water is life.

i was watching the tyra banks show yesterday.  (yes you can take my man card if you want but when you don’t have cable not much is on at 4pm)  they had several women on the show that would not drink any kind or water but bottled water no matter how much they had to pay.  they filled three glasses each with a different kind of bottled water and had all three women taste them.  they then discussed the differences in purity and taste of the three waters.  afterwords tyra revealed that all three glasses were solely tap water from back stage.  even after all three women still said they would not drink tap water and pay for the bottled water.  i wanted to punch all three in the face!  this is why.

water is a simple necessity.  how often do we thirst for a simple glass of water?  some of us often, many of us prefer a soda, juice, etc.  still, all consist of water.  water is life.  the human body is composed of 55-60% water.  in our everyday lives we can find water just about anywhere.  a water fountain in the mall,  bottled water at the convenient store, a fresh flowing stream at a high altitude in the mountains.  we don’t realize how much we depend on it.  how much we need it.  what do our lives look like with out it?  how far would we go to find it?  how hard would we work for it?

in africa, water is scarce.  its said that 80% of all diseases in africa could be cured by clean drinking water.  80 percent!  africans walk miles to wash their clothes, bath, let their kids play, let their animals drink, and fill water jugs so that they can drink.  all of this from the same polluted stagnant water source.  i am a guy who eats runts off a mall floor that i don’t know whose they were before hand and don’t care a thing about what germs might be on my hands.  however, i am not a guy that wishes to quench my thirst in the same pool that my donkey is standing in after walking through its own feces just moments before.

when i went to ethiopia in february i had the opportunity to help build part of a well that will provide an entire village with clean drinking water.  it was a great experience for me because the money to build this particular well in africa was given by a local company in harrisburg where i live.  the well cost $2500.

the money spent just to make the bottles for the amount of bottled water americans buy uses more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil annually which is enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a whole year.  (www.filterforgood.com)  if you know me, you know that i love water and would prefer it over a soft drink, juice, beer, etc anytime.  and i also despise spending money on something that is free.  that is why you will always see me with a nalgene full of water.  so what am i trying to say?

this is my challenge.  think about how much you and your family spends each week just on drinks.  whether it be sodas, coffee, bottled water, etc.  what if anytime we are thirsty or went out we asked for tap water.  then we took the $1.50 per drink and donated it to an organization that builds wells in the villages of africa.  on average say we all spend about $4.00 a day on some sort of drink or drinks.  if 20 people committed to doing this for one month, you could build a well that would change the lives of thousands of people for a lifetime!  its one month to you, and a lifetime of health to thousands!

this blog is somewhat jumbled, but feel free to ask me about any organization that builds wells or anything else.

cheers.

~ by kareydigh on April 8, 2008.