Lent Appeal: Jars of Change
The power of clean water
If you were able to support our Jars of Change appeal this Lent, thank you!
How to pay in your fundraising
Please don't forget to send us any donations or money you raised.
Pay in your fundraising online
If you'd rather pay by cheque, please make it payable to WaterAid and send it, along with a completed donation form (PDF), to:
Freepost RTXT-JECK-XBKU, WaterAid, York House, Wetherby Road, Long Marston, YORK YO26 7NH
You can also give our Supporter Care team a call on 020 7793 4594 – they'll be happy to help!
Jars of Change 2023
No one should have to sacrifice their future because of a lack of clean water. But around the world, millions of girls have no choice but to do just that.
In communities without clean water, it’s often girls who walk for hours to fetch water, instead of going to school. And it’s girls who are expected to stay at home and care for relatives who fall ill after drinking dirty water.
Meet Seido
16-year-old Seido has never been to school. She’d love the chance to learn – but that’s a privilege she’s given to her younger siblings. Instead, she spends all day, every day, fetching the water her family needs to survive.
The closest source to her home in Oromia, central Ethiopia, is a muddy pool five hours’ walk away. After making the exhausting round trip, there’s little time for anything else – let alone education.
The water she fetches is dirty and filled with parasites. Diseases like dysentery are common, but for Seido and her family, there's simply no other option.
With clean water on tap, Malala’s future is looking bright
Like Seido, Malala – who lives in the village of Ambohimanatrika, Madagascar – is also 16, and her family's oldest child.
But that’s where the similarities end.
"When I’m older I would love to be a teacher. Seeing children makes me happy."
Malala’s main focus right now is her education. Her favourite subject is maths, and she’s studying hard to achieve her ambitions of becoming a teacher.
"Living in the village like this is like we’re all siblings"
When she's not busy learning, Malala enjoys helping her mother cook, playing football, and – like teenagers the world over – simply spending time with her friends.
"I honestly don’t think about fetching water anymore. I just fetch it at our tap after school."
Whenever she needs a drink, or to wash her hands, she just goes to the nearest community tap – they're dotted throughout the village, so nobody’s ever far from fresh, clean water.
It hasn't always been this way.
Until recently, Malala and her sisters had to fetch water for their family, struggling to carry full containers along the steep path. Boiling the dirty, algae-filled water wasn’t enough to stop them getting ill and missing precious days of school.
We worked with Malala’s community to bring a reliable supply of clean water to Ambohimanatrika – and with your support, we'll help more girls like Malala transform their futures too.
There were times I fell down while fetching water. I hurt my leg.
How it works
Encourage your members to give something up for Lent, then collect the money they save and donate it to WaterAid.
You can use our all-age talk to inspire your group, as well as our Sunday school and youth activities to engage your youngest members.
We've also put together some suggested fundraising ideas if you'd rather host an event, like a pancake sale or Lent lunch, or support our work in a different way instead!
What to give up
Think of something you use or buy often: a cup of coffee or a chocolate bar a day quickly adds up, and the money you save can make a real difference to the lives of girls like Seido and Malala.
You might want to give up a habit instead, like buying bottled water or taking long baths, or even start a new one – such as volunteering in your local community, or choosing to walk more. Then every time you succeed, pop some small change in your collection and watch it grow!
