HAMBURG: Rising from FC St Pauli community, Viva con Agua (Water for all) has in the last two decades made a niche as Germany’ social businesses and not-for-profit organization, combining entrepreneurship with social and environmental impact. The organization has built a portfolio of purpose driven brands including mineral water, recycled toilet paper and Villa Viva social hotel in Hamburg. Together these ventures help fund global water, sanitation and hygiene projects while demonstrating how a non-profit organization can scale sustainable business models, generate significant revenue and create measurable social impact.
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Former professional midfield footballer and social entrepreneur Benjamin Adrion during one of his team training camp in Havana in Cuba in 2005 observed inadequate access to clean drinking water, which inspired him to mobilize the club's creative fan and artist network for fundraising efforts upon returning to Hamburg to provide water dispensers to 150 Cuban kindergartens feeling ‘water is human right’, which turned out to be the theme while paving the way in establishing Viva con Agua in 2006 with an aim to provide people in countries with needs with access to drinking water and sanitation.
For its campaigns pertaining to clean drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene through creative initiatives involving art, music, sports, and positive activism, Viva con Agua mobilized over 15,000 volunteers and most of the donations collected through the work at festival and dancing events.
The organization has since grown into an international network with volunteers, partnerships such as with Welthungerhilfe (world hunger help), and support for numerous water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects in regions across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, benefiting millions through wells, latrines, hygiene education, and innovative technologies.
In 2019 Viva con Agua supported 16 WASH-Projects in ten countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, India, Mozambique, Nepal, Uganda, Sudan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone. Some of the creative water programmes were undertaken in Capetown, Durban in South Africa, Lusaka in Zambia, Gondar, Amhara in Ethiopia Mbulu in Tanzania, West Nile region of Uganda.
The organization upon completing 20 years of coming into being has decided to undertake 350 km long ‘water walk’ from Kassel to Hamburg during September 13-27, 2026, to raise awareness for clean drinking water themed ‘All in for water’ through stage activities, music, and creativity.
Viva con Agua through its campaign ‘universal languages for Wash behaviour change’ (UL4C) in India supported water issues in districts of Chhatarpur, Panna and Niwari in Madhya Pradesh from February 2022 to December 2025. It reached 50,000 households with 408,000 euros. Core interventions include Football4Wash training at 16 schools, renovation and construction of toilets and hand washing stations, the installation of water tanks and pipes and the introduction of solar water disinfection (SODIS) technology. The Wash and kids club were established, murals were painted in schools. The projects strengthened village water and sanitation committees (VWSCs) and organized events like river walks and festivals to raise awareness and demand for wash services.
Project leader Arnd Boekhoff said Viva con Agua is a network of people and organizations committed to establish access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation for all humans worldwide. Creative and joyful activities raise awareness for the global issues water, sanitation, and hygiene and simultaneously raise funds for worldwide water. It started with a friend circle from Hamburg but now their offices and locations are not just in Germany, but also in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Uganda, South Africa and California.
