I'll be honest, I had never heard of Charity:Water before WELL Summit. I sat down for Scott Harrison's keynote, ready to listen and learn... but what I received was so, so much more than a lesson. As a woman of privelage, I felt moved to write this blog post because the message of Thirst and Scott's keynote, was that we have the ability and as I understand it myself, the responsibility to help bring clean water to those around the world who suffer in so many ways because of the lack of it. Now of course, I was vaguely aware of issues with clean water but I had never taken the time to dig deep and educate myself on the real problems that plague nearly 663 million people worldwide (that's 1 in 10 or twice the US population). Throughout Scott's presentation, I was struck again and again at the conditions that people live through, the children that trek day in and day out with the women of their families, in order to retrieve even the smalles amounts of water. I cried so much throughout the keynote that I was #1 embarrassed but #2 moved beyond words... turns out, that the vast majority of the attendees were shedding some tears, so I was in good company. I think what struck me most was that I take clean water for granted, nearly every single day. With two flushes of one of my toilets, I use as much water as some women would hope to collect in a day. My mind was blown not just by the conditions but at how clean water affects so many different aspects of these people's lives for health, education, and even self esteem. Clean water isn't just about drinking but providing a quality of life that every person deserves. I hope that every single person in that room with me either made a donation, bought the book or shared the message within their social circles. I know that when my Mom and Sister were up visiting, I made sure to give them the download so that they could do their own research and spread the good word farther. To date, Charity: Water, their donors (like you and me) and their local partners have worked on 29,725 projects, providing clean water to over 8 million people. If that's not truly amazing, I don't know what is.
Scott's book covers a lot of this as well as his pretty amazing journey that led him to start Charity:Water and with every purchase of Thirst, a $30 donation is made back to Charity: Water, so it's a total win- win, a decision I immediately made! I purchase two copies, one for myself and one for a lucky Prim and Propah reader (psst. I already emailed and the donation was made on our behalf!) I'd love to continue spreading the message of an amazing charity that is taking 100% of the donations from us and using it to employ locals to build wells and other means of bringing clean water to their communities. You want on board with this? Check out my instagram post below to enter to win a copy of Scott Harrison's Thirst for yourself! My gal pal Elizabeth is giving away a copy as well so grab your crew and let's help more people in this world have clean water and a better life!