Hi, and welcome to our page. Our names are Heather and Urba. After reading The Hole in Our Gospel for our church's summer book club and learning the extent of poverty in our world, we felt compelled to do something. In America, we take clean water for granted to the point of being wasteful. We even use water for recreational purposes while people in developing countries spend their days retrieving unsafe water to provide for their families' needs. Imagine the horror of a parent deciding whether to watch their child die of thirst or of diarrhea because the only available water is full of bacteria, parasites, and waterborne diseases. The lack of clean water also impacts the economic welfare of these communities: women cannot work because they are fetching water, and children usually cannot attend school for the same reason. Men become too weak from illness to work and provide for their familes. It's a vicious cycle, and clean water is the only thing that will help.
These problems are overwhelming, but we can all help, no matter how small it seems. We can make a difference for a community with one well. One well can change the lives of 250 people.
We, along with our familes, are committed to raising the money for one well by the end of 2013. For our part, we are collecting loose change, holding bake sales, and donating the money we receive for birthdays or holidays. Additionally, we hope to inspire you through our families' pledges to cumulatively walk, run, or bike 5000 miles in the next 18 months: one mile for each dollar we hope to raise. On our fundraising page, our goal will read $835 over 3 months, the maximum amount of fundraising time allowed by mycharity: water, so that they can quickly funnel the money to current water projects. We will renew our campaign at the end of each quarter until we reach our goal of $5000, the cost of one well. We are asking you to donate at least $1 (although we will happily accept bigger donations) and to pass along the link to this page or our donation page to your friends and family. If we go over our goal, we plan to start working on the money for a second well.
We plan to post updates at least once a week with progress on both fundraising and miles, so check back often, cheer us on, and join us in our quest to make a difference in this world. Also, we will soon provide more information about ourselves and our families, so you can get to know us. Please comment and let us get to know you, as well! We are excited to be on this journey to show ourselves and our children that change begins with us.
Please donate at http://mycharitywater.org/MilesForWells.
Thank you for your donation. Each dollar really will make a difference.
In Christ,
Heather and Urba
"If you think you're too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito."
-African proverb
