That was the statistic our five-year old son heard that started his dream. Giving water to the kids in Ethiopia became the topic of most conversations heard in our home ... and outside the home. After he briefly spoke to the entire church congregation, advising them that the kids are dying and we need to help them, it was apparent our family needed to take the next steps in fulfilling his dream.
We are excited to be partnering with HOPE International to build a gravity fed water system in the 01 Kebele Village of the Bonke District in Southern Ethiopia. The population in 01 Kebele is 3,458. Currently, 40% of children die before the age of 5 years old due to the extreme water conditions. We look at our son, adopted from Ethiopia only two and a half years ago, and know it could have been him. What if it was your child; your neighbours’ child; your grandchild; your nephew or your niece?
Water is just the beginning. Once water is provided to a village, huge opportunities are provided:
- The Ethiopian Government comes behind to build a school and a clinic.
- Houses are able to be built with cement walls.
- Crops and fields can be irrigated to provide nutritious food for the families and allow families to sell what they don't need to earn money.
- Water provides protection from drought.
- Prevention of diseases due to contaminated water.
- The death rate decreases from 40% to 5%.
- The people receive education and training to maintain their systems, run crops and stop the spread of diseases, including AIDS and malaria.
HOPE International is the only organization providing permanent clean water systems in the Districts of Southern Ethiopia. Each district contains approximately 100,000 to 300,000 people. HOPE International has been doing this work for 15 years. It has yet to receive any call back to fix any of their water systems. Once the system is in, the people take responsibility and maintain and smoothly operate the systems.
We are asking you to be proactive in our campaign to save lives. We are asking you to help us change the lives of 3,458 people and open doors to the future as that population grows. The alternative is to sit back and watch those same 3,458 people die from their water conditions and close the doors to any future. This is a permanent fix for an entire village; not a temporary thing.
The cost to build a gravity fed water system is $75,000.00. For every $25,000.00 raised, the Canadian government will contribute $50,000.00 to complete the well. Your contribution will be tripled!
We will be visiting the 01 Kebele Village in Summer of 2010. Upon our return to Canada, we will report to you with photos and video of what your generous contribution has gifted lives with.
We are excited to be partnering with HOPE International to build a gravity fed water system in the 01 Kebele Village of the Bonke District in Southern Ethiopia. The population in 01 Kebele is 3,458. Currently, 40% of children die before the age of 5 years old due to the extreme water conditions. We look at our son, adopted from Ethiopia only two and a half years ago, and know it could have been him. What if it was your child; your neighbours’ child; your grandchild; your nephew or your niece?
Water is just the beginning. Once water is provided to a village, huge opportunities are provided:
- The Ethiopian Government comes behind to build a school and a clinic.
- Houses are able to be built with cement walls.
- Crops and fields can be irrigated to provide nutritious food for the families and allow families to sell what they don't need to earn money.
- Water provides protection from drought.
- Prevention of diseases due to contaminated water.
- The death rate decreases from 40% to 5%.
- The people receive education and training to maintain their systems, run crops and stop the spread of diseases, including AIDS and malaria.
HOPE International is the only organization providing permanent clean water systems in the Districts of Southern Ethiopia. Each district contains approximately 100,000 to 300,000 people. HOPE International has been doing this work for 15 years. It has yet to receive any call back to fix any of their water systems. Once the system is in, the people take responsibility and maintain and smoothly operate the systems.
We are asking you to be proactive in our campaign to save lives. We are asking you to help us change the lives of 3,458 people and open doors to the future as that population grows. The alternative is to sit back and watch those same 3,458 people die from their water conditions and close the doors to any future. This is a permanent fix for an entire village; not a temporary thing.
The cost to build a gravity fed water system is $75,000.00. For every $25,000.00 raised, the Canadian government will contribute $50,000.00 to complete the well. Your contribution will be tripled!
We will be visiting the 01 Kebele Village in Summer of 2010. Upon our return to Canada, we will report to you with photos and video of what your generous contribution has gifted lives with.
Please, join with our family in making dreams come true. As our son put it, "we are like super heroes". Come, be a super hero with us.
4 comments:
This is fantastic!! All the best on your new venture :)
How exciting! Such a simple concept and yet most people still don't get how blessed we are here.
So, what do we need to do now??
Unbelievably fantastic. What a wonderful thing. What's the best way to donate?
HOPE International is amazing! We have been researching aid organizations for about three years now and as far as we can tell, they fit best with what we were looking for. We hosted a table at their Edmonton fundraiser this November and have met with some of the people who work with them (one from Ethiopia) and have just been super impressed. Clean water is the foundation to everything in a developing country. That's awesome that you were able to get involved in this way and that Mikayas is helping. Also great news about the Canadian government!
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