A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center in Seattle. The center opened in February of this year, and showcases the innovative work that the foundation’s partners are doing to address difficult challenges in the developing world in health and poverty alleviation, and in the United States through education. The foundation is guided by the belief that all lives have equal value, and that every person deserves the chance to live a healthy, productive life.
Service is Joy
I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.
A Model of Hope and Perseverance from Niger
Dominated by the vast expanse of the Sahara, Niger, the second poorest country in the world, is 80% desert. It is also landlocked, plagued by near-constant drought, and at the epicenter of the world water crisis. 68% of Nigeriens lack access to clean water, 87% lack adequate sanitation, fewer than 30% of adults are literate. There is not a single rowboat or scull in the entire country. Basically, it is the last place on earth that you would expect to produce a hero of Olympic rowing. Yet this week, one of the biggest stories to come out of the Games in London is that of Hamadou Dijbo Issaka, a gardener from Niamey, Niger’s capital, who is competing in the Olympics as the sole member of his nation’s rowing team.
Witnessing Famine Relief in Niger, West Africa
When we visited Niger in January 2012, we saw the beginning of the famine to come in the Sahel, West Africa. As we drove into the village of Miyaki where we had drilled a well three years earlier, we saw mothers lined up to have their children evaluated for malnutrition and to receive food supplements that our partner, World Vision, was distributing. Wells Bring Hope is very proud to be affiliated with a humanitarian organization that is doing so much to alleviate this food crisis.
Water is Fundamental
Water is fundamental for life and health. The human right to water is indispensable for leading a healthy life in human dignity. It is a pre-requisite to the realization of all other human rights.
— The United Nations Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights
Water for the World
If passed by Congress, the Water for the World Act will help bring water and sanitation to millions of people who suffer a lack of access to clean, safe water, which in turn leads to disease, malnourishment, and often death
Niger’s hunger crisis could lead to more child marriages
The Washington Post published a chilling story on July 9 about how the famine in West Africa could lead to even more child marriages in Niger, which already has the world’s highest rate of child marriage.
Wordy Wednesday
“A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform.” – Diane Mariechild
Los Angeles Senior High School Holds Successful Water Walk
Despite very limited time to plan, Los Angeles Senior High School managed to have 53 students participate in its water walk on April 12. In order to understand what women in Africa must endure on a daily basis—trekking long distances to gather clean water—I brought four 80-pound cans of water for the students to take turns carrying during their one mile walk around the campus track at lunchtime.
Happy Fourth of July from Wells Bring Hope
Fourth of July reflections
