Sometimes we do not sit back and think for a second of how the "basic" things in life are so important for LIFE itself. Do you realize how we take these things for granted? Every time that we are taking that breath of air, everyday when you go home and have a space to lay your head on, the food we eat, every fresh glass of water that we consume and can access so easily..... It makes me think and sometimes even makes me feel a little guilty, but most importantly it makes me feel grateful!
Through Thinking and gratitude I am inspired to take action with my "Water Creates Life!" project and shed as much light as I can on the lack of clean water access. As I observe my life I realize of how fortunate I am to be amongst the people who have access to safe water. According to the World Health Organization, each year, an estimated 4 billion people get sick with diarrhea as a result of drinking unsafe water. More than 2 million of them die; mostly children under the age of 5, most of them poor, and most of them living in the developing world. Safe drinking water is fundamental to healthy lives and prosperous communities. That is why I intend to raise awareness and funds to drill wells for the people of my country in South Sudan and throughout the world. Do you realize every person needs 20 to 40 liters of freshwater per day for drinking, cooking, and sanitation needs alone? Yet some 1.1 billion people world-wide do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. As a result, many people become sick, some lives are shortened, and some die.
In South Sudan alone, finding safe drinking water is a struggle for most villages. Ninety percent of the people living in Upper Nile State, South Sudan fled during the country’s 20-year civil war. After decades of conflict, people are returning to their lands to rebuild their lives. Most of these areas cannot provide clean water, health services or education for their children. As it is, everyone is affected with the issue of unsafe water, women and young girls are the most affected. For some of these women, they face a difficult choice: walk an average of two kilometers (1.2 miles) each way to get clean water from the nearest well—a journey that they would need to make four to six times a day carrying 40 pounds of water each time—or gather water from a nearby pit that they shared with the domestic and wild animals. If they chose the well, they would spend up to eight hours gathering water each day. If they chose the pit, the water would likely be contaminated, making them and their children sick. With YOUR help providing access to clean water, we can make the choice easy... Women can get clean water from a nearby source in a quarter of the time it would take them before, allowing them time to manage additional responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning, child care and farming and even time for education for the young girls. Imagine how much of an impact YOU can help me make in the lives of the people we help with such a basic need!
Last week I dedicated my birthday to raise awareness and funds to help provide clean water access in South Sudan. The interest and the support of the people was amazing, thank you to all of you who were there!!! I would like to keep inspiring people to involve themselves and take a stance to make a difference. I hope to spread as much light as possible on clean water through my project "Water Creates Life!" So please help me raise funds, awareness and spread the word. You can donate directly on this website,(all donations go directly towards the drilling of the water well in Bor town, Jonglei State, South Sudan) for our other projects such as Health, Education and Business please visit our main website Southern Sudan Initiatives, Inc.
here are a few photos of the event for "Give Up To Give-Life" Event.
