action development sustainability
Direct cooperation with real impact
Over 20 years working with rural communities in Africa on water, health, education and food security.
+20
years of fieldwork
157
water wells
+100
projects
+500K
direct beneficiaries
Water, health and sustainable development to transform lives
For over 20 years, Fundación ADS has worked with vulnerable communities in Africa. We run projects on water, food security, health, education and community development.
Our main focus is Ethiopia. There, we run our projects directly on the ground, working closely with public institutions and rural communities.
Our vision is clear: to help communities lead their own development.
Areas of work
water and sanitation
We build and repair water systems. This brings safe water, improves community health and eases the daily burden on families.
Fighting hunger and food security
We support agroecology and local food production, and help communities build resilience to poverty and climate change.
health
We help people access basic health services, prevention and community care in low-resource areas.
education
We create learning and training opportunities that open doors to the future, especially for children and young people.
emergencies
When urgent needs arise, we step in with resources and direct support.
awareness
We share the reality of the communities we work with and encourage people to become active, engaged citizens.
Featured campaign
Help restore the Gulele Gabriel well
150 families in Gulele Gabriel (Ethiopia) want their well working again. With €3,542, we can replace the whole pump and hand the well back to them.
€1 raised of €3,542
LATEST NEWS
Spain
News
Wine can turn into water, too. With Wine2Water we’re opening the door to wineries, distributors, wine shops and industry professionals so that, each in their own way, they can help drill safe water wells in rural communities in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia
News
Researchers from CEU San Pablo University visited us in Ethiopia to launch trials with beneficial bacteria (PGPR) on chickpeas and lentils in Gimbichu, with support from the ”la Caixa” Foundation.
In the media
An article by Francisco Asís Moreno, president of ADS, in the Annals of the Royal National Academy of Medicine on the occasion of the 2025 Solidarity Cooperation Award: twenty years of health and community projects in Ethiopia.
In the media
The Real Madrid Foundation holds its first coach training workshops at the Sagure social-sports school in Ethiopia, which it runs with ADS for some 250 children at risk of social exclusion.
Spain
News
We have received the 2025 RANME Solidarity Cooperation Award, which recognizes our 20 years of work in health and social cooperation.
In the media
COPE tells the story of Paco Moreno, who left his law practice in Madrid to bring water to rural communities in Ethiopia: how he started out as a volunteer in 2003, how he finds water on the ground and his track record of more than 155 wells.
Ethiopia
News
On March 20, 2025, we signed an agreement with the Real Madrid Foundation to create the first Social-Sports School in Sagure (Oromia), which will benefit 250 boys and girls.
In the media
Alfa y Omega interviews Paco Moreno, president of Fundación ADS, about his career and the method he uses to find water in rural Ethiopia, where the foundation has now drilled 155 wells.
In the media
The podcast “Tu Viaje al Interior” talks in depth with Paco Moreno about his experience in Ethiopia, the reality of the continent beyond the clichés, and the work of ADS.
In the media
Roberto Carlos welcomes Francisco Moreno, president of Fundación ADS, to Real Madrid City to present the Sagure social-sports school in Ethiopia, which will serve around 300 vulnerable children through football and values education.
Ethiopia
News
We have wrapped up the AECID-funded project in Gimbichu: a well, a solar pump, drip irrigation and a Water Committee that champions the role of women in food security.
Spain
News
Kokebe workshops at CEIP Gloria Fuertes primary school in Córdoba and CEIP Cervantes in Espejo, and a charity FUNdraiser at the American School of Madrid.
Spain
News
Our photo exhibitions are touring UNED, the University of Almería and the San Juan Bautista Cultural Center to share the reality of women and girls in Ethiopia.
Spain
News
Awareness days with “la Caixa” volunteers, a gathering with members in Madrid, a presentation at Club Argo and the UAR Gladiator Race.
Ethiopia
News
With support from the Bizkaia Provincial Council, we strengthened the nutrition program for 870 children under 7 and 150 pregnant or nursing women in Muketuri.
Ethiopia
News
Two new wells: one 72 meters deep for about 842 people in Arkiso Harcho (Muketuri) and another for the Metahara Health Center.
Ethiopia
News
With Fundación Parentes, we support the Sagure school and built a kindergarten in Jimma that gives 350 children access to preschool education.
Spain
News
“Kokebe and the adventure of going to school” shows students the reality of many Ethiopian girls who can’t go to class because they have to fetch water.
Spain
News
On January 26, the band “ESPERANDO NADA +” played a charity concert at El Elefante Blanco in Madrid to raise funds so our NGO can carry on its humanitarian aid and development cooperation work.
Spain
News
On November 30, 2023, we met our members in Bilbao to share the year’s achievements and our projects and goals for 2024.
Ethiopia
News
Since 2020, we have worked with the Mundo Sano Foundation in Amhara and Benishangul-Gumuz against strongyloidiasis and other tropical diseases, reaching more than 120,000 people.
Ethiopia
News
A 71-meter well with a hand pump gives the village of Bosoke Yate Kataba (Muketuri) access to safe water, thanks to Córdoba City Council.
Spain
News
For the 29th edition of its Solidarity Awards, Telva magazine has given us third prize in the international category for our project to provide safe water and better nutrition for the people of Harkiso, Ethiopia.
Ethiopia
News
Our summer camp in Ethiopia combines activities and nutritious meals for children with a volunteering experience for young people.
In the media
To mark the 2022 TELVA Solidarity Award given to ADS, the weekly Alfa y Omega looks back on fifteen years of work in Ethiopia: drilling wells, the country’s food insecurity and how having water close by helps girls stay in school.
OUR PARTNERS
OUR PROJECTS
Ethiopia
Together with CEU San Pablo University, we’re bringing biofertilizers based on rhizobacteria (PGPR) to crops in Gimbichu to help farming families grow more food.
Ethiopia
A 200 m² multipurpose building on the St. Mary campus in Sagure that meets three needs: including children with special needs, ongoing teacher training and school management.
Ethiopia
The Real Madrid Foundation’s first social-sports school in Ethiopia, on the St. Mary campus in Sagure. It follows the “For a REAL Education: Values and Sport” method.
Ethiopia
We replaced the hand pump system in Mechela Andode, tested it and trained community representatives to use and maintain it.
Ethiopia
A combined food security, agroecology and women’s empowerment project. Launched in January 2025, it sets out to change life in a rural community where 56% of people face food insecurity, through agroecological farming, livestock health, women’s leadership and selling surplus crops.
Ethiopia
We built two new classroom blocks, a toilet block with sanitation and a well with a pump at St. Mary Catholic Primary School in Semera.
Ethiopia
Our third safe water well drilled with Córdoba City Council in Muketuri: 70 meters deep, with a hand pump and a Water Committee led by women.
Ethiopia
We set up a community seed bank in Gimbichu, with a gender-balanced Management Committee, agroecology training and 8 vegetable varieties that produced a surplus to sell.
Ethiopia
We built a kindergarten in Jimma (Oromia), run by the Missionaries of Charity, with room for 350 children aged 3 to 6.
Ethiopia
Two safe water wells: one with a hand pump in a rural community in Muketuri, and one with a solar pump at the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady health center in Metahara.
Ethiopia
We drilled a 71-meter well with a hand pump in the village of Bosoke Yate Kataba, with a Water Committee led by women from the community.
Ethiopia
An emergency nutrition program to strengthen and expand the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle’s program in Muketuri.
Ethiopia
In 2022 and 2023, the Castellón Provincial Council supported our safe water work in Ethiopia by covering staff and management costs.
Ethiopia
Our first safe water well drilled with Córdoba City Council in Ethiopia, in Kasimi Arkiso, 5 km from Muketuri: 71 meters deep, with a hand pump, water testing, a platform and fencing.
Ethiopia
During its Solidarity Week in December 2021, the Los Olivos School community in Málaga raised €18,000 to drill a well in Kaso Abo.
Ethiopia
Our second partnership with the Quokka brand to drill a safe water well in Muketuri, with a hand pump and a community-run Water Committee.
Ethiopia
We built a preschool and a well with pumping equipment and water lines for the primary school and kindergarten run by the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary in Sagure.
Ethiopia
A well, a solar pump, a drip irrigation system, a tukul and a women-led Water Committee. A pilot project whose lessons are now being applied in Yate Fishou.
Ethiopia
Researching and rolling out natural zeolite technologies to remove fluoride from water in Ethiopia’s Rift Valley.
Ethiopia
A research, diagnosis and public policy project tackling strongyloidiasis, a neglected parasitic disease that affects between 300 and 600 million people worldwide.
Ethiopia
Our response to the COVID-19 crisis in Ganda Hala: supplementary food, seeds, fertilizer, livestock and hygiene supplies for 80 families.
Ethiopia
Two prefabricated wards, with 30 beds in total, so that visceral leishmaniasis patients in Addis Zemen and Axum can be treated inside the hospital.
Ethiopia
Between 2016 and 2019 we were the lead implementing partner in Ethiopia for KalaCORE, the UK aid program to improve the diagnosis and treatment of visceral leishmaniasis.
Ethiopia
Between 2010 and 2013, at the request of the Ethiopian authorities, we took our nutrition program to the Asayita refugee camp to care for children, pregnant women, nursing mothers and older people.
Ethiopia
We refurbished the Asayita health center and built its inpatient and surgery buildings, turning it into the second hospital in the Afar region.
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Be part of cooperation that changes lives
Every contribution counts. With your support, we can keep running water, health, food security and education projects with vulnerable communities in Africa.Join a close, direct way of working that makes a real difference on the ground.