A charity willing to make water a reality
The Foundation began with a promise made in the middle of the Atlantic, on a ship four days from the nearest port.
Can clean and safe water become a global reality?
They say that if it is possible to plan it, it stops being impossible. That hard-to-fulfil goal is the first priority of our water-focused foundation. It matters to us because we care about water safety everywhere — but that is not the only reason. Our President’s own story makes us more committed than ever.
The story starts in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Yiannis was travelling with his father on a commercial ship. His father was the captain, and Yiannis used to sail with him during his school holidays. He was ten years old.
Although the ship was relatively new, an accident in the engine room left it without drinking water. The nearest port was four days away.
Twenty-five people were on board: the crew, the captain’s family, and the family of the first engineer, who also spent their holidays at sea. For the next four days each person could drink one gallon of water a day. It was not enough, in the middle of the ocean, under a sweltering summer sun.
Young as he was, over those four days Yiannis understood that water is fundamental to life. When they finally reached the port of Lagos and repaired the damage in the engine room, they had to buy water at a very high price. He heard his father say: “I wish I could have a magic way to bring fresh, clean water to every village and every person on earth, so no one ever suffers its lack again.”
Seven years later, Yiannis’ father died in a shipwreck. It was then that Yiannis decided he would fulfil that wish at some point in his life. That moment came in April 2020, when the Aqua Africa Foundation received its non-profit approval.
The fuller telling of this story, and what the Foundation has done since, is on our Our Story page.