It is no secret that many areas around the globe still lack access to clean water. Lombok Indonesia is one such area currently engaged by Access Life Lombok to help overcome the lack of clean water access. While cities and other urban areas in Lombok can purchase clean water from stores, many communities do not have access or funds to buy drinking water, including schools and orphanages. This reality pushed the Water Team at Access Life Lombok to begin serving these communities to help overcome this issue.
The As-Sa'idiyah Islamic Boarding School in North Lombok has more than 80 students and faculty that live at this facility. A well on the property serves as their only water source; however, it is not potable. In discussing the importance of clean water with the school's principal, he reported the issue was one their faculty faced every week as several kids were sick with various intestinal illnesses. It creates a hardship for students and staff as they balance caring for sick students while maintaining normal school activities. Access Life Lombok partnered with As-Sa'idiyah to install a water filter unit which includes; 2 Sawyer micropore water filters, a 360-liter water tank, and a stand. Although the Sawyer water filters are small, they remove 99.9% of bacteria from water and are easy to maintain. We were able to teach students proper maintenance techniques. This water filter station has been in operation since February 2022. Both students and faculty of As-Sa'idiyah have expressed their thankfulness for Access Life Lombok's partnership and reported a reduced number of intestinal illnesses.