All LIFO community projects are carefully screened and selected. Water and education are our main areas of focus with clean water supply carrying the greatest priority. It is usually the task of women and children to fetch water for their household while the men work the fields. Children often miss school to take care of this responsibility. Water is often gathered from rivers, creeks or ponds that are highly contaminated people, animals, pollution and waste. The need for clean drinking water is vital to the health and survival of a community.

The request for a project by a community must meet the following guidelines:

  • The community must be well organized, either a farmers association or a mothers club are good indicators.
  • The size of the community is important – the greater amount of people impacted the higher the priority for the project.
  • The community must be located or situated in an area where no help or aid will be available to them by any other means due to limited resources.
  • The community must show a strong commitment to the project themselves.
  • It must be supported by the entire community in order to ensure it’s long term success.
  • The community must be specific about the scope of the project’s desired intent and purpose.