tHE thirst project
The thirst project is a non profit organization that helps fund clean water for children and people in places where clean water is scarce. A man named Seth Maxwell and his friends bought about 1,000 water bottles and gave them out for free, to alert people about the dirty water in different places. The Thirst Project was founded by a bunch of college students using what they had like, money, stories, and factual information, to inform people of the risks that people in other countries are going through to stay alive. Progressively, in just five years, people have raised over $8 million with this program and funded over 300,000 people (give or take) with clean water.
Most people aren’t aware of this situation or just how grave it is. What’s worst is that the water is there, in the ground. But for most people in these harsh lands, they can’t drink it because they can’t afford to buy bottled water, or because of diseases. The distance a woman or child, walks to collect water is 3.75 miles. The task of water-collecting falls on young children who have no time for school. Without access to water, especially clean water, this hurts the type of poor community that lives everywhere. Without water, there is no life. 65 percent of the human body, water is essential to people. Water flows through the blood, carrying oxygen and nutrients to cells and flushing wastes out of our bodies. A billion different people on our planet don't have access to safe, clean drinking water which means that one in every eight of us will contract disease from dirty water. 4,100 children die every day from diseases. Approximately 80% of all diseases are water-borne and result from drinking dirty water. Diseases like this, kill more than 2.2 million people every year.
The cost to build a freshwater well in the developing nations, ranges from between $7,800 in Uganda to $20,000 in Kenya. Although it mostly depends, on the country, or city it’s located in. But the real solution is a dollar. Yes, a dollar. It may not seem much, but even the change in your cushions, helps too. If everyone in a high school donated a dollar, there would be enough to build at least 10 wells. This water is 100-300 feet underground. One well can provide up to 500 people with clean water for at least 15 years. One well can do all of that. Maxwell says, “When you bring clean water into a community, disease consistently drops consistently by upwards 88% nearly overnight! Child mortality drops by nearly 99% almost overnight.” This meaning that by giving or raising a dollar or some spare change, you can save someone’s life in another country. This means, more educations and jobs for women, and children.
I see my life differently because each time I drink water, I shouldn’t say ‘ugh this tastes nasty’ because there are children and men and women who are literally dying for clean water and I’m complaining of store bought water. I’m selfish because I don’t see what I have and why I am lucky to have it. I would be dying right now like those children, because I would have to drink dirty contaminated water. But now, I am willing to take the challenge to help save someone’s life, because their life literally depends on it. For my fundraising experience, I asked my dad, to help me fund raise a dollar for those children in Kenya, and Africa, and Uganda who are dying because of parasites, in their water. He agreed and gave me a dollar because he knows what it’s like and he’s seen the tragedy, in the news. People were curious to know because they’ve probably never seen what contaminated water can do to people. I know the dollar will help someone have a better life. They will have a longer existence and have an education
Photo used under Creative Commons from mripp