‘The main goal is to give poor people in rural areas the chance to produce their own clean drinking water in their own villages. Contamined drinking water is a huge health problem. 1001fontaines’ aim is to bring clean water to 1.000.000 people who live in this situation.’
1001fontaines was founded in 2004, six years after the French Virginie Legrand literally safes the life of Chay Lo, a young Cambodian engineer. Virginie brings Chay to France, where he is treated for lung cancer and – later – is introduced to a prototype of a water purification station that Virginie’s father invented.
He goes back to Cambodia with the strong will to improve access to clean water: a problem with which he was faced when he was still a child. Virginie talks about Chay’s project with François Jacquenoud and together they start 1001fontaines.
Inspired by Louis Pasteur’s quote ‘we drink 90% of our diseases’ and their common passion for Cambodia, the three co-founders decided to help rural communities with access to safe drinking water.
Today, 1001fontaines has achieved strong recognition among key organizations such as UNICEF, World Vision, Plan International and Oxfam.
1001fontaines has a simple and clear approach. It’s easy to follow their work and see the great impact they have on a daily basis. This short video says it all.
Main values: high quality, long-lasting & affordable
Quality
1001fontaines delivers purified water in sealed bottles to people’s home to guarantee that the water is clean and safe to drink.Long-lasting
1001fontaines implements a sustainable solution in each village, by starting a local social enterprise.Affordability
1001fontaines sets the price of the clean drinking water to be very low. It’s affordable for the villagers, but enough to run the local enterprise. It also provides clean drinking water daily for free to primary schools, orphanages and cares homes.
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