Sustaining Sources of Life
One district’s journey to universal water, sanitation, and hygiene coverage
This is the first story in a series that steps inside a World Vision program area to reveal the partnerships, technical expertise, and collaboration that make lasting water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) impact possible.
Herman and his wife Purnama rise early. In the morning light they feed and water their livestock and tend the tall rows of vegetables in their garden that stretch to the sun. Just a few steps from their home in the village of Tigur Jaya, Indonesia, a tap provides clean water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and watering their garden.
It was not always this way.
When Herman and Purnama first moved to the village, families relied on an unsafe well a kilometer away. During the dry season, neighbors followed a strict hourly schedule for water collection, and there was often not enough for everyone.
“Water is the source of life for us,” Herman says. “Before we had regular access, we relied on others and would ask them for water.”
Without latrines, many people used the riverbanks to relieve themselves. Waste flowed into the water supply, creating a breeding ground for bacteria and mosquitoes. Illness was common, especially among children.
In 2019, World Vision Indonesia (known locally as Wahana Visi Indonesia) began working alongside the community of Tigur Jaya. Gradually, access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services reshaped the community. Still, the work in Tigur Jaya is only one chapter in a larger story.
Herman and Purnama's garden grows strong.
Herman and Purnama's garden grows strong.
A District-Wide Effort
Tigur Jaya is one of 94 villages in Sekadau, a district in West Kalimantan where Wahana Visi Indonesia is partnering with communities and local government to achieve universal water, sanitation, and hygiene coverage.
Universal Service Coverage (USC) aims to ensure that at least 90% of residents in a targeted district can access basic water services, meaning that an improved water source is within a 30-minute round trip of someone’s household.
Sekadau is one of 50 districts across 20 different countries where World Vision plans to reach USC by 2030.
When Wahana Visi Indonesia began programming in Sekadau in 2011, fewer than 1 in 3 people had access to sanitation, and only about half the population had clean drinking water. Open defecation was common, especially in riverside communities. These conditions shaped daily life for the district’s 220,000 residents.
Fourteen years later, the district has been transformed. In 2025, Sekadau was declared Open Defecation Free. Sanitation coverage has reached 98% of the population, and more than 182,000 people now have access to basic water services.
Yet 17% of residents, or more than 37,000 people, still lack reliable water services.
Closing that final gap requires more than installing WASH infrastructure. Designing sustainable WASH systems depends on government partnership, empowering the marginalized, and strengthening service delivery systems through monitoring and financing.
This work happens through partnership. And in Sekadau, it often begins in a meeting room at the district office.
Government Partnership
On a humid morning in Sekadau in November 2025, Wahana Visi Indonesia staff, district officials, and community leaders gathered for a meeting to shape the future of water access across the area.
At the front of the room, a Memorandum of Understanding rested on the table, waiting to be signed. The agreement would formalize the next phase of work: expanding reliable water services across Sekadau and strengthening the systems that keep them running. District leader Aron S.H. rose to open the meeting.
“On behalf of the government, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Wahana Visi Indonesia,” he said. “We are working to realize a Sekadau that is prosperous and dignified.”
He explained that in communities outside Wahana Visi Indonesia’s main program areas, water systems often failed within a year of construction. Without regular monitoring or funds set aside for maintenance, pipes broke, pumps stopped working, and communities were left without service.
The new agreement aimed to change that.
Each village would appoint a local data officer trained to use mWater, a digital platform that tracks water access, system performance, and service gaps in real time. Universities would support analysis, turning field data into evidence for planning and investment.
The goal was not simply to build more infrastructure, but to strengthen the district’s ability to sustain services over time.
After the meeting ended, participants gathered for a group photo. The formality faded as laughter broke out and their voices chanted together: “WASH for all, stronger together!”
The phrase captures the spirit of Sekadau’s journey, a collective effort to ensure WASH services continue to function and sustain life across the district.
Wahana Visi Indonesia staff, district officials, and community leaders gathered for a meeting in the district office of Sekadau, Indonesia, to discuss progress towards USC.
Wahana Visi Indonesia staff, district officials, and community leaders gathered for a meeting in the district office of Sekadau, Indonesia, to discuss progress towards USC.
Aron S.H., Regent of Sekadau, addresses the room at the district office meeting in Sekadau, Indonesia.
Aron S.H., Regent of Sekadau, addresses the room at the district office meeting in Sekadau, Indonesia.
mWater makes it possible to digitally track and monitor water points in real time.
mWater makes it possible to digitally track and monitor water points in real time.
“WASH for All, Stronger Together”
Empowering Communities in Tigur Jaya
While district leaders focused on policies and data systems, change was also unfolding at the village level. In Tigur Jaya, behavior-change efforts were transforming how families understood WASH services.
Tigur Jaya lies deep in West Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, often called “the land of Indonesia” for its lush beauty. Reaching it requires crossing a river by boat and traveling another hour along a road marked with potholes. About 1,700 people live here.
For years, families like Herman and Purnama’s navigated the challenges of isolation and limited services. In 2019, that began to change when Wahana Visi Indonesia partnered with village leaders and residents to strengthen water and sanitation systems.
Wahana Visi Indonesia staff led hands-on workshops about how to build latrines using affordable materials. They also worked with communities to highlight how having a household latrine improves safety, dignity, and health through Community-Led Total Sanitation efforts. The shift was not immediate, but it gained momentum as neighbors supported one another in building facilities and adopting new practices.
Village chief Arif Saputra led by example, constructing and using a latrine at his own home. He later required new houses to include sanitation facilities and encouraged adoption through community competitions.
“Because of Wahana Visi Indonesia, we have changed our behavior,” says Arif Saputra, the Village Chief. “We found that the people in the village really have a willingness to make a change.”
Today, Tigur Jaya is officially Open Defecation Free. More than 200 families have private latrines, and households access water through drilled wells.
Before Wahana Visi Indonesia began programming, latrines in Tigur Jaya were often built right over the river, contaminating their water supply and causing disease.
Before Wahana Visi Indonesia began programming, latrines in Tigur Jaya were often built right over the river, contaminating their water supply and causing disease.
A latrine now stands beside Hendra and Poniam's chicken coop in Tigur Jaya, Indonesia, bringing safety, dignity, and less mosquitos.
A latrine now stands beside Hendra and Poniam's chicken coop in Tigur Jaya, Indonesia, bringing safety, dignity, and less mosquitos.
A plaque installed by the district government reads, "By the Grace of Almighty God, Declaration to Stop Open Defecation in the Preparatory Village of Tigur Jaya, December 11, 2019."
A plaque installed by the district government reads, "By the Grace of Almighty God, Declaration to Stop Open Defecation in the Preparatory Village of Tigur Jaya, December 11, 2019."
Local Enterprise: Kurniawan’s Story
Kurniawan never planned on building latrines.
When a friend first asked him to volunteer, he hesitated. The work was unpaid, and he had a family to support. But his friend asked him to help “make the village beautiful.” They had both seen children falling sick and families struggling with illnesses brought on by poor sanitation and hygiene."
“Wahana Visi came to our village and encouraged us and showed us how to solve this problem,” Kurniawan remembers. “In the end, I wanted to fight for the community.”
After attending workshops from Wahana Visi Indonesia staff, he learned how to build latrines using gooseneck toilet pans. Over time, Kurniawan and his friend built more than 300 latrines in the village. As nearby communities began asking for support, he realized the skills he had learned could do more than improve his own village. They could also become a source of income.
Kurniawan and his team went on to build more than 200 additional latrines in neighboring villages, training others along the way. What started as a community effort evolved into a small but growing sanitation market.
Kurniawan’s work is part of a larger effort to make sanitation a locally sustained service. When latrines are affordable and built locally, the community doesn't have to rely on outside support. Entrepreneurs can grow their small businesses, share their skills, and transform their communities.
Kurniawan shows how local enterprise can sustain sanitation. But USC depends on more than toilets. It requires water systems that are managed, monitored, and maintained over time.
In Pantok village, that next step was already underway.
Building Sustainable Water Systems
The sound of rushing water fills the air around Rizal’s home along the riverbank in the village of Pantok. For a long time, the river was his family’s only source of water for cooking, drinking, and bathing, even though it often made them sick.
“We used to do everything in this river,” Rizal says. “We would wash ourselves and our food in the same river we would relieve ourselves.”
When Wahana Visi Indonesia began working in Pantok in 2012, they worked closely with the community to promote healthy sanitation and hygiene behaviors and raise awareness about how poor sanitation affected children’s health. But Rizal and his neighbors weren’t just recipients of change. They were contributors. Residents formed small groups and built latrines one household at a time, working alongside village leaders to improve sanitation across the village. Together, they constructed 10 water systems. Five were supported by Wahana Visi Indonesia and five by the village government.
In 2015, Pantok became the first village in Sekadau to be declared Open Defecation Free.
Inside Rizal’s home today, clean water runs from a tap in his kitchen.
“Even on rainy days or during flood season, the water stays clear,” Rizal says. “It never gets cloudy.”
But installation was only the first step. Just outside his house, a small water meter is attached to the pipe that delivers water to Rizal’s family. Each week, a staff member from the village-owned enterprise records the household’s usage and collects a modest payment. The revenue is set aside for maintenance and future repairs, helping ensure the system continues to function long after installation.
This structured approach did not always exist.
Rizal stands next to the Kapuas River, the longest river in Indonesia, outside his home.
Rizal stands next to the Kapuas River, the longest river in Indonesia, outside his home.
Wahana Visi Indonesia staff worked closely with the community to promote healthy sanitation and hygiene behaviors and raise awareness that poor sanitation affected children’s health.
Wahana Visi Indonesia staff worked closely with the community to promote healthy sanitation and hygiene behaviors and raise awareness that poor sanitation affected children’s health.
Today, clean water runs from a tap inside Rizal’s kitchen and bathroom in Pantok village.
Today, clean water runs from a tap inside Rizal’s kitchen and bathroom in Pantok village.
For years, a volunteer committee had managed the water system. Without detailed records or reliable funds for repairs, maintenance was difficult to sustain. When small problems arose, they often went unaddressed.
That changed when Pantok shifted to a village-owned enterprise responsible for operating and maintaining the water system. The enterprise collects modest monthly payments from families, tracks household usage, and sets aside funds for repairs and future expansion. Unlike in a volunteer water committee, the enterprise generates income for those managing the system.
“When households pay for water, they are paying for reliability,” says Erlan, director of Pantok’s village-owned enterprise.
The enterprise now keeps financial records, reports to village authorities, and is working toward becoming bankable. This means it can demonstrate consistent management and attract future investment. By treating water as a managed service rather than a free resource, Pantok has strengthened accountability and created a more stable foundation for long-term sustainability.
Our journey ends where it began — in a garden.
In a small plot in the village of Lubuk Tajau, women weave in and out of rows of corn, spinach, morning glory, and watercress in the heat of the day. They water the crops with water from the community tap installed by Wahana Visi Indonesia.
Ibu Iku manages the garden alongside 20 other women. Surplus vegetables are sold locally, and part of the harvest is donated to the village health post, where children are weighed and monitored to prevent stunting.
“We no longer have to buy vegetables from outside the village,” she says. “We can grow them ourselves.”
Reliable water access sustains the garden, and the garden strengthens families. The effects ripple outward.
In Sekadau, the work continues village by village, household by household, strengthened through partnership and shared responsibility.
Universal Service Coverage rests on four key principles:
Collaboration and Coordination
USC begins with partnership, bringing together communities, local government, entrepreneurs, and other actors to plan and invest together.
District-Level Alignment With Government Leadership
Progress is anchored within the district’s own systems and administrative structures so that responsibility for water and sanitation services rests with the authorities who sustain them.
Strengthening the Service Delivery System
Beyond building infrastructure, lasting impact depends on strengthening the systems that manage water and sanitation, including monitoring, financing, operations, and local enterprise.
Empowering the Most Vulnerable and Marginalized
Universal access means ensuring that women, low-income households, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups are prioritized so that no one is left behind.
Through World Vision programming, 34 million people have gained access to water, 25 million have gained access to sanitation, and 40 million gained access to hygiene services in the past decade (2016–2025).
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