Lifewater | The Source | Fall 2016

THE SOURCE L I F E WAT E R N E W S L E T T E R | FA L L 2 0 1 6

Bringing Hope to Hard Places IN THIS ISSUE: ONE COUPLE’S UNEXPECTED JOURNEY FROM CALIFORNIA TO ETHIOPIA HOW A UGANDAN WOMAN KEPT HER PROMISE BECAUSE OF YOU, MAKO HAS CLEAN WATER

A MES SAG E F ROM OU R CEO My shoes are muddy. My legs are tired. My heart is full. If I could take each of you with me to spend just one day in the life of one of our field staff, I know it would change your life.

For the last week I’ve had the chance to walk with our field staff as they visit dozens of families every day. Through coaching and training, these families have made drastic improvements in and around their home that will literally

L I F E WAT E R I N T E R NAT IONA L is

a Christian non-profit organization dedicated to effectively serving vulnerable children and families by partnering with underserved communities to overcome water poverty.

save the lives of their young children.

V IC E PR E S I DE N T OF PH I L A N T H ROP Y

Vulnerable and economically poor children and families being a key part of the change in their community is a

Christine Zurbach Christine@Lifewater.org

confidence boost unlike any other. I met a group this week that embodies this principle.

They are a cadre of Christian community leaders in Uganda.

PR E S I DE N T/C E O

Justin Narducci CEO@Lifewater.org

They call themselves Team No Sleep - because they will not sleep until every home in their village practices these lifesaving water, sanitation, and hygiene practices. Sitting with Team No Sleep gave me so much confidence in the Body of Christ. This is what we are here to do: to love and serve our neighbors in their distress. You are making this possible.

Thank you.

S TAY C ON N E C T E D

75 Zaca Lane Suite 100/110 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 888 LIFE H2O Info@Lifewater.org Lifewater.org LifewaterInternational @Lifewater @LifewaterInternational

May we not sleep until every child has clean water and

L E AV E A L E G AC Y. To speak with someone about including Lifewater in your will or bequests, contact Christine Zurbach. Christine@Lifewater.org

a safe place to go to the restroom.

Photography by David Uttley and Jeff Crider.

Paper donated by Mohawk Fine Papers.

Printing discounted by O’Neil Printing.

Justin Narducci President/CEO Lifewater International

Your Impact Bringing safe water to rural villages is the most effective way to eliminate poverty. You have brought water, health, and hope to thousands. Thank you!

2016 YEAR TO DATE PROGRESS AS OF AUGUST 31, 2016: PEOPLE SERVED:

10,590

HEALTHY HOMES:

WATER POINTS:

333

SCHOOL LATRINES:

22

3

LIFEWATER FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT: Increased giving allows us to serve more

2015*

2016*

people, more effectively. We want you to see this financial snapshot in each quarterly

REVENUE

$2,887,773

$2,972,193

3%

E X PE NS E S

$2,625,101

$2,780,739

6%

newsletter, because this work would not happen without you.

*All financial figures are rolling 12 months through June 2016; Excludes gift-in-kind and one-time accounting adjustments

BRINGING HOPE TO HARD PLACES: CAMBODIA

Donors Generously Provide Needed Equipment for Svay Leu Field Team In July, the need for motorbikes as well as other necessary The motorcycles that you provided help the team reach rural villages where there are no roads.

office equipment was shared with the world and donors like you responded generously!

In fact, twenty-three people contributed to give beyond the initial goal of $6000 and were able to provide the Svay Leu Field Office with the final two motorbikes needed plus the additional mobile phones, data plans, and rent money necessary to start the work.

Thanks to your generosity the work is now underway.

KEEPING HER PROMISE

Your gifts help Catherine walk alongside families as they take steps toward better health.

CATHERINE’S PHONE WOULDN’T STOP RINGING. “He’s very eager, he wants me to come immediately

water access, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices in schools.

And training rule number one is turn your ringer off during training lessons. The problem is, she gets a lot of phone calls.

to verify his Healthy Home. He wants to be the first!”

Catherine is an amazing facilitator and the people

Catherine said with a smile as she made sure her

living in the Bumanya district in Kaliro really like

ringer was off.

her. Your gifts helped Catherine train dozens of

She didn’t want to break the rules.

community leaders in Bumanya how to construct their own handwashing devices, how to filter and

You see, Catherine, along with the entire Lifewater

boil their water, how to build their own latrine,

Kaliro staff, left the rural villages in eastern Kaliro to

how to construct a drying rack, and how to keep

complete a 5-Day staff training on how to implement

their grounds clean.

In Kaliro, where only 3% of the population has a

Catherine kept her word and returned to Samuel’s

safe and dignifying latrine and women travel an

home the following week. He and his family were

average of 2.5 hours a day to fetch water—these

ready. Everything was as he said:

health changes can save lives.

PPClean Compound PPSafe Water Use and Storage PPSafe and Dignifying Latrine PPHandwashing Device with Water and Soap PPDrying Rack

After the training, Catherine told the community leaders that they had one month to complete all of the steps before she returned to check on them.

And of course, she gave them her phone number to call her if they had any questions.

Catherine’s phone is constantly ringing and one of her most frequent callers is Mr. Samuel Kasaja.

Samuel has a wife and three children and he has been very busy making a Healthy Home.

Catherine explains, “He made me promise that I will go visit his home first. I tell him that I am busy with a training for school children and that I will go see

Samuel and his family received the first Healthy Home certificate in Uganda. And thanks to your generous gifts, Samuel and the others Catherine trained are now training their neighbors. Change is happening.

Over 100 Healthy Homes have been registered in Kaliro thanks to your generosity. Families are becoming healthier and there is much to celebrate.

him first thing next week.”

This life-changing work cannot happen without you.

She looks down at her phone to show us a video of

this great work apart from your generosity.

him performing a celebration dance as dozens of future community health facilitators sing at their recent graduation and adds, “But he keeps calling.

There is no celebration dance in Bumanya to honor

STAY UP TO DATE ON THE WORK IN KALIRO

BY VISITING LIFEWATER.ORG/KALIRO

He is most energetic! You see?”

“He made me promise that I will go visit his home first.”

Happy families in front of their certified Healthy Homes in Kaliro, Uganda. Thank you for making this possible.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Because of you, Mako’s village has a new water source In Kotohashawa, Ethiopia, a young girl named Mako Burka has a new goal.

Lifewater is working with Mako’s community to get safe water and have Healthy Homes. Mako, her sister, and her mother used to make the long journey for water at least once a day.

They walked over 3 miles on each trip and the only water they could gather was shared with

communities, the water committee is the first position of community leadership occupied by women, and Mako’s mother is setting an example for her daughters with her capacity to lead.

Mako wants to be on the water committee when she grows up, and her mother will help ensure a safe water source can be passed on to her generation.

animals and gave them intestinal worms, causing

Mako’s more immediate goals? To help her school get

considerable pain.

a source of safe water and latrines so she can complete

Because of your generous support, Lifewater was

her education and become a teacher.

able to help her village of Kotohashawa. In fact,

Thank you for enabling Mako’s mother to set an

your support helped build a new spring cap that

example of confidence and leadership, and for giving

provides a consistent source of safe water right

Mako a reason to expect the same from herself.

near Mako’s home.

Mako’s mother is on the water committee, a group of volunteers chosen by the community to ensure the maintenance of the water source. In many

WANT TO HELP MORE KIDS LIKE MAKO? VISIT OUR WEST ARSI, ETHIOPIA PROGRAM PAGE AT LIFEWATER.ORG/WEST-ARSI

California couple journeys to East Africa to bring clean water This past June, Bob and Cindy joined a team of 13 other Lifewater advocates in a climb for clean water.

Six years ago, if you had asked Bob and Cindy Zahner where they would be celebrating Cindy’s 59th birthday, their answer definitely would not have been The Roof of Africa—Mount Kilimanjaro.

“It’s hard to describe all the feelings of joy!” said Cindy as she described summiting Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, on June 22nd—her 59th birthday.

Bob and Cindy have an amazing story. They met and were married in 2010 after both losing their spouse to cancer. Bob introduced Cindy to Lifewater and both agreed that they wanted to serve together through the ministry. They were trained and traveled to Ethiopia

When Bob and Cindy committed to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and funding a well for an Ethiopian community, they decided to return to Ethiopia after the climb and see the impact of Lifewater’s work in the communities they helped serve.

As Bob described it, “We saw firsthand the results Lifewater is having. These communities are not looking for handouts. They want the tools and knowledge to help themselves. I can’t think of a better way to use my time and the funds I have available.”

Bob and Cindy’s passion and service demonstrates the love of Christ and is truly inspiring. Together they have impacted thousands through living and giving generously.

in 2011 and 2014 as certified trainers to help facilitate Lifewater hygiene trainings.

Their love for Ethiopia and its people grew.

WANT TO CLIMB IN 2017? LEARN MORE BY VISITING LIFEWATER.ORG/KILIMANJARO

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