The former footballer Neven Subotic runs a foundation that builds wells and toilets for schools and communities in northern Ethiopia.
100% WASH
According to the Neven Subotic Stiftung, its project 100% WASH builds wells and sanitation facilities for schools and communities in northern Ethiopia, giving access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene. WASH stands for water, sanitation and hygiene.
The foundation says that since it was established in 2012 it had completed 212 projects by 2020, with 151 more under way. Together, the foundation says, these 363 projects comprise 276 community wells and 87 school projects combining wells and toilets, and give about 128,000 people lasting access to clean water and to hygienic toilets separated by gender.
The figures date from 2020, before the war in northern Ethiopia.
Why water and schools
The foundation argues that access to clean water, toilets and hygiene is what allows children to attend school regularly, and that education gives them the chance to shape their own future. It states that 100 per cent of donations go directly to the projects, because Subotic personally covers the administrative costs.
One school’s story
The foundation’s project page on the Dortmunder Stiftungsportal describes a completed project at Gandajala primary school, about 150 km south of Mekelle, which had 249 pupils, 119 girls and 130 boys. Since June 2016 the school has had a well and separate toilets for girls and boys, the foundation says. According to its account, fewer children have fallen ill since then, absences have dropped, and children who once spent hours fetching water for their families can now stay in class. Separate toilets matter especially for girls during menstruation, the foundation notes.
The water charity charity: water lists a completed water point and sanitation project at Adi Aser school in Ethiopia, credited to the Neven Subotic Stiftung’s 100% WASH programme and built with its local partner, the Relief Society of Tigray. According to charity: water, such school projects include latrines, handwashing stations and water points, along with hygiene and sanitation training for pupils.
