Clean Water is the most vital element for a healthy living and almost 844 million people lack clean water. Most of the African and Asian countries are suffering from various diseases for the lack of drinkable water. And one man is making an enormous difference by providing clean water to the people in extreme need. Scott Harrison is the man behind Charity : Water provides clean water to 8.5 million people all over the world.
Story of Harrison Before Charity : Water
Before he came to set up Charity : Water, he had an outstanding story of unhealthy lifestyle. When he was a child, his mother got sick and he had to take care of all the house work. When he grow up, he felt for music and got into a New York music band but could not survive long. Then he started his career as a night club promoter where he had to drink a lot for free. Harrison got drunk almost every night, gambled, visited strip clubs and smoked two packets of cigarettes every day. Eventually he realized about the decline of his happiness while he was in Uruguay. He felt very unhealthy about his lifestyle and one day he quit everything for a better purpose.
Harrison sold everything he had and started applying for charity work. But he did not even got any chance to volunteer for them for his past. One day he receives an email which says “you can volunteer if you spend $500 dollars per month”. A group of wonderful doctors were heading to Liberia with a Hospital ship and he volunteered as a photo journalist with them. He finds out thousands of people with various types of diseases but they had little opportunity to cure some of them.
To find out people with serious illness, he traveled around many rural villages and encountered the most shocking things. People drink dirty water with bugs and they do not even boil those waters. Collecting water is the most painful process in those places. Women and girls walk hours for collecting water from the distant location with life risk. And they are being affected badly with deadly diseases due to water related problems.
How many people die due to the lack of Clean Water?
The amount of people die with water related diseases is even greater than killed in war. According to Water Aid, 844 million people don’t have access to clean water and 3-4 million people die every year for water related diseases. According to UNICEF only 61% people have access to safe water in sub-Saharan countries and among those 39% many dies with serious illness.
Beginning of Charity : Water with a vision of Clean water for all
After a couple of months in Liberia with the Hospital ship, he went back to New York and threw his birthday party. He collected $20 from each of his invited guest almost 700 guests and collected $15000 for Charity : Water. Harrison runs the very first project of the organization in Northern Uganda where Charity : Water builds 3 water pump providing clean water for thousands.
Few days later those 700 people received photos of the project, and came to know that their $20 gifts are making enormous difference. And this is how the Charity : Water began its journey in 2006.
Until now, Charity : Water has provided 8.5 million people with clean water and have funded around thirty thousand water projects all over the world. Most of the fund is raised by kids and amateur people through many different ways. Many people gave up their birthday party for clean water including a little girl called Rachel. Her fund raising campaign has collected around 2 million dollars even after she died in a car accident. Many like Rachel is still working on raising fund by giving up their pocket money and Christmas gifts.
Scott Harrison’s initiative is changing the world with better effect than any other big organizations. All the contributor get to know about their donation through GPS notification. The Charity : Water as an organization brought changes and aspire to provide 100% people with clean water.
