We never know when God will take hold of our hearts and give us a passion for some fight or injustice in the world. Sometimes it comes slowly; other times, it’s put right in front of us. Here’s an exert from a Blood:Water supporter’s blog who now uses his business, Fresh Idea Websites to help bring clean water to people in Africa.
After traveling to a 3rd-world country for a week-long trip as a support worker bringing medical help and supplies, it was difficult in some ways to come back to Canada after what I left thinking was going to be a great adventure. While there, I was taken back by the thankfulness of individuals, and how they made the most of what they had, and enjoyed the life they were given to live.
The one thing that really stopped me in my tracks was the condition of the water. In our hotel we were told not to run our toothbrush under the tap, and it was recommended we shave using splashes of bottled water provided to us by the government rather than rub tap water where it could get in a nick while shaving. The locals often collected rainwater in barrels on their homes because they couldn’t afford the government water, rather than using contaminated tap water if they even had plumbing. Before I left on that trip, my wife and I had recently decided to purchase filtered water for our drinking and cooking because I like the taste better than the 98% pure tap water running through my house, and now seeing the conditions of these people, I realized that I had to do something that was beyond me. Something that allows people the opportunity to have fresh water, essential for health, hygiene and self-esteem.
Fresh Idea Websites is about more than keeping Web sites fresh. It has to be about something bigger than that, and even though we haven’t grown to the point where we’re able to change the world, we have the means to change someone’s world. We’ve taken our first steps on keeping the world fresh by supporting Blood:Water with $1 for each of our client service contracts every month.
Blood:Water has a simple approach to partner with Africa’s hidden heroes, people with influence and compassion who understand local communities to facilitate a cultural change by educating communities about HIV/AIDS and by providing technical support for filtering water and digging new wells.
In their first 10 years, they brought clean water to 1 million people in Africa. The Next Million goal is to reach an additional million people with clean water in only three years. We’re doing what we can to keep the world fresh. Would you like to help provide clean water to people around the world? Find out how!
Adam McLaughlin Fresh Idea Websites
