Clean water

I once wrote a song called "Water", which included the line "you are the water in my life," water being the one essential need of all people and, therefore, a fitting metaphor for how important the "you" to whom the song was supposedly being sung was. I thought of it this morning as I was cleaning my office and came across a flyer I was given.

When I spoke at my local Rotary a couple of months ago, they made a donation in my name to Pure Water for the World, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing, well, just what its name says. They supply filtration systems in needy areas. 1.8 billion people lack clean drinking water, and 2.2 million die each year from waterborne illnesses. In Honduras alone, fifty thousand children under 12 die each year from diseases that result from drinking contaminated water. We all know we're not supposed to drink the local water in certain areas because our bodies may not be immune to the pollutants in it; imagine living where the locals shouldn't drink the local water!

Rotary and other groups donate to this organization, which installs filtration systems in homes and villages. Polluted water is poured into the system, flows through layers of gravel and sand, and comes out clean! They currently use concrete holding tanks, which are of course very heavy and difficult to get into some remote regions, but they're researching the use of plastic components instead. This is important work.

I hadn't expected to be paid for speaking, but I was thrilled that Rotary chose to make that donation. It was a nice way of paying it forward: I spoke for free, and the club gave money to a worthy cause. I didn't really look at the brochure till just this morning, but now I'm even prouder.

All of which leads me to suggest that, especially at this time of celebration and good cheer, you make a donation of time and/or money to a worthy cause. Huge amounts of money go to wars, political campaigns and to frivolous purchases. Take a moment to give to something that no one can complain about. (Okay, no one can justifiably complain about. There'll always be someone criticizing.)

Be the water in someone's life.