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Charity:Water.org
Former Orinda
Aquatics swimmer Becky Straw is now employed by this extraordinary
non-profit corporation. Charity:Water seeks to
bring clean drinking water to impoverished areas of Africa and the
developing world (read excerpt below). Becky grew up swimming
for Las Trampas Swim Club and eventually became a long-time, loved
and respected coach of the program. After graduating from
Acalanes (and OA), Becky went on to UOP where she swam
intercollegiately for four years. After UOP, Becky went to
graduate school at Columbia, and has now found a passionate home at
Charity:Water. With the clear connection to Becky and the
obvious connection to clean water, which we not only have plenty
for drinking but also for engaging in our great sport of swimming,
we are very proud to support this incredible organization and we
greatly thank you for any additional support you can give.
From the website:
It’s hard not to think about water
today. In the western world, we face growing concerns about our
stewardship of the world’s most precious resource.
There’s talk of shortages, evidence of reservoirs and
aquifers drying up, and of course, plenty of people who simply
don’t care.
But forget about us.
Most of us have never really been thirsty. We’ve never had to
leave our houses and walk 5 miles to fetch water. We simply turn on
the tap, and water comes out. Clean. Yet more than 1.1 billion
people on the planet don’t have clean water.
It’s hard to imagine what a billion people looks like really,
but one in six might be easier. One in six people in our world
don’t have access to the most basic of human needs. Something
we can’t imagine going 12 hours without. Here,
we’d like to introduce you to a few of those billion
people. They are very real, and they need our help. They
didn’t choose to be born into a village where the only source
of water is a polluted swamp. And we didn’t choose to be born
in a country where even the homeless have access to clean water and
a toilet.
We invite you to put yourself in their
shoes. Follow them on their daily journey. Carry 80 pounds of water
in yellow fuel cans. Dig with their children in sand for water.
Line up at a well and wait 8 hours for a turn.
Now, make a decision to help. We’re not offering grand
solutions and billion dollar schemes, but instead, simple things
that work. Things like freshwater wells, rainwater catchments and
sand filters. For about $20 a person, we know how to help millions
of people.
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