
No family goes without clean water because of cost.
TerraCare reaches the rural households a commercial sale never will — with a subsidized filter, hygiene training, and a visit to make sure it is still working months later.
Partnership in action.
TerraClear Production sells ceramic water filters across Laos, and for most households that works. For the poorest rural families it does not. A filter that costs a few days' income is a filter that never gets bought, and those are precisely the families whose water is least safe.
TerraCare was created in 2020 to close that gap, in partnership with Service Fraternel d'Entraide, an international NGO committed to serving Lao communities. It brings together donors from around the world to fund filter vouchers for poor and marginalized families.
TerraCare works through village leadership to identify the households most in need — the people who know the village, rather than an outside survey. Each family receives a subsidized filter together with practical training in safe water, hygiene and sanitation, and a follow-up household visit some months later.
That last step is the one most programs skip. A filter handed over at a ceremony and never seen again is not clean water; it is a photograph. The goal is a household that understands why the filter matters, uses it daily, and can maintain it for years.
Three years, then a steady rhythm.
The first TerraCare program ran from 2020 to 2023. Since then the program has continued at a consistent annual target.
From a donation to a household that stays well.
Village leaders identify families
TerraCare works with village leadership to find the households least able to afford a filter and most exposed to unsafe water.
Filters and training together
Families receive a subsidized filter and take part in training on safe drinking water, hygiene and sanitation. Participation is the family's contribution.
Follow-up at the house
Staff return months later to check that the filter is in use and being maintained, and to answer questions that only come up once a household has lived with it.
How you can help.
What does it take to give the gift of clean water to a family in need?
TerraKids reaches the classroom.
TerraCare looks after the household. Our schools program puts a filter in every classroom where it trains, alongside lessons on hygiene and children's rights.
TerraClear Foundation