Friday, September 03, 2010

Public Service Announcement

A classmate of mine (check out her blog...they have a really neat story) has started a fundraising campaign to build a well in a poor African village.

The cost of building a well that will serve 250 people is $5000. I know that most people (myself included) consider $5000 to be a lot of money, but it's really not that much when you consider that a village of people will not have to worry about having safe water for a very long time. $5000 has the potential to save a lot of lives. 42,000 people die each week from illnesses that could have been prevented if they had only had clean drinking water. 90% of those that die each week are children under the age of five.

It's unfathomable. My mind can't imagine it because it's so far removed from my daily reality.

$5000 becomes more manageable when lots of people chip in. Every little bit helps. As of right now, they have raised $3750/$5000...and here's the really cool part -- if they raise the rest of the money within the next 27 days, you will actually get to see the well getting drilled and pictures of the site and actual villagers enjoying the well that your donations helped to build.

Even if you can't donate a few dollars to this cause, please spread the word about this project. There's also a facebook page you can link to if you want a convenient way to advertise this to your friends.

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