Water for Christmas

A friend of mine called me a month ago to tell me a story about her experience with meeting an Ethiopian man. She was sitting at a restaurant having lunch with a friend and just outside the restaurant was a beautiful water fountain. Her waiter was a man in his sixties from Ethiopia. He shared with her that he had been living in America for 20 years. During their conversation he said, "see that water fountain over there? Isn't it just beautiful? Here, in America, people walk right by it without even noticing." Then he talked about how we as Americans take running water for granted and that in Ethiopia as a child he had to walk 6 miles one way to retrieve dirty, contaminated drinking water for his family.

I have been thinking about how to give back to my son's country. Before my friend called to share the above story, I had already started researching ways to help bring running water to Ethiopia. But when my friend called to share this story, I knew that this will be our way of giving back to our son's country.

I am still working on the perfect way to run my own campaign to support well digging in Ethiopia. But for now, another fellow blogger, Tesi has set up a means for us to give through Charity Water, a foundation that digs wells all over Africa. Tesi's project will help dig a well in Liberia.

Please take a moment to explore Charity Water's website. I have added a link on my sidebar for your convenience. Instead of buying the usual amount of Christmas presents this year, consider giving Water for Christmas. Together we can help bring water to all parts of the world. Not only is water necessary to survive but clean drinking water will help lower the spread of deadly diseases.

Here are just a few facts about the lack of water in our world:

• 4500 children a day die due to lack of clean water
  
• Unclean water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, killing more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
  
• 1.1 billion people lack access to clean water.
  
• 1 in 6 people are affected by the water crisis
  
• In many parts of the world women and children walk over 3 hours every day for water that will most likely make them sick.
  
• $20 can give 1 person in Africa clean water for 20 year