For the next ninety days, I am challenging my readers to raise $1200 for Charity: Water to provide water systems in Rwanda, Uganda, India, Honduras, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Malawi. 800 million individuals around the world have no access to clean water. This means children drink and bathe in contaminated water, which means they cannot go to school or focus in school due to water-borne disease. It also means farmers do not have clean water to take care of their crops. Clean water makes the overall health of the community better. It allows children to stay healthy and focused in school.
Charity: Water builds different water systems based on where the community is located. These include: hand-dug wells, drilled wells, rainwater catchments, gravity-fed systems, piped systems, water purifications, BioSand filters, and spring protections, based on where the community is located. These water systems allow communities to flourish in their environments.
Not only does Charity: Water build water pumps for communities, it also trains individuals to be mechanics to maintain and fix the water pumps. Not only does this allow the water pumps to keep working, it gives the mechanics a steady income and ownership.
In Northern Uganda, Helen used to ask herself everyday “How should I use this water today? Should I water my garden so we can grow food? Should I wash my children’s uniforms? Should I use it to cook a meal? Should we drink this water?” Before Charity: Water built a water pump in her community, Helen would have to make a choice between walking a mile and a half to stand in line for hours to get clean water or taking her chances with contaminated water and boiling it. Now Helen gets as much clean water as she wants and needs to get all her chores done. On top of that, Helen has time to bathe regularly, which makes her feel beautiful.
Not only does Charity: Water build water pumps for communities, it also trains individuals to be mechanics to maintain and fix the water pumps. Not only does this allow the water pumps to keep working, it gives the mechanics a steady income and ownership.
As Christians, we are called to share the good news with others. One way we can do that is to donate money to Charity: Water and help build water pumps in communities. The water pumps provide clean water for communities and help to wash away harmful diseases just as our baptisms wash away our sins.
Join me in the Baptism of the Lord Charity: Water Campaign. Together we can change lives with clean water.
—-
Photo Credit: Amber Sue Photography, www.ambersuephotography.com