Christian charity World Emergency Relief is drilling deep to bring life-saving water to some of Africa's poorest communities.

A state-of-the-art drilling rig left the USA for Sudan on 21 June 2007 and will be used to drill wells in remote villages in which access to safe and clean water is currently lacking.

The rig can drill to a depth of 150 metres and will enable WER's local partner in Sudan, All Nations Christian Care, to drill for water in villages where the water table was previously inaccessible because of the depth required to reach it.

Each well costs £4,000 to drill. WER praised the generosity of its supporters which has enabled the UK-based charity to secure funding for the drilling of the first five wells. These wells will bring safe and clean water to hundreds of thousands of people who are currently living in desperate poverty.

"The difference that access to clean water can make to the lives of people cannot be under estimated. With a well nearby, children no longer have to walk for miles or queue for long periods of time in order to fetch water for their family's needs," said WER.

"For these children, less time spent doing household chores means more time at school, and the greater chance of building a path out of poverty."

Access to safe water is also essential for ensuring the health of people within these communities, the relief and development charity said. In 2006, hundreds of people within the Ikotos region of southern Sudan were killed when a cholera outbreak swept through the region. WER responded immediately to the crisis with the provision of medicines and emergency funds which saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

"By ensuring that people have adequate access to safe water sources, we can help keep fatal illnesses, such as cholera, far from their communities," said WER.

WER has been working in close partnership with local aid agency ANCC since 2002 to respond to the needs of communities in northern Uganda and southern Sudan, a region affected by conditions of extreme poverty which have been exacerbated by years of violence and insecurity in the region.

WER is one of the few agencies still actively working in the region, and is committed to ensuring essential aid reaches communities which are often overlooked by the international community.