Day 29 = Charity :: Water

The 40 Day Fast is a collaborative effort of 80 bloggers to equip and inspire other to take action on behalf of those in need. Today Stephen and I are the two bloggers for July 21st. Be sure to visit him as well.

Today for my entry into the 40 Day Fast I wanted to highlight Charity :: Water. I’d posted about them earlier around Christmas time.

I first heard of Charity when my wife was looking through a magazine and asked me if I’d heard of Charity: Water. I’d not. But she thought it would be a nice idea to give as a gift. She said we’d pay $20 for a bottle of water and have it sent to friends and family. At first I thought, “Twenty bucks? For a bottle of water?!?”

But as I began to read and research, I was hooked on them. Their site is very well done and tells the story of what they do and why they do it. And 100% of all money donated goes towards building a well. They have separate donors who buy the water. So that means if you pay $20 for a bottle of water, all $20 goes to well building. We bought a handful of bottles of water for Christmas, and plan to continue to do so in the future.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Many people in the developing world, usually women and children, walk more than three hours every day to fetch water that is likely to make them sick. Those hours are crucial, preventing many from working or attending school. Additionally, collecting water puts them at greater risk of sexual harassment and assault. Children are especially vulnerable to the consequences of unsafe water.  Of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation, 90% are children under 5 years old.

Scott Harrison began Charity: Water after working in the club promotion scene in New York. But he realized that there was more to life. That all the excess and “fun times” really didn’t bring fulfillment. So he remembered where the Bible tells us to server the poor. So he found out where the poorest people in the world were at the time and sought out a way to server them. He was going to give a year of his life.

So he ended up applying to be a photographer with Mercy Ships, a humanitarian organization which offered free medical care in the worlds poorest nations. Scott took photos to document the experiences as a photojournalist. He saw the lack of water and the effects it was having on the health and welfare of the people in Africa.

And from what Scott saw and experienced as a photojournalist with Mercy Ships changed him. When he returned to New York and went to the same parties, he realized that the money spent on a bottle of bubbly in NYC would provide life changing water to hundreds of people.

So he threw a fund raiser, invited all his friends and contacts, and Chairty: Water was born.

In 18 months Charity: Water has raised over $3 Million Dollars and funded over 600 water projects. View the wells by country. You can view the wells on Google Earth too.

In many places in this world, Jesus is waiting for His mom to come back from her long walk and wait at the well to bring back some dirty water. We can make a difference in helping make sure that clean water is available for all people on Earth. I know that there are many different organizations and ministries that are working towards that goal. And I firmly believe that Charity: Water is making a huge difference in hundreds of thousands of lives.

Are you willing to donate as well?