Where our fundraising efforts went

Back in February of this year, an event was held worldwide to raise money and awareness about the lack of access to clean water in sub-Saharan Africa.  The event was called Twestival, and 100% of the funds raised went to charity:water.

I got a note today that the first Twestival funded drilling successfully hit clean water at a depth of 176 feet in a remote Ethiopian village called Mai Nebri:

More than 10,000 individual donors contributed just shy of $250,000 – enough for 50 villages and 12,500 people to get clean water. As always, 100% of the money will fund water projects.

Like so many in this harsh region, Mai Nebri’s women and children walk more than 5 hours every day for unsafe water. Some of the women had deformed backbones from carrying 40 pounds of water. A hyena attack recently claimed the life of a child on her way to the water hole at 4 a.m., and waterborne diseases like bilharzia and diarrhea are common. Many of the girls here don’t get a chance to attend school and instead have to fetch water.

What’s different?

Humanitarian efforts happen all the time. What’s different about Twestival is that it was 100% volunteer organized in less than a month (via twitter), AND we can actually see where our dollars are going!

This is the first of 4 days of video of the first installation of a well & pump to people who desperately need it. When I fast once a week, I keep people like the ones in these villages in mind. We live unbelievably comfortable lives by comparison.
Want to help?

$20 can give one person in a developing nation clean water for 20 years. Pretty different from bank & insurance giant bailouts, huh?