can be put to productive use and we can increase in our agricultural production."

We're so thrilled to be able to continue to share updates from our 2022 project in Senegal, which provided safe water for drinking and gardening to 13,000 community members.

This one comes from Ramata Aboubacry Sall, president of the market gardening management committee for the village of Diaba Dekle:

"With the rehabilitation of the network and the installation of taps within the plot, we have water in abundance and flowing with sufficient pressure. Today, this has allowed us to increase the number of crop beds and improve our productivity as we save time to water our plants and complete our household chores quickly. We thank the NGO PanAfricare and its partner AWF for this very important support for us, which has enabled us to be independent."

We're halfway through our 21st annual Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser, and are so excited to give a BIG totals update.

With two weeks left to go, we are 91% of our way to our goal of $21,000! 91%!

So, in the spirit of overachieving, we have a massive ask: Can you help put us over the top this week?

All donations will go to funding a project in Burkina Faso, providing not only safe water for cooking, drinking, and household use, but a reliable source of water for market gardening. This kind of project is utterly transformative, and you can be a part of the transformation.

Donate today!

https://africanwellfund.org/build-a-well-for-bonos-birthday-2023/

Following on from yesterday's post, another testimonial. This time from Kadiata, a beneficiary of our 2022 project in Senegal, which provided safe water for drinking and gardening to 13,000 community members.

"I am Kadiata Diallo, member of the market gardening perimeter of the village of Wendou Boki. We first thank the partner on behalf of the members of this perimeter and are very happy with this project, because the situation was very difficult before. To water our plants, we went to the mini borehole in the village that we shared with households and breeders and then stood in line. The watering work was tedious, we had to take buckets, go to the borehole to fill them and come back again to water.
These new installations in the perimeter have made our task easier, we can water easily from morning to evening, which was not possible in past seasons, in addition to the training of committee members, we are now autonomous and able to manage infrastructure."