Our impact and progress in 2026

DR Congo (Goma, North Kivu) · with PALPER

Shared water filters for families in DR Congo

Goma sits in a conflict zone where cholera is a constant risk. It is built on volcanic rock, which makes wells impractical, and many families drink untreated water carried over long distances. Our partner PALPER installed our first 10 gravity filters between June and August 2026. Five households share each filter, about 25 people. The filters need no power or chemicals, and families call them chombo ya maajabu, Swahili for “instruments of wonder.”

Residents reported fewer stomach illnesses and asked for more filters, so in September we ordered 50 more. Ten have arrived, so PALPER now has 20 filters in Goma, and 10 more are on the way. About 15 are installed and in daily use, giving about 375 people reliable clean water. Once all 30 are in use, about 375 more people will have it. Each filter costs about $80, all-in, and serves about 25 people for about 5 years: about $3.20 per person, and an estimated cost per life saved of about $1,000.*

“The people can now attest to the benefits of this support through their access to safe drinking water treated with filters.”Martin Mashagiro, President of PALPER, September 2026

* Estimate, not a measured result. Contaminated drinking water causes about 505,000 diarrheal deaths a year (WHO). We attribute about 450,000 of them to the 703 million people without a basic drinking water service (WHO and UNICEF): about one death a year for every 1,500 people. A filter costs $80 and serves about 25 people for about 5 years, or $0.64 per person per year, and $0.64 × 1,500 ≈ $1,000. The same method gives about $450 for Papua New Guinea and $500 for Cambodia. It assumes families drink the treated water every day. Full method →

Papua New Guinea · Eastern Highlands · with PNG Safe Water

A filter at the tap for a pipeline the community built

Philip Wayaki Bongi and his community built a gravity pipeline, digging its trenches by hand. Writer Elan Head, whose mother Carey Lafferty knew Philip, told the story and raised the money for its 2025 extension. It now carries mountain water to more than 3,500 people. That is the community’s achievement. What the water still needs is a reliable germ barrier.

The prefilter and gravity ultrafiltration pilot unit was delivered in September 2026, and a plumber is being arranged to install it. It needs no power or chemicals and will be tested through the rainy season, when the water is muddiest. If it works, four more systems follow. If sediment clogs it too often, chlorine added by families at the point of collection is the fallback. We ruled out in-line chlorine and UV for this site.

We are also funding the formation of PNG Safe Water, a new PNG-based nonprofit led by Philip that will own and run the systems. Local leaders have submitted its incorporation papers to the government, and it should be officially incorporated by January 2027. We manage the work until PNG Safe Water governs itself, then step back as a technical advisor, the same model we follow with PALPER and KCCO.

Philippines · nationwide

Keeping drinking water flowing after typhoons and earthquakes

Nearly half of Philippine households get their drinking water from small refilling stations. After a typhoon or earthquake, many of those stations stop working, and emergency agencies cannot see which ones will fail or which are still running.

Our free prototype app estimates which stations are likely to go down and points agencies to nearby stations that can keep supplying water. The goal is that agencies get water faster, station owners earn income during the emergency, and communities recover sooner. The prototype is live. Its numbers are estimates until we test it with the people who would use it.

Ghana · Ashanti Region · with Nyankonton Aid Foundation

Cleaner water for communities hit by galamsey

Galamsey, small-scale gold mining that is often unregulated, has clouded rivers in Ghana’s Ashanti Region and released mercury and other metals. With Nyankonton Aid Foundation, we are developing filters that communities can build themselves from biochar made from uncontaminated local plants, sand, scrap iron filings and bone char.

With AppelGlobal, we plan to teach legitimate small-scale miners about the dangers of mercury and show them gravity methods, such as sluicing and panning, that recover gold without it. In August 2026 the project received district-level approval. Next, with the local government and our partner, we will test water for mercury, lead and cadmium and develop low-cost treatment that communities can build from local materials.