A Call for Clean Water for Everyone

Humanitarian organizations and their volunteer activities are mistakenly believed to be

unimportant or inessential in one’s economic system. But in reality, these charitable activities

create a very important role in the social, political and economic sectors of a nation especially in

a developing country. In fact, there is no big difference between the function of these charitable

humanitarian organizations and their volunteer work with the public and private sectors. These

organizations offer important services that have a good and positive impact in the lives of every

citizen especially to developing countries. They provide necessary help or aid to the people who

are in most need. Moreover these organizations are crucial collaborator to the government in

many aspects such as personal empowerment and training, combating poverty, fighting drug

abuse, and bridging the gap between the poor and the rich. Therefore, the challenge of these

charitable organizations for everyone is to be an instrument of change through his/her small or

little ways.

One of the charitable and humanitarian organizations that I know is the non-profit

organization Charity: water. This organization was founded by Scott Harrison who was born in

Philadelphia and grew up in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. (Clifford, “How Charity:Water's

Founder Went from Hand-Partying NYC Club Promoter to Bring 8 Million People Around the

World”)

Charity:Water started on September 7, 2006 as Harrison celebrates his 31st birthday.

Since 2006, the “organization has given 8 million people around the world access to clean water

by funding nearly 30,000 water projects in 26 countries across the world. Over one million

people have donated more than $300 million to its cause”. (charitywater.org) Why clean water?

According to the organization, clean water changes everything. Like for example, diseases from
dirty water kills more people every year rather than violence, like of war. Moreover, access to

clean water provides communities plenty of time to grow food, to have an income, and more

time to go in school. When a community gets they can start businesses, improve their homes, and

take charge of their own futures. (charitywater.org)

How does this charity works? According to Charity:Water they “invest the money that

they raise into organizations with years of experience in building sustainable, community-owned

water projects around the world. Their team works closely to ensure that every dollar is

accounted for and then provides reports back to their donors and benefactors”. Moreover, the

solution of Charity:Water is through the following – they hand-dug wells , drilled wells ,

rainwater catchments, gravity fed systems, pipe systems, water purification systems, bio-sand

filters, spring protections and latrines. Therefore, water sources, terrain, and population all play a

part in determining what technology is required to serve people well.

Furthermore, Charity:Water has its own partners and they share the same vision of

solving the water crisis in the world. They are dedicated to provide safe, sustainable water access

to communities who are in need and to ensure those communities to gain enough knowledge of

hygiene and sanitation practices that will make them healthier. They also expect their partners to

work closely with the local communities, leaders, governments, mechanics, and suppliers to

accomplish lasting change. (charitywater.org)

Many charities are still struggling with digital communications but for Charity: Water it’s

not a problem because it has a strong online presence. How did they manage to provide solicitors

or donations? The idea came from the idea of getting people to implore donations on social

media for their birthdays. This kind of idea is now raising hundreds of millions for charities.

Moreover, a big thanks to the program the Well, donors guarantee the nonprofit's administrative
costs, where Charity: Water promises other supporters that 100 percent of their gifts and

donations will go directly to the mission of the charity to provide clean water to the developing

world. Furthermore, the club Spring has also pledge a monthly donation for Charity: Water. Way

back in 2017, a total of $50.3 million was raised by the group, and the $35 million was allocated

for water projects.

In 2018, the charity raised a total amount of $69.3 million, with these, there were 6, 639

water funded projects bringing clean water to 1.27 million people in 18 countries worldwide. The

operational costs of the charity are largely funded by Well Members, the generous private donors

who make it possible for the charity to use 100% of public donations for clean water projects.

Other than The Well, there were also selected group of companies and foundations who supports

the “salaries of staffs and at the same time the operations through corporate gifts, percentage of

sales, and campaigns tailored to each business’ market and brand”. (charitywater.org)

According to Scott Harrison the biggest lesson that he learned in his entire life is putting

integrity at the core of everything you do. Harrison said “I think that what is more important is

not about what you do but it’s about how you do it”. This is the core value which is important in

his life, and the core value of charity: water. Harrison’s challenge to all the people who wanted

to follow his footsteps was to go deep with whatever issue they really wanted to make an impact

in and to help out. He is encouraging people to find the thing that really speaks to them, the issue

that they wanted to fight for. In Hutcherson’s article, she asked Harrison on what is that thing

that is not okay? Harrison said that injustice – “for him it can be a hunger issue, or about clean

water, or maybe it’s the reality that people are going living without a roof over their heads, or it

can be a justice issue. They need to find that one thing that they are passionate about, the thing

that they wanted to fight for a long time and then they need to go deeper, and plunge themselves
in understanding the problem and then find ways or solutions to these problems”. (“Scott

Harrison: How I Helped Bring Millions of People Clean Water with Charity Water”)

What now is the future of Charity:water? According to an interview made by Afdhel

Aziz, Harrison sated that as they enter their second decade, they wanted to make a greater impact

and to continue growing, but they also wanted to do it more sustainably. The focus now of the

organization is on growing their new monthly giving community which is The Spring. Harrison

strongly believed that this community is going to be the key in helping them to solve the water

crisis, which is why he spent most of his time thinking about how they can make the program

more exciting and unique from any other monthly giving program. (“The Power of Purpose:

How Charity:Water is Reinventing Philanthropy with Data and Compassion”)

The mission of Charity:Water is to end the stigma of millions of people spending their

hours walking just to collect dirty water, and sacrificing their valuable time and resources to just

to carry a 40-lb Jerry Can across harsh terrain. Other people live in places with plenty of water,

but most of the time it is unsafe and it carries diseases that can make the entire families or

community sick. Through the help of a community of more than 1 million supporters by the

charity’s side, they believe that they can end this water crisis.

With this kind of mentality, I believed that Charity:Water can make a big difference.

Their mission is possible only if people will help and carry the same perspective in their minds –

helping people by giving them with clean water. The challenge of the charity is to carry on the

mission. Be a supporter. Be an influencer. Help through different ways. In their website there are

ways on how we can help and be an instrument of change.

The importance of this kind of charities is that it promotes community building and

awareness on the problem that our society is encountering. Charity:Water challenges each and
every one of us to make a change, and this change will start within us. Let us not be afraid to be

an advocate of good deeds to other. Looking at the life of Scott Harrison, I have seen that change

is possible only if we will look deeper on what we can do as a person and what we can contribute

to the society. As per Harrison, he had seen himself to be an advocate of clean water and with

that, I keep on asking myself on what injustice can I promote as early as now. Upon reflecting, I

have seen myself looking at a glass of water saying, “I am very lucky to have this clean water to

drink. I am very lucky that I have clean water in our comfort room.” Through that experience, I

said to myself that I want to be a promoter of clean water as of today and will carry on the

mission of Charity:Water.

This kind of humanitarian charity caught my heart and made me realized the importance

of conserving water and be a promoter of clean water for every person. In our own little ways we

can help people and can give them clean water by donating through Charity:Water or by means

of conserving water at our homes, schools and communities. This is a call not just for me but for

everyone, a call to help and be an instrument of change for the betterment of the society.

Works Cited

Aziz, Afdhel. “The Power of Purpose: How Charity:Water is Reinventing Philanthropy with

Data and Compassion". Forbes.com, 19 December 2018. Internet.

Bornstein, David. “The Real Future of Clean Water". The New York Times, 21 August 2013.

Internet.

Charity:Water. https://www.charitywater.org/

Clifford, Catherine. “How Charity:Water's Founder Went from Hand-Partying NYC Club
 Promoter to Bring 8 Million People Around the World". cnbc.com, 22 March 2018.

Internet.

Harrison, Scott. “Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean

Water to the World". Manhattan: Crown Publishing Group, 02 October 2018. Book.

Hutcherson, Susannah. “Scott Harrison: How I Helped Bring Millions of People Clean Water

with Charity Water". USA Today,4 October 2018. Internet.

Meltzer, David. “The Founder of Charity:Water Had to Change His Mindset Before He Could

Change the World". Entrepreneur Asia Pacific,27 June 2019. Video.