1.About AQUA PROGRAM 2024-2025
AQUA PROGRAM is a joint project between F.D.C. Products Inc., jewelry brand 4°C, and the Japan Water Forum. Its aim is to empower people in developing countries and bring them beauty and inspiration by resolving the serious water problems they face.
Since the program’s establishment in 2008, several projects have been carried out in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Republic of Kiribati. Since 2017, we have been working with a rural coastal community in Bangladesh.
In the 2024-2025 project, AMAMIZU rainwater harvesting tanks were installed in 25 households in Ward No-5, Uttar Sutalori Village, and training in operations and maintenance were carried out.
▼AQUA PROGRAM OFFICIAL WEBSITE▼
AQUA PROGRAM contributes to these SDGs:
２．Details of AQUA PROGRAM 2024-2025
１） Project title
AQUA PROGRAM 2024-2025
２）Project site
Ward No-5, Uttar Sutalori Village of Baraikhali Union under Morrelganj Upazila of Bagerhat, Khulna Division, Bangladesh
Arrow indicates Utter Sutalori Village.
Created by Mapchart
３） Beneficiaries
25 households, 102 people
４）Project period
October 2024 to October 2025
５）Local partner
Skywater Bangladesh Ltd.
６）Background
The project site is an underprivileged and marginalized village. The residents are dependent on unsafe wells and ponds, or they must purchase water for drinking and domestic use.
Fetching water is a daily burden especially for women, and the cost of buying water puts stress on household budgets. Despite insufficient income, households have no choice but to purchase water to meet their needs during the dry season. They must also spend money on medical supplies and treatments for water-borne diseases such as diarrhea.
７）Main activities
- Conduct a basic information survey in Ward No-5.
- Install rainwater harvesting AMAMIZU tank systems in 25 households.
- Conduct training in usage, maintenance and management of the rainwater harvesting system.
- Conduct knowledge and experience workshops among beneficiary households in Wards No-5 and No-4 (last year’s target area).
- Follow-ups: Status review and guidance on usage, maintenance and management, as well as quality testing of the rainwater stored in the systems.
８）Potential impacts
- Women and children will be freed from the burden of collecting water from distant sources.
- Households of Ward No-5 will be able to access safe drinking water by utilizing rainwater.
- Expenses related to medication and medical treatment for water-borne diseases caused by poor drinking water will be reduced.
３．AQUA PROGRAM 2024-2025 Photo Album
４．AQUA PROGRAM 2024-2025, Voice of a Beneficiary
Rojina Begum lives in Ward No. 5 of Uttar Sutalori village with her husband, two children, and her paralyzed father-in-law. Her husband is a motorcycle rider and the only earning member of the family. With a limited income, the family has long struggled to meet basic needs.
For more than 12 years, Rojina collected drinking water every day from a government pond located nearly one and a half kilometers away. The use of unsafe open pond water caused frequent outbreaks of diarrhea and other waterborne diseases among her family members. Medical expenses were often unaffordable, and illness meant loss of income, pushing the family further into poverty.
Fetching water twice daily consumed much of Rojina’s time and energy. As a result, she could not adequately support her children’s education or properly care for them. She worried deeply about her children’s future, knowing that a lack of education would continue the cycle of poverty.
After learning about the AMAMIZU rainwater harvesting system from a neighbor, Rojina and her husband began saving small amounts of money over a year to pay the contribution and enroll in the SBL Aqua Program. At the beginning of the rainy season, their household received an AMAMIZU tank.
Since then, the family has been drinking safe rainwater, illness has decreased, and medical costs have fallen. Rojina now has more time to care for her children and support their studies. She dreams of providing them with a better future through education.
Rojina expressed sincere appreciation to Yondoshi Holdings Inc. and the Japan Water Forum, acknowledging that without donor support, access to safe drinking water would not have been possible for her family.
５．Our appreciation
AQUA PROGRAM 2024-2025 team received cooperation and support from F.D.C. Products Inc., jewelry brand 4°C Yondoshi Holdings Inc., the beneficiary households, local communities, and local partner Skywater Bangladesh Ltd. (SBL). Although some activities could not be completed on time, for which we sincerely apologize. Since the most of project period was in 2025, we would like to chage the project name from AQUA PROGRAM 2024 to AQUA PROGRAM 2024-2025 from now. AQUA PROGRAM 2024-2025 has been completed with all power combined and we would like to express our deepest gratitude to those involved in the project.
【Previous post】
▼2024.11.28 4°C AQUA PROGRAM 2024 Begins!▼
https://www.waterforum.jp/en/news/22619/
▼アクアプログラムについて▼
https://www.waterforum.jp/en/what-we-do/yondoshi/
（Reported by Takejiro Suzuki, project manager)
