Turkish charity foundation builds water wells in Africa

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

A Turkish charity foundation opened 17 new water wells in three African countries, it announced on Oct. 23.

The Türkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV) -- the charity organization of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs -- opened the wells in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Togo as part of a project called “A Drop of Life”, TDV said in a statement.

So far, TDV opened numerous wells in 15 countries around the globe.

TDV carries on educational, cultural, social and humanitarian projects in different countries of the world. Building wells in poverty and drought-affected areas are also one of the main projects of the foundation.

Another charity organization that helps the needy in countries worldwide is the Istanbul-based Sadakataşı Foundation. The charity has given new hope to some residents of Gelemso town in eastern Ethiopia by bringing in ophthalmic surgeons who have helped hundreds of them see again.

“All 420 cataract patients have now regained full sight,” Hacı Dursun Tunç, a member of the Sadakataşı Association’s board of directors, told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.

“The association has conducted operations on patients in different parts of Africa and Asia, where a great number of people suffer from cataracts due to a lack of hygiene and other infections,” Tunç said.

He said the cataract operations have been conducted in cooperation with Gelemso Hospital, where many people, especially farmer families, needed the service.

The Turkish team of surgeons under the association have been providing cataract surgery services for free in Ethiopia, Pakistan and Somali, Tunç said.