Day Two is all done and tucked away. I'm not sick of streaming yet! In the morning stream I addressed the question Why Water? Of all the things and reasons I could've chosen to actively promote for 30 days, why did I select the Global Water Crisis?
Water is of course, needed for life. It's not that these communities don't have any water, because they do. The problem is, they typically have to travel extreme distances to retrieve that water, and the water they get is contaminated.
Let's start by digging into the health issue. This water that they retrieve is full of parasites and bacteria that make people incredibly sick. Contaminated water kills an estimated 16,000 people per week, and 43% of those affected are under the age of 5. Many of the serious health issue encountered by individuals as they age are made worse by the water they drink. Seemingly innocuous cuts in mouths are exposed to vicious bacteria originating from the water source.
Next up on why water, is time. For some villages, the trip to get water is hours each way. It is a grueling activity that involves hauling back 5 gallon water jugs balanced atop the heads of the women, and young girls who drop out of school to help support their families in this way. No camelbacks, no water trucks, no wheelbarrows, just jugs perched on human domes. For the younger ones, this is time that can be used to continue their education, attending local schools. For older individuals in the home, this is time that can be used to work and earn money for their community, or take better care of their family and home.
For every dollar invested in a clean water project, there is a $4 to $8 return to the local economy, and that's just what can be conservatively measured. If we can solve this problem, communities may be able to help lift themselves out of abject poverty, and start making positive, self-sustaining impacts on their communities. The magnitude of this time and the effect cannot be understated. According to charity: water, Women in Africa alone spend 40 Billion hours a year gathering water. That is an unfathomable amount of time. That is 4,563,000 years of human effort spent every year. Imagine what they could accomplish if this time was returned to them.
As for challenge updates and progress on fundraising, yesterday was a good day. I was thirsty more often, which resulted in several additional streams. I streamed 10 times if you count the middle of the night stream (technically day 3). I had a good conversation with my cousin, Jon Underbrink, who participated in the 24 hour challenge, and has now extended challenge to three of his friends.
We talked about what makes this difficult and interesting, and the thirstiest that he's ever been. It's good to be doing this with other people, and the conversations re-affirm that this is a cause worth talking about, and worth solving. Take a look at the whole conversation if you have a few minutes:
Finally, according to mailchimp's automated system, my daily email updates violated their acceptable use policy... As far as I can tell, they didn't, and I'm still waiting on an update from the MailChimp team. I assume that because it was the day before thanksgiving, I'm now going to have to wait until tomorrow or Monday to have my issue resolved. If you were someone that subscribed to daily updates, I'm sorry for the issue. I hope they will resume shortly.
Remainder of the video streams from today for enjoyment,
Post Cover Photo by Emily Morter