H is for Hippo!

Many of my friends and family know that I have an affinity for Hippo's. No wise cracks from the audience please!! Michelle and I have collected them in many forms over the years - starting with the coolest white jade sculpture we found on a stop in San Fran during our honeymoon.

Well, as I pushed this blog out to the world a friend came back with information about one of the smartest and most effective inventions I've seen when it comes to solving the water issue in the third world - the Hippo Roller!

Basically a large plastic keg laid on it's side with handles coming out of the top and bottom. Villagers can fill it with water and roll it back to their home - instead of hauling heavy water jugs for miles at a time. And these Hippo Rollers carry 90 liters (20 gallons!) and are easy to maneuver. More fresh water, easier to transport. What a brilliant idea!

You can learn more about these awesome contraptions at http://www.hipporoller.org/ You can even offer a donation to these folks to help keep the work going.

To all of my friends working in small villages already - let me know if I can help you get some of these for the people there - it's a great augment to the work you're doing!

How big is the need?

I read some numbers online today about how many people die each year due to contaminated drinking water. 3.4 million. Let me write that again - 3.4 MILLION! That's the equivalent of thirty-eight 777's crashing and killing everyone on board - everyday! Nearly 1/2 of the worlds population is suffering from debilitating water related diseases. Water-borne pathogens account for 90 percent of the deaths in children each year.

This is not going to go away on it's own - we'll all need to be involved - especially those of us in wealthy countries with the means to help. Getting knowledge is the first step. I'm planning to spend a few days on education, and then hop into how you should be working with others to solve this problem.

There are several resource to help you learn more about the problem. The links on my sidebar will take to you a few sites of organizations work to fix the problem. You can find resources on Amazon like "The Worlds Water 2006-2007", and many others.

Please start learning about this issue - then we can work together to solve it!

Sanitation = Life!

The World Health Organization has done some work to bring attention to this issue. But like many topics, it gets lost in political noise, lack of focus, and other distractions. However, this article on sanitation and the major impacts clean water has on health is a good one. It starts with this quote from Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General:

“We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care.”

The full article can be read here:

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/envsan/sanitchallenge/en/

What are the impacts?

When clean water is scarce, all aspects of life are impacted

• Health—Contaminated water and poor sanitation are a factor in 88 percent of all disease in the developing world.
• Food production—Without water, crops and livestock die and healthy meals cannot be prepared.
• Economics—Poor health from unclean water causes a community’s productivity to suffer and family incomes to dwindle.
• Education—Where water is scarce, it is unlikely for schools to be built or teachers to move to the communities. And because children must spend hours fetching water, they are unable to attend school.

How can you help?

Get knowledgeable!

Visit some of the sites I have listed here, or browse the net for more information. There are books on Amazon.com that can help. The more your learn about this problem, the better you'll be prepared to help it go away.

Get the word out!

Tell your friends, family, coworkers. Send them this link. Once you add the group on your social network, communicate it with others. The more people involved the faster we can solve this problem.

Get Involved!

Do something - anything - to lend a hand. Contact an org with just words of encouragement. Or make a donation to their work. Or see if there's an opportunity for you to lend a hand. You'll be surprised how much they'll appreciate it - and how much better you'll feel about yourself.

Did you know?

3,800 children die every day from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
Source: UN World Water Development Report 2, 2006

2.6 billion people, or 42 percent of the world's population, have inadequate or nonexistent access to proper sanitation. Source: Meeting the MDG Drinking Water and Sanitation Target
Source: (WHO/UNICEF 2004), WHO/UNICEF Water for Life 2005

Getting the word out...

Today I'm doing my first email blast - if I can figure out the LinkedIn tools for managing groups! I'm hoping some of my business contacts want to join this cause - spreading the word to their counterparts, visiting / commenting on the blog, getting involved with the folks doing the work on the ground, etc. I'm excited - but only cautiously optimistic. Lots and lots of moving parts:

1) Will I figure out the email tools?
2) Will people read and click through the blast?
3) Will they join the group, visit the blog, etc?

Heck - sending the email is the first step - then we'll see what happens. I'm going to start getting more content posted, and link to more resources. And hopefully over Labor Day weekend I'll start working on the website - we'll see how that comes along.

Alright - now all I have to do is hit send...

Water = Life!

As I have traveled around this awesome planet and met people from nearly all regions, I have become aware of a major issue. One vital resource is missing out there, especially with our brothers and sisters in impoverished regions: Clean Water.

We can offer her as much medicine as we want, but if a poor woman has to drink her antibiotics with stagnant water from the same pond she bathes in, what use is it?

We can provide food and vitamins to people in villages and townships, but if they drink from the stream where cattle and other animals are defecating, they will still die from malnutrition when their intestines are infiltrated with parasites and disease.

I’ve decided that the most important first step in helping others is to provide them with clean water by drilling wells. My marketing consulting experience has allowed me to work with several organizations that are doing just that – delivering this fundamental resource to those who need it, often times before governments get involved! Please join me in making this cause a major focus – it’s only through clean water that we’ll truly be able to save many millions of people in this world that are suffering with disease and starvation!

Here are a few organizations focused on this problem – feel free to contact them and help however you can! Whether it’s with a donation, taking a sabbatical to work with them in the field, providing donated services, etc., you can make a difference in the world!