in 'honor' of Bono's upcoming birthday (May 6 actually May 10!) The African Well fund is having a Well building drive . . .
A Well?
actually, a well isn't what is strange here. I think it's pretty ludicrous that we need something like Bono's birthday to remind us of this, but alas, whatever it takes!
here are just a few water stats from their site to remind us what is at stake:
More than half of Africa's people lack access to safe drinking water (UN)
Of all the renewable water available in Africa each year, only 4% is used -- because most Africans lack the wells, canals, pumps, reservoirs and other irrigation systems (Africare)
Each flush of the toilet uses the same amount of water that one person in the Third World uses all day for washing, cleaning, cooking and drinking (www.whrnet.org).
In the past ten years, diarrhea has killed more children worldwide than all the people lost to armed conflict since World War II (Water Aid)
Twelve million people die each year from lack of safe drinking water, including more than 3 million who die from waterborne diseases (WHO)
Over 80% of the disease in developing countries is related to poor drinking water and sanitation (WHO)
1.5 billion people in the world are suffering from parasite infections, which can cause malnutrition, anemia and delayed growth, due to the presence of solid human waste in the environment. Many of these infections could be controlled with improved hygiene, clean water and sanitation. These (www.whrnet.org).
One-third of women in Egypt walk more than an hour a day for water; in other parts of Africa, the task can consume as much as eight hours (www.unfpa.org)
In some parts of Africa, women expend as much as 85% of their daily energy intake on getting water, increasing incidences of anemia and other health problems (www.unhabitat.org)
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usually at this point i ask What Will We Do?
well, let's build a Well! This is going to take some intentionality on all our parts but I will try to make it as painless as possible. (i have zero tolerance for figuring out paypal but if someone wants to help me out to set up a "donation" that would rock kasbah)
The instructions are rudimentary . . .
1. Click Here. (Wait!!) [updated link]
[now hit the "Click here to make your most generous gift to Africare." either at the top or the bottom of the message]
2. Look at the picture. Read the three sentence thank you. Then click Sign Up
3. Fill out the online form.
4. When asked "How would you like to help?" choose "I am a donor from the African Well Fund website" from the pull-down menu.
5. Then Click Here to sign Bono's Birthday card . . .
6. leave a comment (anonymous or not) back at this post with how much you gave . . . we'll tally up the total on May 6.
(okay, i need to finish my paper i'm supposed to present here tomorrw!)
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