According to the motto “Water for all, all for water”.

In this interview, we spoke with the managing director of Viva con Agua Carolin Stüdemann. We rewound time and asked how the idea behind Viva con Agua came about. Spoiler: Soccer plays a significant role here. Carolin also gives us a little insight into the various projects and what successes they have already celebrated. Maybe you have already heard about World Water Day. It takes place once a year, and we asked how important this day is. We also talked about the current Corona pandemic and its impact on Viva con Aguas projects. Sometimes there are positive impacts as well as negative ones. How you can support the aid organization, besides donating, and much more, you can find out here in this interview!

• Viva con Agua Instagram

The role of the St. Pauli neighborhood in Hamburg

FIV: Hello dear Carolin, how nice that it worked out with the interview today! Let’s start right away. We would like to turn back the clock to the beginnings of Viva con Agua. How did the idea of Viva con Agua come about?

Carolin: Viva con Agua was founded in and through the St. Pauli neighborhood in Hamburg. Benjamin Adrion, a professional soccer player for FC St. Pauli at the time, felt the need to get involved in something besides soccer after a training camp in Cuba. The idea was born to use the creative and social environment of the soccer club and the neighborhood to support social projects. With the first project – to improve water supply to kindergartens in Cuba – an incredible momentum was created. One year later, the non-profit association Viva con Agua de St. Pauli e.V. was finally founded with the vision “Water for all – all for water”.

Photo: Florian Quandt

Help without donating money? Yes, that is possible!

FIV: For our readers who don’t know Viva con Agua yet, how can people support you who don’t have the opportunity to donate?

Carolin: You can support Viva con Agua in many ways. The most important thing is to create awareness and attention for the important topic of drinking water among the general public. Because when we learn to appreciate water as a source of life, we also begin to protect this resource. Many also start a fundraising campaign with friends and acquaintances to collect donations for Viva con Agua. For example, they call on people to make a donation for drinking water instead of birthday gifts.*
Or they volunteer in one of the many city crews. For example, they are out and about at concerts and festivals with large deposit cup garbage cans and flags, collecting deposit cups that are donated to Viva con Agua. You can also support our work by buying our mineral water in the supermarket – the social alternative when you want something other than tap water.

Photo: Viva con Agua

Clean Drinking Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

FIV: What is your personal heart project?

Carolin: Any project that contributes to our goal of providing people with access to clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene is a project close to our hearts. I wouldn’t prioritize them.

Besides Nepal & India, focus on Global South

FIV: You support most projects on the African continent. Do you have other projects planned on other continents?

Carolin: Our focus is on the Global South, especially the African continent. After all, a lot can be achieved in East and Southern Africa to give people access to clean drinking water. We are also particularly well networked here, for example with other organizations. But we also support projects in Nepal and India. In India, we are currently starting to implement our Universal Language Approach For Behavior Changes. We are using the universal languages of sport, music and art to provide a more joyful approach to issues such as hygiene and sanitation.

Photo: Bastian Wülfing

Living situation of 3.7 million people improved

FIV: What has been your biggest personal success with your projects so far?

Carolin: To date, we have reached around 3.7 million people with our projects and sustainably improved their living situation. That makes Viva con Agua and me incredibly proud.

World Water Day: Reminder of “Water is Life

FIV: Once a year there is World Water Day. How does this day help? Does it change anything?

Carolin: For Viva con Agua, World Water Day is the most important of the year. Because water is increasingly seen in a negative context in the media in Germany: From flood to “Are we running out of water?”. World Water Day offers the opportunity to set other perspectives and to remind people that “water is life”.

Achieving the goal: Infrastructure in the Global South

FIV: Your goal is to make clean water accessible to all. What all has to happen for this goal to be achieved?

Carolin: The focus here is primarily on infrastructure in the Global South. Because in order to ensure a long-term and sustainable water supply, the responsibility for maintenance and repairs must be in local hands. And of course, the topic of water should also receive more public attention outside of World Water Day, so that awareness of the issue can be raised. After all, water is a global issue – water cycles concern us all!

Photo: Nico Malkov

Clean drinking water accessible to all by 2030?

FIV: What year do you expect to reach your goal?

Carolin: In 2015, the UN adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs for short). Among other things, the UN has set itself the goal of providing all people worldwide with access to clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. We can see today that this is ambitious, because climate change also poses challenges to this goal. However, I remain optimistic and will continue to work with Viva con Agua to achieve this SDG!

Strong focus on hygiene due to pandemic

FIV: The pandemic caused a lot of chaos. How has the pandemic affected your projects?

Carolin: Our water projects are always holistic, i.e. they also include hygiene and sanitation measures. This is called WASH for short. One positive effect was certainly that the corona pandemic brought hygiene in particular very much into focus. The new or rediscovered awareness of hygienic procedures here in Germany has once again shown many people how important hygiene is, also in terms of disease prevention. However, as many of our focus countries, such as Uganda or South Africa, were in long lockdowns, this naturally made our work on the ground more difficult and slowed it down.

*Donation campaigns can be created securely and easily online:
https://www.vivaconagua.org/spendenaktion/

FIV: Thank you very much for your time! We wish you all the best on your way!

Photo: Andrin Fretz

Photo: Kevin McElvaney

Photo: Stefan Groenveld

Photo: Lea May

More about Viva con Agua

Did you like the interview with Carolin Stüdemann about Viva con Agua and would you like to learn more about the aid organization? Then you can find more information about the background in this article!

What is Viva con Agua? – Water is a human right!

An international network consisting of people and companies, and a non-profit association with the goal of making water accessible to all. The focus is on clean drinking water and basic sanitation with a focus on the Global South. Thousands of people already support the organization and actively help according to the motto: “Water for all, all for water”! You can find all information about the aid organization here!

• Viva con Agua: What is it?

Photo: Tabea Przybilla

Viva con Agua: Water for all!

Clean water is far from reaching everyone. There is no clean drinking water for 771 million people. Worldwide, 3.6 billion people have no access to safe sanitation. For about 1.7 billion people, even basic sanitation is not accessible. Hygiene facilities are also not safely accessible for 2.3 billion people.

The role of soccer in the foundation

Foundation – In 2005, the first team of the FC St. Pauli soccer club went to Cuba for a training camp. During his stay in Cuba, Benjamin Adrion decided to get socially involved. In doing so, he pursued the goal of reducing the appalling conditions caused by a lack of water supply and thus laid the foundation stone for the nonprofit organization. Through the first project (water dispensers in 120 kindergartens), donations in the amount of 50,000 euros were collected, which even provided 153 kindergartens and four more sports schools with water dispensers. Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli e.V. was founded the following year. The soccer club made everything possible and still supports the organization today. For example, the soccer club makes the Millerntor Stadium available for the social art and culture festival “Millerntor Gallery” to take place. At home games, VCA is allowed to collect deposit cups.

Viva con Aguas Approach: WASH Projects

WASH projects – With the help of joyful actions in the field of music, sports and art, the organization wants to raise awareness for clean water and thus generate donations. These funds are used to finance WASH projects. WASH means water, sanitation and hygiene. These projects are intended to improve the living conditions of many people in the long term.

The members of the Viva con Agua Family

Here you find all members of the Viva con Agua Family listed:

• Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli e.V.
• Viva con Agua Foundation
• Viva con Agua Water Ltd.
• Goldeimer gGmbH
• Viva con Arts gGmbH
• Villa Viva Hamburg
• Villa Viva Cape Town
• WASH Beteiligungs GmbH
• Go Banyo
• Mission Impact Crew

Own product: Viva con Agua mineral water

Mineral water – Viva con Agua mineral water is a product of Viva con Agua Wasser GmbH. With the purchase of each bottle, water projects worldwide are supported through royalties. VcA mineral water offers a form of social consumption when individual circumstances decide against the use of tap water. Because tap water is the best form of water consumption! Labels are used to inform people about VcA’s goals, projects and support opportunities. Accordingly, the water bottles are VcA’s “liquid flyer”!

Photo: Viva con Agua

Saving lives with music: Viva con Agua Music

Music – Viva con Agua Music is a platform where musicians worldwide can support international water projects with their music releases and music projects. With the songs, global issues are communicated in a creative way that motivates social commitment and conveys the human right to access clean water! For this purpose, Viva con Agua cooperates with various partners, such as Chimperator Productions.

Anela Jahmena and Tsidi Bang-Bang: Lists

Listen is a song about the project LISTENING. In this project different women from the south and the north meet each other. With them: their stories. The meetings are about sharing and connecting experiences and stories of inequality.

Here is the film about the project LISTENING:

MEMORIEZ: SO FAR

With this song a new project “Remix for water” is launched. All musicians are called upon to create a remix to this song. This is to draw attention to global inequalities.

Here you can find all links to Viva con Aguas channels:

• Website
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Twitter

More about Viva con Agua

Did you like the article about Viva con Agua? Then read the interview with managing director Carolin Stündemann here!

Carolin Stündemann interviewed for Viva con Agua: Water is life

In this interview, we spoke with the managing director of Viva con Agua Carolin Stündemann. We rewound time and asked how the idea behind Viva con Agua came about. Spoiler: Soccer plays a significant role here. Carolin also gives us a little insight into the various projects and what successes they have already celebrated. Maybe you have already heard about World Water Day. It takes place once a year, and we asked how important this day is. We also talked about the current Corona pandemic and its impact on Viva con Aguas projects. Sometimes there are positive impacts as well as negative ones. How you can support the aid organization besides donations and much more, you can find out here in this interview!

• Carolin Stündemann in interview

Photo: Andrin Fretz