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Everybody on the Planet Deserves a Toilet and Clean Water
I was a global mission volunteer for one year (August 1999 to August 2000) in war-torn Liberia, West Africa. My mission project, funded by the Danish government, was to reopen a school of nursing and paramedical training programs. This life-changing experience made me eternally grateful for the simple pleasures of life. I was fortunate to have a porcelain toilet in my little guest house but I was aware that so many Africans only dream of one day having a permanent mud brick house and a latrine of their own. In 2005, I returned to Liberia at the invitation of the Liberian Council of Churches to serve as an international observer for the presidential election. The election process produced the first woman president of an African nation - Ellen Sirleaf Johnson (recently listed as #100 of the 100 Most Powerful Women by Forbes magazine) What a huge job this woman faces - putting the small country about the size of Ohio, once known as the Switzerland of Africa - back together. So much healing of the people is needed after civil war, creating a new government that serves all the people and then the re-establishing of electricity and water in the capital city and community resources to the rural areas. During this 2005 visit to Liberia, I met a woman, Sara Wiles, president of the Ecumenical Women Organization. The organization is engaged in a project to build latrines and dig wells to provide safe drinking water for people in rural areas. It only takes $25 to create a latrine - there is plenty of willing and qualified men to dig the hole and build the platform. Separating sewage from drinking water is critical - diarrhea is the #1 killer of children under 5 years in the world. Wells are needed to provide clean water for drinking and cooking. I think every human being on this planet deserves a toilet and clean water so I want to commit myself and some of the eventual profits from Nanobugs, inc. to this cause. Anyone interested in helping? I promise to seek out honest people and organizations to support this vision beginning in West Africa. Starbucks has a program to provide safe drinking water for children - bottles of Ethos Water are sold at Starbucks stores and 5 cents from each bottle is set aside for this purpose. I like that and so I drink Ethos Water after I having my favorite beverage - a skinny green tea latte with no syrup. (try it - it's wonderful!) But if nothing else - buy a bottle of Ethos Water from time to time and make your contribution in that way. And always generate thoughts of gratitude when you drink clean water or other beverages made from clean water.
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