Celebrities’ Contributions to Nonprofit Result in Over 500 Water Wells Built

July 2, 2024 TruthUSA

Several famous actors contributed to the organization Water Wells for Africa to bring safe and accessible water to Malawi.

REDONDO BEACH, Calif.—When Kurt Dahlin first arrived in the landlocked Southern African nation of Malawi in 1994, it was listed as one of the most challenged countries on the Human Development Index, an analysis tool used by the United Nations to identify countries with more humanitarian needs.

“Our operations at Water Wells for Africa at have come a long ways since the early days,” Mr. Dahlin, 72, president and founder of the nonprofit, told The Epoch Times. “You cannot improve global suffering without accessible water—or improve anything without water for that matter.”

Since constructing its first well in 1996, the organization has continued to focus its mission on providing accessible and clean water resources for some of the world’s most hard-to-reach communities.

“I still cannot believe some of the remote places our wells have ended up or how the gigantic well-drilling trucks even made their way there because of the terrain,” Mr. Dahlin said. “When our operation first launched in 1994, the process was effective but much slower.”

According to Mr. Dahlin, updated GPS technology and drilling equipment now give the organization the ability to serve Malawians more quickly.

A water well built by Water Wells for Africa donated by actor Charlie Sheen continues operation in Southern Malawi on June 30, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Water Wells for Africa President and Founder Kurt Dahlin in Redondo Beach, Calif., on June 24, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Since 1996, the organization has constructed over 500 wells.

With each well serving at least hundreds of people in local villages and schools, it’s the first time in the lives of many Malawians they’ve had access to a safe water source.

In November, some of these villages and schools told The Epoch Times that sickness and disease have almost become nonexistent, and the wells had even created an increase in school attendance rates.

“Because of the water well, our students are no longer missing lessons,” Nanyanje School Headmaster Shadrach Moses told The Epoch Times. “Students now have overall better academic performance.”

Mr. Dahlin notes that water is “the missing piece” to Malawi’s education hurdles.

Researchers have found Malawi has one of the highest school dropout rates in Southern Africa. Water Wells for Africa (WWFA) strives to combat these statistics, and the organization has had consistent positive results from schools like Nanyanje, which also report increases in female students.

In Malawian culture, women and girls are often given the task of obtaining water, which can result in long morning treks that last hours and reduce the possibility of going to school.

“When you put in water, kids can now go to school,” Mr. Dahlin said. “It’s as simple as that.”

A woman carries water from a well constructed by Water Wells for Africa in Malawi, Africa, on June 12, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

A girl drinks from a well built by Water Wells for Africa in Southern Malawi on June 20, 2017. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Hollywood Paves the Way

As WWFA prepared to celebrate its 30-year anniversary this year, Mr. Dahlin thought back on the organization’s early days before social media helped digitize fundraising opportunities.

While attending church together in Hermosa Beach, Calif., in the early 1990s, world-renowned Hollywood stuntman Eddie Braun became interested in Mr. Dahlin’s vision of making water accessible to people in need.

Not only was Mr. Braun the first donor to the organization, but he also connected Mr. Dahlin with his friends, including actors Cary Elwes from “The Princess Bride,” John Stamos from “Full House,” and Charlie Sheen of “Platoon” fame, who Mr. Braun was performing stunt work for at the time.

“I get kind of choked up thinking about it, but maybe in some small way I’ve been able to impact the universe in assisting Kurt Dahlin in all of this,” Mr. Braun told The Epoch Times over the phone while on a movie set in Texas.

“God has been so overwhelmingly generous to me in giving me the ability and the access to people that could affect change. All I had to do was go out on a limb and ask them.”

After Mr. Braun set up a meeting at Mr. Sheen’s airplane hangar at Santa Monica Airport in 1994, the actor was in full support of Mr. Dahlin’s idea to bring safe and accessible water to Malawi.

“I think the fact I was going to Africa with Kurt on that first trip might have helped Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, and John Stamos encourage their decision, because they trusted me,” Mr. Braun said. “And I have always been so inspired by Kurt.”