The world's religions share

just one single symbol

WATER.

Water cleanses, purifies and sanctifies our rituals.

When people have water they rejoice.

When they do not, they suffer deeply.

This is not what our shared symbol is meant to be.

Faiths for Safe Water invites you to learn about the global water crisis, because it is solvable, and faith communities are a vital part of the solution.

Let's care about water like life depends on it.

BLESSED BY WATER

Award-winning filmmaker and photographer, Haik Kocharian, has graciously allowed Faiths for Safe to present "Blessed by Water," rare images of tradition, ceremony and spirituality as celebrated by the Christian Orthodox community in Ethiopia, one of the cradles of Christianity. His photographs are witness to people gathered under the joy and blessing of water. 

In collaboration with African Services Committee, Kocharian traveled to Ethiopia where he photographed one of the greatest festivals on the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian calendar, Timket, Epiphany, attended by tens of thousands in the capital city of Addis Ababa to celebrate the baptism of Jesus.
 
Though the crowds are massive, the photographs are intimate, providing a spiritually charged view of worshipers in states of trance and spiritual connection, as they are dampened by water sprayed from towering pipes. The water imparts a sense of community.
 
Describing his unique access, Kocharian says, “I was standing within the ceremony itself, not on the outskirts looking in. In order for me to access such a very emotional situation, I do not talk to anyone because I never interfere with people at the moment I photograph them. I have to have a nonexistent energy. Other than offering a smile, which goes a long way.”

Enjoy Blessed by Water

---

Together, we can make water
the source of health and life for ALL.

---

Faiths for Safe Water is the only advocacy project that focuses the faith voice on water, our shared religious symbol, to help prioritize attention and funding on the global water crisis. Faiths for Safe Water is dedicated to supporting the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector and does not advocate for any particular faith or field projects. We encourage all faiths to unite around this shared symbol and solution, and embody interfaith at its life-giving best.