Bread and Water for Africa® began in 1986 as a project of Christian Relief Services to promote positive change in Africa by supporting grassroots initiatives for self-sufficiency, health, and education. (this has been our mission ever since.)

On December 30, 1997, Bread and Water for Africa®, a Virginia nonstock incorporated charity headquartered in Fairfax County, received IRS approval as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and was soon certified by the Agency for International Development (USAID) as a registered Private Voluntary Organization (PVO).

Today, we maintain our independent charitable status and affiliation with Christian Relief Services Charities.

We receive funding from wonderfully supportive and
caring individuals, family and community foundations, corporations, Christian Relief Services, generous Federal employees through the Combined Federal Campaign,
generous state employees through state employee
campaigns, wills and bequests, and employer
matching contributions.

During our 24-year history, we have provided more than $8,000,000 in grant funding to grassroots African organizations
in Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Chad, and Zimbabwe.

Grant funding has been concentrated on projects in the areas of education, health care, clean water, agricultural self-sufficiency, orphan care and income-generating projects to support our partners’ free or low-cost programs.

We have also provided more than $241,000,000 worth of
in-kind donations of medicine, medical supplies and equipment, hygiene items, books, tools, school furniture, computers,
and other assorted relief items to our various partners and
their programs.

Transforming Lives: The Major Accomplishments of Bread and Water for Africa® and Our Partners

• The construction of a water pipeline serving more
than 30,000 residents in rural districts of Uganda.
• The construction and operation of nine Maternal
Health and Under-Five clinics in rural Sierra Leone.
• The construction of 439 clean water wells for
communities in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique.
• The construction and operation of three orphan care programs in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
• The construction of a hospital in Douala, Cameroon.
• The construction of ten primary schools in Kenya, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Chad, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe.
• The creation and support of women’s literacy
programs in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone,
and Zimbabwe.
• The creation and support of agriculture self-sufficiency programs, training and cultivating more than 1,000 acres of land in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda.
• The creation of a computer training center in rural Ethiopia.
• The development of a 5-acre banana plantation as an innovative income-generating project in Zambia, which now supports the orphan care program.

• The development and support of vocational training programs in Ethiopia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe.

• The development of a livestock project to promote self-subsistence for women and the elderly in Ethiopia and Uganda.
• The planning and construction of a bakery project in Bangolan, Cameroon, which provides training and facilities to provide local widows the opportunity to earn the income they need to support their families.
• The construction of a Guest House to generate income for the Lewa Children’s Home in Kenya.
• Provisions for the healthcare of tens of thousands of patients in Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Cameroon.

• The development of 240 acres of agriculture land, build grain storage and draying floor, provide tractor and accessories to support over 100 orphan children in Rutile community Sierra Leone.

• The construction of a four-story school building in Kibera, Kenya one of the largest slums in Africa.

• The development of a four-pond aquaculture operation to provide tilapia fish for the children living at Kabwata Orphanage in Zambia.

• The rehabilitation of Watoto Wa Africa Orphanage and developing food sufficiency project in Tanzania to support 86 orphans.