One of my favorite non-profits is one I first heard about when I was in college called blood:water mission. They work with local people in villages in East Africa to build wells to give people access to clean water, and they also work to combat HIV & AIDS.
Last year, blood:water mission started an annual campaign called 40 Days of Water. They ask people to give up all beverages but tap water for Lent, and to donate the money they save to blood:water to help build wells in East Africa. It might be one of the best ideas for Lent that I've heard: it's an actual sacrifice (40 days with no wine or Diet Pepsi is pretty bad), but it helps people, too.
Here's the promo video about 40 Days of Water:
And here's a video showing some of the results of their work in a village named Kodhok in western Kenya:
It astounds me that, in the age of iPads and self-driving cars, there are still so many people without access to clean water. How dehumanizing must it be to be forced to drink water filled with frog eggs, cholera, and typhoid, from a pond covered in green scum?
I'm thankful for the opportunity to take my wine and turn it into water for people like Monica, and for children like Jennifer who now spend their time in school rather than walking for hours to fetch water. The more barriers to education that we can eliminate, the more hope there is for the future of East Africa.
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