Where There’s a Well is a small charitable project founded by Oliver Croom-Johnson with the objective of helping smallholder farmers to create wells to irrigate fields that would otherwise be fertile only at monsoon time.

It was started in 2007 in conjunction with the Savitri Waney Charitable Trust, and works through ASA (Action for Social Advancement, based in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh), our NGO partner in India.

Our projects are based in western Madhya Pradesh, and are currently concentrated in three districts: Ratlam, Jhabua, Barwani.

Every town and city in the country now has its shanty areas where families congregate to try and eke out a living from whatever menial trades or jobs they can get.

These shanty towns are populated almost exclusively by people who have come in from the country when the fields can no longer sustain them.

With the provision of a reliable source of water, farmers are able to improve and increase their crops, generate greater income to sustain their families, therefore removing the need to migrate to the city in search of work.