In my last post, I talked about contacting a guy at Water for the Oppressed, which is an organization providing clean drinking water for people in Zambia. The guy I was contacting is a friend-of-a-friend of Jonathan Gould. I wasn't sure that this guy would be able to help me directly, but I was hoping that at the very least, he would be able to put me in contact with someone who could help me.

I emailed C.W. Bing before I went to bed last Thursday night. When I checked my email on Friday, he had already responded. I was surprised how quickly he was able to get back with me.

It seems that Mr. Bing will not be able to help me with his organization, Water for the Oppressed. However, it turns out that aside from founding and running their own organization, Mr. Bing and his wife also work for Living Water International. He is the Director of East African Development for Living Water International, which means he is in charge of drilling wells in countries like Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.

In his response, he asked for more details on the location I was hoping to have the well drilled. He made it seem like it would not be a problem for him to help, which is awesome, but scary.

In case you are wondering where I am trying to get a well drilled, it is here and if you want to know more about the people that I want to drill a well for, you can find some general information on them here.

Labels: activism, africa, water

I wrote an email to Water For The Oppressed tonight. It's an organization that Jonathan Gould told me about. They have connections to Raleigh/Cary.

I have mixed feelings about it. It is exciting to think about what it could lead to, but it is also scary. I've been comfortable with my dream being a dream, but now that I am taking steps towards making it a reality, that scares me.

I can be risk averse when it comes to me potentially failing. I am also great with coming up with ideas, but horrible with following-through on those ideas. So, if you could pray for me to be a risk taker and for me to be someone that follows through, that'd be great.

Labels: activism, africa, water

The ONE Campaign has started a petition in attempt to make sure the fight against extreme poverty is an important part of the platforms of both the Democratic and Republican parties when they are unveiled at their respective conventions later this month and early next month.

The petition reads as follows:

As a proud American, I urge you to make ending extreme poverty and global disease in the developing world a core part of your 2008 platform by including commitments to:

• Fight AIDS, TB and malaria and improve basic health services, particularly for mothers and young children


• Ensure access to clean water, basic sanitation and sufficient food supplies


• Spur economic growth through equitable trade and investment policies


• Modernize and increase development assistance, focusing on partnership, transparency and accountability Achieve universal primary education

You can get involved and sign the petition by going here and filling out the form on the right.

ht: the ONE blog

Labels: activism, africa, aids, injustice, water

About a year and a half ago I was introduced to the crisis that is Africa by Mr. Paul Hewson, aka Bono of U2. I was at a leader conference, or Summit as it were. They played a pre-recorded interview with Bono where he explained a bit about the hardships facing many African nations and then spoke of how the Church should be responding to this. Orphans and widows abound in the motherland and the bible speaks directly of it being the responsibility of the Church to take care of them.

I left that conference on a we-have-to-do-something-about-this high. If you've ever been to a Christian leadership conference, you know what I am talking about. You get pumped up while you are in the bubble and then you walk out ready to change the world, only to get smacked in the face by life. Well, at least that's how it works with me.

After the Leadership Summit, we played the interview on a Sunday morning at Visio Dei. Listening to it a second time reaffirmed that we-have-to-do-something-about-this feeling. Then, it was like I couldn't go anywhere with hearing something or read anything without it relating back to the crisis in Africa. Then, one day, I read something that said that the lack of clean drinking water is a core component of many of the issues facing Africans today.

You should know that my personality, as I am finding more and more to be true, is such that I can see a need and see in the big picture "if only we could do A, B and C, we could fix this." The problem is that when it comes to the details of accomplishing A, B, or C, it's not always as clear or easy.

So, my response was, "We have to find a way to bring people clean drinking water." Seems easy enough, right. Pay someone to drill a hole in the ground and put a pump at the top. Voila. Done.

Over the past year and a half, I have learned that though it seems that simple, it is simply not. There are cultural, governmental, and geographic factors to consider.

So, at times, my passion wanes and the going is slow. Then, at other times, I get a lead and I am once again excited about the opportunity to bring water to people that need it. Right now, I feel as though I am on the cusp of making a major breakthrough and it scares me like nothing else.

Labels: activism, africa

Monopoly is coming out with a 'World Version' and they are letting people vote for their favorite cities online. A post on the ONE blog pointed out that "of all the possible cities, none are in countries classified as low-income."

So, what can you do? You can submit a write-in ballot in the form of a wildcard city. I have chosen to submit 'Nairobi, Nairobi, KE' as my wildcard city. You can only submit a wildcard ballot once a day. So, I plan to submit Nairobi every day through the end of the contest.

The goal would be to get Nairobi into the top 20 wildcard cities by February 28. Then, there is a voting period for just the wildcard cities to determine which two of the top 20 make it onto board.

So, why don't you go to the site and vote for Nairobi, too.

Labels: africa, entertainment

The Government of Uganda is threatening military action against the Lord’s Resistance Army if no progress is made with the peace talks by Thursday.

In the 1960s, a young woman on the streets of New York was stabbed to death over a period of 30 minutes while as many as 38 witnesses did nothing, despite her pleas for help. Psychologists explain it as the "bystander effect". In the face of an emergency, a person is less likely to intervene when others are present. It's our nature to assume the next person will act, thus relinquishing responsibility.

There's an interesting article on Rueters that claims that this is what is happening in northern Uganda, resulting in the stalling of the Juba peace process. With so many countires involved, everyone seems to be waiting for someone else to step in and help. The author, Adrian Bradbury, founder of the GuluWalk says, "This is not a call for Western diplomats to overtake the process, but to proactively support it at this vulnerable moment."

Edmund Burke once said that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Will the world stand by as this chance for peace in a nation that has not known peace in over twenty years is lost?

Labels: africa, politics

You may or amy not have heard about the recent unrest in Kenya due to the very close presidential election results. Well, a friend of a friend has put together a site where people can report firsthand knowledge of events that take place.

It's a citizens tool where anyone can submit an incident report via SMS, email or the website. Here's a short BBC interview of the project. -Erik Hersman

Labels: africa, politics

I saw an interesting article on the ONE blog yesterday. It's from this week's edition of Business Week. It discusses how Africans "want skills and a leg up, not handouts." It's definitely worth the read and would only take about ten minutes of your time.

Africa Wants Opportunities, Not Handouts
IBM's Nicholas Donofrio has heard it from Africans themselves: They don't want aid, they want a chance to develop their own businesses

Labels: africa, blogosphere, business