About Us
Our History
WATAN USA grew from a small circle of volunteers responding to a single crisis into a global humanitarian network of sister charities and partner organizations, still guided by the same conviction that a community's response to suffering is a measure of its humanity.
Our story
How we began
The founding
A response to crisis
WATAN USA was founded to answer an urgent, unmet need: families caught in crisis with nowhere else to turn. What began as direct emergency relief grew, appeal by appeal, into a standing organization built to respond quickly wherever the need is greatest.
Growing the network
Sister charities and partner organizations
As the work grew beyond what one office could carry alone, WATAN USA built out a network of sister charities in the United Kingdom, France and Germany, and partner organizations including Giving Hands Canada and Giving Hands Australia, each working under the same principles in their own country.
Today
Emergency relief and long-term recovery
WATAN USA today runs both urgent emergency appeals, most recently for Gaza and Lebanon, and long-term programs in food security, clean water, healthcare, orphan care and education, working directly with the families and communities it serves.
Where we started
Built on direct relief
From the beginning, WATAN USA has worked directly with the people it serves, not through a chain of intermediaries. That principle has not changed as the organization has grown, and it still shapes how every appeal, program and partnership is run today.
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