(World Vision Representative Jeff Witten talks about his trip to Ethiopia in July)

“This was my first trip to Ethiopia. Unlike other areas of Africa I’ve visited, where women carry water containers on their heads, the people in Ethiopia employed donkeys to help them carry things and bring water back from the water holes outside of the village.

“We saw donkeys everywhere, and many at the water hole we visited outside of Boset … The kids at the water holes were about 11 or 12 years old, with donkeys in tow to help them carry more water back home.

“We drove to the edge of a canyon and then walked about .25 miles to the water holes with the children. We didn’t know how far we were going to have to walk. We were walking in a canyon-type area that looked like it had been carved out by flash floods years ago. But it was really dry when we were there.

“The kids were drawn to us as we walked with them down to the water holes. It was a beautiful environment, in a Southern California dry desert kind of way. We continued walking across the flat plain and got to an area that was sandy.

“People had dug holes there that were about five feet deep to get to what they called ‘cleaner’ water. Donkeys, camels, monkeys and other animals were making the water in the area dirty. They think that if they dig deeper into the sand then they get even cleaner water, which is probably true, but it cannot be that much cleaner.

“We saw an old woman with a bucket, who kept scooping water out of the hole to get to the cleaner water below. She said she had been coming to this water hole since she was a little girl. She had walked one and half hours to get there, and it took her three hours to fill up her four jerry cans with water.

“ … In another area of Boset, there was a community with a deep borehole. They didn’t have to walk as far for water, and their day was more freed up to spend time on other activities. These children and families also didn’t have to fear getting sick from drinking their water.”

This is what World Vision is doing in Ethiopia. Please join us to make this kind of difference for children and families!

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First of all we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for all the development activities you have been carrying out here in Shone district.

Waterborne diseases – like diarrhea, giardiasis, worms, and skin infections – are among the top 10 diseases in our district. Only 34 percent of people overall have clean water to drink. In some areas, there isn't access to clean water at all. Of the 39 schools in Shone, only one has a clean water supply. Of the three health centers, only one of them has safe water.

Every year, some 4 percent of pregnant women miscarry due to walking about 20 km a day in search of potable water. Every year, 26 percent of children drop out of schools as they are forced to spend many hours helping their family fetch water.

In a 2007 report, we found that 11 percent of children under 5 who were treated in health centers were there because of diarrhea. Out of the 903 children who came to the health centers, 89 died due to diarrhea.

Endale, 40, is a mother of three boys and four girls. Her husband died some five years back due to diarrhea. As a result, she became the sole bread-winner of the family. Four of her children have suffered from various waterborne diseases, especially diarrhea. Currently two of her children (Bizunesh Meskelu, 11, and Meselech Meskelu, 9) are sick with the same disease. Bizunesh is so sick that she is obliged to quit her education. Meselech has not yet quit her education, but she keeps missing so many classes. As a result, she performs very low in her schooling.

We remain very thankful to World Vision for its support to help us respond to various health-related challenges. As the majority of our population is exposed to various water-borne diseases due to the shortage of potable water supply, we would like to request for your support to help us reduce the number of people suffering and dying from water-borne diseases.

Let us prevent diarrhea by utilizing safe water!

Aklilu Lodamo Bafena
Misrak Badawacho District Health Office Head
Translator: Aklilu Kassaye

Would you like to respond to this plea for clean water in an Ethiopian community? Your prayers and support can help us changes lives. Act today!

A staggering 884 million people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water. The vast majority of these people – even in the most arid African communities – can find water, but they lack the means to make it safe to drink. And even dirty water, when it's too far away, cannot be used to grow crops.

World Vision's water programs help communities assess their situation and use the resources they already have to provide access to safe water.

Sometimes drilling a well to draw clean water from underground is the solution that a community needs. In the next six years, World Vision plans to drill 825 borehole wells in rural Africa that will bring the gift of health and clean water to nearly 500,000 people.

In other communities, the water table contains minerals or other compounds that make it unsafe to drink. World Vision works with these communities to find affordable, easy-to-manage solutions to purify their water. For example, World Vision has successfully tested the use of bauxite to neutralize high levels of arsenic and flouride in the water table of communities in Ethiopia, Ghana and Niger.

In Boset, Ethiopia, the long dry summers made it difficult for farmers to grow enough food to support their families. World Vision partnered with the community to construct an irrigation system that made use of water from the nearby Awash river. Farmers now have three crops per year instead of just one, and they are able to feed and care for their children and pay to send them to school.

The greatest resource available to any community is its own people. So World Vision water programs train and mobilize community members to manage and maintain their water systems so the programs are sustainable.

Support World Vision's water program. You can be sure the resources you share will be put to work in the most effective way. Donate now.

Recently Jeff Witten, a World Vision Representative, was part of a group of people who stood above the muddy, brown water hole that serves the community of Boset, Ethiopia.

"That's when I noticed a bright-eyed kid wearing a T-shirt that said: I have a dream," remembers Jeff. He approached the boy and learned that his name was Seifu. "He said he was 14 years old and had been coming to the same water hole since he was 5 years old, even though the water made him sick."

Then Seifu asked Jeff, "So you came here to visit us, now what do you plan to do with the information you have received?"

That question stopped Jeff in his tracks. "I thought, if I don't tell his story he'll become like many other poverty-stricken people in Ethiopia. It's hard not to think about how this story will end," says Jeff. So Jeff promised Seifu that he would tell his story to people in the United States.

Jeff feels that Seifu would be incredibly successful if he lived here in the United States, but he just doesn't have the same opportunities. So that image of Seifu and his T-shirt continues to motivate Jeff to help provide Ethiopian communities with the things we take for granted.

You can help Jeff make Seifu's "dream" a reality. And that dream can begin with the simple gift of clean water and good health.

Now that you know Seifu's story, what are you planning to do? We invite you to learn more about World Vision's water programs in Boset and other communities in Ethiopia.

Letter from Aklilu Lodamo Bafena, a World Vision staff person in Ethiopia:

"First of all we would like to express our heart felt gratitude for all the development activities you have been carrying out here in Shone district and its vicinity.

" … Water borne diseases are one of the top ten diseases in our district. Out of 28,533 patients treated in 2007 in our health centers, 17.5 % of them were reported to be infected with various water borne diseases such as diarrhea (9%), amoebas (3%), giardiasis (2%), helminthiasis (2%), eye disease (1.5%), and skin disease (1%).

" … Endale, 40, is a mother of three boys and four girls. Her husband died some five years back due to diarrhea. As a result, she became the sole bread-winner of the family.

"Four of her children have suffered from various waterborne diseases, especially diarrhea. Currently two of her children (Bizunesh Meskelu, 11, and Meselech Meskelu, 9) are sick with the same disease. Bizunesh is severely sick that she is obliged to quit her education. Meselech has not yet quit her education, but she keeps missing so many classes. As a result, she is forced to perform very low in her schooling.

"We remain very thankful to World Vision for its support to help us respond to various health related challenges of the community in the district. As the majority of our population is exposed to various water-borne diseases due to shortage of potable water supply, we would like to request for your usual support to help us reduce the number of people suffering and dying from water borne diseases.

"Let us prevent acute watery diarrhea utilising safe water!"

Aklilu Lodamo Bafena

Misrak Badawacho District Health Office Head

Translator: Aklilu Kassaye

Can you help? If you can, please go to www.worldvision.org/changeeverything to make a gift.

There's more to providing clean water than you might think. It's one thing to make water flow today – it’s another thing to keep it flowing in the future.

Based on decades of experience, World Vision knows the steps to take to ensure sustainability. Long-term success depends on community partnership and participation right from a project's outset. It also depends on equipping people with the skills and training they need to manage their new water systems.

The story of one Ethiopian village is a good example. For generations, people in this village got their drinking water from polluted surface water sources like rivers or streams. However, the village was located not far from underground springs of excellent quality. World Vision initiated a project to cap the springs to protect them from contamination, and to pipe the clean water into the village.

A number of residents were initially sceptical about this plan. However, 120 out of 334 households agreed to participate. Each household contributed labor to maintain a road for transporting construction materials to the construction site. World Vision staff helped community members form water committees, and they provided training on sanitation and water management.

Now, people in this village enjoy potable water that is equal or better in quality than nearby town dwellers, and the sanitation situation is much improved. Through this project, people learned they can make a real difference. They feel empowered to continue improving their living conditions by working together.

When you give to World Vision, you benefit from our years of experience in sustainable, community-based work. Please invest in our Ethiopia water programs today.

www.worldvision.org/changeeverything

When you think of a new water source in Africa, what comes to your mind? You probably envision a small well, outfitted with a hand pump that stands in the middle of a village. That's a great image! World Vision plans to drill more than 800 such wells in Africa to provide clean water and good health for hundreds of thousands of people.

But access to water does so much more.

For example, in arid countries like Ethiopia, World Vision helps communities harness their existing water supply for irrigation purposes. Using gravity-fed water systems and simple pumps, farmers are able to turn dusty fields into productive land that can feed their families and generate a sustainable income.

Regassa Boset is a farmer who lives in Adama, Ethiopia, with his wife and three young children. World Vision provided him with a catchment basin and a treadle pump—a sturdy and reliable foot pump—that enables him to water a growing herd of cattle and properly water his maize crop. With the success of his farm, he has also opened a small horse-cart taxi business that serves the surrounding villages.

A gift of water can bring economic vitality to a family. When a family is healthy children thrive—they eat better, attend school, and have confidence in their future. And healthy families make a healthy community.

Can you see yourself in this picture? Reach out to an impoverished community. Give the gift of water. Water changes everything. Even you. Donate Now

Max Lucado and his wife Denalyn visited Ethiopia in May with World Vision. Here are some of Max's Twitter posts as he discovered more about what life is like for people in Ethiopia:

> "First morning in Ethiopia! Awoke in Addis Ababa – may my heart be open to God's will."

> "1st day in Ethiopia: never expected such poverty and joy in the same place."

> "Met a farmer whose annual income increased from $70 to $5K due to WV irrigation."

> "Met a widow who lives w/4 kids in 100 sq ft house. Said: 'I'm happiest woman on earth.'"

> "A pump that cost $12K irrigates the farms of 140 households."

> "After seeing this poverty I told my wife, 'If I ever complain again, kick me twice. Hard.'"

> "There are more honest smiles among the poor of Ethiopia than the shopping malls of America."

After he returned home, Max wrote this about Ethiopia: "The needs are great: 45% of the country subsists on less than $1 a day. A quarter million children die every year from water-related diseases. Thousands rely upon dirty rivers or muddy holes for their water supply. Yet for all their problems, I've never seen such smiles. The Ethiopians are a soft, gentle, hospitable people. They brim with gratitude for the slightest act of kindness."

Read his entire letter here at http://maxlucado.com/ethiopia/. You can help World Vision provide clean water in this remarkable, fascinating country. Donate Now

When it comes to providing clean water, it's not hard to make a difference in a community. Even a small gift makes a big impact, because clean water affects all areas of life. Once clean water starts flowing, so do all the other benefits: better health, better school attendance for children, more time for women to work at home or spend time with their families, improved crop yields, and more economic activity in a community.

If you give $1,040 to supply a village with a hand pump, you've made an excellent investment in the health and well-being of children, families, and an entire community.

A gift of $520 can help train five people to maintain that new pump as well as teach others in the village about proper hygiene.

Just $270 can provide a treadle pump for irrigation, helping families tend their crops more effectively and grow more food.

And $8,640 can protect the health of children and families by installing a water purification system.

There are many ways to get involved in changing the lives of children and families in Ethiopia. Please contact World Vision today to learn more about how you can add water … and change everything.

We don't think of diarrhea as a deadly illness. In the U.S., it's a minor nuisance for most children, who are able to recover quickly and bounce back to health.

But in developing countries, where children are poorly nourished and their bodies are more vulnerable to infections, diarrhea is a major concern.

Babies and young children are especially at risk: More than 90 percent of deaths from diarrheal diseases due to unsafe water and sanitation in the developing world occur in children younger than 5.

Diarrhea, of course, can be prevented quite easily – when communities have access to clean water and know about good hygiene practices, such as washing hands thoroughly with soap and water after using the toilet, changing a baby's diaper, or before preparing food.

Clean water and proper hygiene go hand-in-hand in preventing a common illness like diarrhea. It's not complicated, yet the impact is enormous: children's lives can be saved. When communities gain access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene training, the child mortality rate can drop by two-thirds! Please join World Vision to provide these essentials in rural Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia and other developing countries, girls and women are the water carriers for their families. They get up early and walk every day, for hours, to collect water for drinking, cooking, and washing. I'm sure you can imagine what a tedious chore this is, not to mention backbreaking. But the effect that is most disheartening for girls is that it robs them of their education. In fact, there is evidence that when clean water becomes available to families, girls' school attendance rises. The connection might not seem obvious at first, but it exists: a new well in a village means girls have less of a walk to get water—and more of an opportunity to learn.

Clean water also promotes girls' education in another way. As girls grow older, they are often reluctant to attend school if the school does not have accessible water and proper sanitation facilities. Teen girls are more likely to drop out entirely if there are no toilets or handwashing facilities at the school. When clean water – and gender-specific latrines – become available, girls stay in school longer.

It's simple. Clean water and sanitation promote education for girls. And when girls receive an education, families and communities can be stronger and more successful. Will you help give the gift of clean water and nurture the potential of Ethiopian girls?

Can you imagine risking your life to wash your clothes?

In Digelu Kidame, an Ethiopian community, people were sometimes swept away by flash floods when they washed clothes at the river during the rainy season. "Between 2006 to June 2008 alone, about 17 people were taken by flash flood while washing their clothes in the river," said Lema, chairperson of the local water committee established by World Vision.

Today, life is safer. People have convenient access to clean water after World Vision capped natural springs to protect them from contamination, and piped the water into the village. No more lives are lost in flash floods. Girls and women no longer risk being attacked or abducted as they walk through the forest on their way to the river. And children are healthier, with clean water to drink.

"We were forgotten for years," Lema said. "Through World Vision, we are now able to get potable water. God bless World Vision. May God help the organization to continue to reach the unreached ones too."

Ethiopia has a population of 80 million people. Eighty-five percent live in rural areas. Most of these people are poor, and only 1 in 4 have access to clean water. Only 8 percent have access to sanitation—the lowest in the world. When sanitation systems are lacking, people use fields and bushes. This contaminates the local water supply and can spread illness throughout the community.

World Vision has big plans to work alongside communities in Ethiopia. By 2015, we hope to help 340,000 more people in rural areas gain access to clean water, and 170,000 more people gain access to sanitation systems. Imagine the difference for children and families!

The challenges are many: rising costs of equipment, the capacity of drilling machines, and the depth at which water resides—300 meters below the ground. But World Vision is committed to finding solutions. In one community, the government has requested that we run pipelines from the Awash River to bring clean water for drinking and washing by 2010. Your gift will help make such a difference in rural Ethiopia. Join us today.

If you received a piece in the mail about Rich's trip to Ethiopia, you were able to read stories of two people for whom access to clean water has now changed everything. Bikiltu, a girl in Ethiopia, had to collect water from a muddy spring for her family to drink. And Fatuma, a mother, used to have to wait in line for hours every day to get water. Her daughters also had to wait when they collected water after school, and this prevented them from doing their schoolwork.

For both families, access to clean water has now changed everything.

World Vision built a well in Bikiltu's village in 2008. Now, with clean water to drink, there are "no waterborne diseases," Bikiltu says. She is healthier and able to attend school regularly. Her mother adds: "Fetching water won't take me more than 10 minutes. I am able to cook food for my children on time and my husband so they can go to school and work [after] eating their breakfast."

In Tongo, where Fatuma and her family live, World Vision capped and protected three natural springs, and built 10 water points (taps) throughout the town. One of the water points is located on the doorstep of Fatuma's home. The entire family is excited and pleased. Fatuma says: "I don't have an appropriate word to express my feelings of happiness. The water is excellent." Her daughter Zubeda adds: "Thanks to World Vision, I no longer go to school without doing my homework and studying my lesson. I hope I will improve my school performance, too. I and my siblings will also take baths and wash our clothes any time we want at our own home."

Clean water really can change everything.

In developing countries, some people walk for hours to collect their family's daily water supply. The long walk is just the first challenge. If water is scarce, things get harder yet.

First you have to wait … and wait. In rural Ethiopia, some people get water from hand-dug holes. The water seeps slowly into the bottom of the hole. People climb into the holes, one by one, and scoop out the precious liquid. The wait to do this can be long and tedious under the hot sun.

Patience frays. Tempers rise. Things can turn dangerous. "If it's only me, it's no problem," said Gemeda, 42, who lives in a region of Ethiopia where World Vision is working to provide clean water. "When there are hundreds of people waiting, it is a problem." Fighting can erupt – people beat each other with sticks. "There are so many cases of people getting hurt," he told the World Vision team who visited his local water source.

When the team visited in May, there were five water holes in this location, servicing more than 5,000 people every day. As the dry season progressed, the water began to disappear. A week later, only four holes contained water.

Communities here desperately need a locally available source of clean, abundant water. It would transform their lives. Together, we can make this happen

How You Can Help

If you're like most people, there's something you do many times a day without even thinking about it: You turn on a tap, and you get water. It pours out, and you fill a cup, wash your hands, or fill a sink. This probably doesn't seem remarkable to you at all. The water flowing out of the tap is clean and clear, and you probably don't find that unusual or surprising. That's how water is supposed to be – safe to drink and readily available.

Many people in rural Ethiopia would find this remarkable, and you would too if you walked in their shoes for a day. Imagine if you had to get your drinking water from a muddy pond, river, or water hole. You would be delighted to turn on a tap to get the water you need throughout the day! Imagine if you had to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to walk an hour or so to the closest water source, and wait in line to scoop up the water for your family to use. Your children would often miss school to help you collect water or because they were sick with water-related illnesses. You would worry about their health and their future. Access to clean water would be a life-changing blessing.

Join World Vision to help bring clean water to Ethiopian communities—so they too can experience the daily miracle of access to clean water. http://tinyurl.com/otgtzs

John Volinsky is World Vision's Senior Director of Church Relations. I think you would really enjoy his blog about the recent World Vision trip to Ethiopia. One interesting post is about a World Vision irrigation project that has made a profound impact on the entire community.

Through the Adama Irrigation and Farming Project, World Vision has installed pumps and irrigation systems for 189 families, enabling them to grow food and enjoy new opportunities in life. The difference is remarkable.

Biru Bedada, a farmer, once made only 19 cents a day. With the new irrigation system, he is able to grow more crops and make $2,700 a year. This has turned his life around. Biru's children are now able to attend school and he can support his entire family. Water is truly the life-giving resource that sustains this community.

World Vision will supply another 100 farmers with irrigation pumps as part of our Ethiopia Rural Water Project, which was launched in 2006 to improve the lives of poor and vulnerable rural families. The project includes providing clean drinking water, sanitation facilities, hygiene training, and integrated water resources in seven communities in rural Ethiopia. It will supply safe water to 340,000 people and help 170,000 of these individuals gain access to improved sanitation by the end of 2011.

Please support this life-changing project and Donate Now.

For a first-hand look at the need for water in Ethiopia, check out the website of Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson. Michael and his wife Gail went along on the trip to Ethiopia in May with Rich and Renee Stearns. Michael says: "I am still trying to process my experience in Ethiopia. It was so profound that I can barely articulate it. It has been a true shift in my worldview. As I have thought about this, I have realized that "I need Africa more than Africa needs me." (If you want to know what he means by this, you can go to the YouTube video on his website: http://michaelhyatt.com/2009/05/i-need-africa.html - Michael says it expresses his feelings beautifully.)

While in Ethiopia, Michael and the rest of the group were struck by the enormous need for clean water. They saw how water scarcity affects life. They saw goats, cattle, and people gathering by a river for water. One morning, they traveled over an incredibly rough track to get to a watering hole where people took turns scooping dirty water to fill their jerry cans. In these isolated rural areas, every drop of water is precious, and it takes huge amounts of work and time to collect water for a family's daily needs. See Michael's Ethiopian photos for yourself on his website at http://michaelhyatt.com/2009/05/i-need-africa.html.

If you want to change this situation for Ethiopian children and families, please give to our Add Water, Change Everything campaign. World Vision aims to raise $1 million for water projects in Ethiopia. You can be part of this!

President of World Vision, Rich Stearns, and Christian author, Max Lucado, toured Ethiopia this past week and are on their way back home. While in Ethiopia, Rich and Max visited the children and families assisted by World Vision. Also with them on the trip was John Volinsky with Church Relations at World Vision, Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, and Mary Grant of Women of Faith. Rich and Max visited several projects and heard stories about how World Vision's work in Ethiopia is changing lives in Adama and Boset communities.

Read more about their individual experiences:
http://www.theholeinourgospel.com/blog/
http://blog.johnvolinsky.com/
http://twitter.com/MaxLucado