Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them

Live your dream and share your passion

When you eat, appreciate every last bite

Some opportunities only come only once-seize them

Laugh everyday

Believe in magic

Love with all your heart

Be true to who you are

Smile often and be grateful

…and finally make every moment count

Follow my new adventures: http://berniesafricanodyssey.blogspot.com

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

GIVE UP YOUR NEXT BIRTHDAY AND HELP BRING CLEAN WATER TO PEOPLE

Now does that sound like a great idea or what? 
It all started with Zeme showing me a picture of Will Smith in Ethiopia with his wife this month as they opened some water wells in the North of the country.  So I jumped on to the website http://mycharitywater.org to see what it was all about and just reading the information on there was enough to bring a tear and then hope that I could possibly make a difference to some-one out there by providing them clean drinking water. 

MyCharity:Water’s vision is simple and ambitious:
clean, safe drinking water for everyone on the planet.

ALMOST A BILLION PEOPLE STILL LIVE WITHOUT CLEAN WATER. 
4,100 CHILDREN DIE EACH DAY FROM WATER RELATED ILLNESSES. 

My first option was to sign up for the campaign to ‘Pledge my Birthday’ to help raise funds for a clean water project.  Birthdays. We all have them. Starting a birthday campaign is easy. Instead of birthday presents, just ask your family and friends to donate to clean water projects for your big day. 100% of the money you raise goes to the building of clean water projects around the world you can begin to help change lives!  Does it get any better than that?  So I signed up and was sent an email stating closer to my birthday I would be sent further information to give to my friends and family and get my birthday present money rolling in for some-one in need for a basic we take for granted. Clean drinking water.    

I then started to think why wait?  Is there something I could be doing now?  There was a ‘why wait’ option on the site so I have now created an account where people can start to donate money now and then I will call that my birthday present to 250 happy people in Rwanda.  I don’t get an option on which country is given the water wells, it would have been neat to have been able to help an Ethiopian village, but at the end of the day, people are in need all over the world and this is me just touching the surface. 

So my link if you wish to donate is:
Remember that every dollar helps and if all my friends on Facebook donated $5 each we would have enough for 1 well, $10 each would give us 2 wells and also benefit 500 people!  But let’s start small and hope that we can obtain our first target of $5000.00.

Have you ever said, "I'm dying of thirst?"

If so, I bet you didn't really mean it.

If you're like me, you don't spend too much time thinking about water -- it's everywhere we go. When we're thirsty, we flip a handle or push a button. When we're dirty, we twist a shower knob. When our garden needs watering, when our pasta needs to be boiled, when we use the bathroom -- water is just there for the taking.

But for almost 800 million people on the planet, it's not. Millions of women and children have to walk hours each day to get water from muddy ponds and rivers. And much of that water is infested with bacteria, parasites or leeches.

When I learned that an average of $20 can give someone access to clean, safe water, I decided to start a campaign to help. My goal is to raise $5000.00 charity: water will use 100% of the money to directly fund the water projects in the field. Even better, when the projects are complete, they'll show me just where our money went. That's right -- we'll be able to see the GPS coordinates photos and other details about the community we've impacted!

I've never actually been dying of thirst. I'm sure we'd all like to see a world where no one does. 

Together, we can make a difference in the global water crisis. I hope you'll consider helping.

An average water project costs $5,000, serving 250 people.
$20 can give one person access to clean drinking water.

Here's where the money goes
Preparation: Site evaluation, hydrogeological studies
Training: Community preparation and training seminars
Hardware: Cement, pipes, pump heads, site clearing
Staff on the ground: Drillers, engineers, hydrologists, drivers
Reporting: Digital cameras, GPS devices, internet costs

Work in some of the most remote areas of the world is carried out. Our partners face logistical, technical, cultural, political obstacles -- and still work hard to finish your project within 18 months.
What we get at the end of our successful clean water project is: 
A photo
A GPS coordinate of the project you built.
See your water project on Google Maps.
See the name & population of the village you helped.

So this is my first fund raising effort and I hope to be able to complete more as I get more involved in the African/Ethiopian community once I move here in January next year.

You can help make a difference-start now
http://mycharitywater.org/bernies-odyssey-for-clean-water


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