Timor-Leste is one of Australia's closest neighbours, and one of the world’s least developed nations. Right now, families in rural villages walk kilometres each day just to collect water safe enough to drink.

Clean water and toilets

Without clean water, children get sick. 75 children die in Timor-Leste every year from diarrhoea alone. Girls miss school because fetching water takes priority over their education, and without a decent toilet at school, many girls stop attending altogether, especially once they reach their teenage years. A working toilet isn’t a small thing; it’s often the difference between a girl staying in school and dropping out.

How we work

Water East Timor is run entirely by Australian volunteers.  We have no paid staff. We partner with the Bakhita Centre, a community organisation run by and for the local Timorese people, so every project is locally driven and locally implemented. Alongside clean water systems, we help build sanitation facilities and toilets at village schools, so children especially girls can stay in class instead of staying home. Our gravity-fed water systems dam a natural spring and pipe water to tap stands, needing no pumps or electricity. Simple, effective, and built to last.

All donations go directly to projects and are tax deductible

Please donate to support our next water and sanitation project. Because our team volunteers their time, every single dollar you give goes directly to funding clean water and school toilets for a village that needs it.

“As a single drop of water fills a bucket, so do small deeds of good.” Buddha

Thank you for helping fill that bucket. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.