London, United Kingdom Jul 13, 2020 (Issuewire.com) - Water scarcity impacts nearly 10% of the global population and disproportionately affects people in developing countries. Even now, in 2020, people must travel long distances to supply their families with water that has the potential to cause life-threatening illness.
Life amidst a pandemic exacerbates the problems caused by water scarcity. Villages without reliable water access are unable to take the necessary measures, such as frequently washing their hands, that may be able to mitigate the effects of the contagion. The rightful desire to practice good hygiene only puts more pressure on women and girls who must transport water to their homes.
These ten inspiring water charity philanthropists are taking extraordinary steps to ensure the most vulnerable communities around the globe can safely access clean water and improve their quality of life.
Eleanor Allen – CEO of Water for People
Eleanor Allen got her to start as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic before transitioning to a consulting engineer and finally becoming the CEO of Water for People. As a water project expert and a passionate proponent of empowering local communities, Allen runs the organization with the end goal of bringing clean water to all people in mind.
Allen is an advocate for using social entrepreneurship to solve some of the most challenging problems the world faces. Water for People aims to establish reliable water services across schools, communities, and clinics. The process creates jobs and includes an exit strategy that consists of local communities attaining full control over the maintenance of their water services.
Seth Maxwell - CEO & Founder of Thirst Project
From an early age, Seth Maxwell set his sights on acting, but he quickly switched gears when he learned about the water crisis in India. Maxwell began raising awareness about the problem with some of his college friends, and he continues to raise awareness today through the Thirst Project.
As the largest youth water organization, the Thirst Project has served nearly half of a million people from 13 countries. Maxwell continues to speak about the issues that matter at schools, churches, and conferences. Donations to the project are used to build water projects that bring potable water to the people who need it most.
Shaz Memon – Founder of Wells on Wheels
Shaz Memon is the founder of Wells on Wheels, an innovative program that eases the water carrier burden of women and girls in rural India. Nearly 163 million Indians do not have access to clean water near their homes and the responsibility of travelling long distances in high temperatures to collect water falls on women and girls.
Memon, a multi-award-winning entrepreneur, and author used his experience as CEO and founder of Digimax and Digimax Dental to launch Wells on Wheels, which supplies villages in India with Water Wheels.
Memon was inspired by the modern water cooler present in most office spaces to design a robust and affordable, high-density polyethene wheeled transportation solution for water. Each water-filled cart carries 45 litres of water, reducing the number of trips to the water source and allowing two previously water-collecting girls to attend school.
The Wells on Wheels organization has been well received in India and has been featured in the Times of India. Memon received the Corporate Social Responsibility award for 2019.
Stacey Travis – Co-Founder & Director of Drop in the Bucket
Stacey Travis uses her experience from over 15 years of television program production to run the Drop in the Bucket charity. Her creativity has been one of her greatest assets in developing this innovative approach to water charities. This organization focuses on the long-term development of clean water solutions, and Travis spends time working with the local officials who will keep the water projects running after Drop in the Bucket has left the region.
Travis’ hands-on approach involves working closely with local officials, experts, and civilians. The philanthropic organization works for long-term solutions that involve supporting education and women empowerment as well as building wells. Travis continues to enjoy fieldwork that involves construction, follow-ups, and garnering community support.
Scott Harrison – Founder of Charity: Water
After an extended stint on a hospital ship off the Liberian coast, Scott Harrison was inspired to start a nonprofit organization to combat the effects of unclean water. He had seen many people with debilitating diseases, and he connected the high rate of such diseases with the contaminated water people were forced to drink. Charity: Water brings clean water to communities in developing countries.
Harrison founded this charity with a small team in an apartment in Manhattan; less than 15 years later, Charity: Water has funded water projects in 28 countries. Charity: Water partners with local organizations, providing the people with the relevant knowledge and experience as well as the funds needed to bring water projects to life.
Fiona Jeffrey OBE - Founder & Chairman of Just a Drop
Jeffrey founded Just a Drop to combat the ill-effects dirty water has on children. At the time, a child died because of dirty water every 17 seconds, but £1 can provide children with clean water for 10 years.
Jeffrey used her experience as the Chairman of the World Travel Market, a global event for the travel industry, to establish the World Responsible Tourism Day to encourage travellers and tourism businesses to give back to the communities they operate in.
Just a Drop has grown over the course of 20 years to provide 1.5 million people with water and sanitation services.
Bob Maher – President of Water Access Now
Maher oversees planning for water projects with partners in Ghana. Water Access Now aims to bring clean and sustainable sources of water to villages throughout Ghana. Starting with the villages in most dire need of help, Maher and others in the organization implement some sustainable water projects that have proven records of bringing clean water to rural communities.
Maher has degrees from Cornell and Yale and works at Microsoft to form global software partner alliances. He has close professional and personal ties with the organization’s partners in Ghana. Close communication is a major aspect of the plan to bring water to the 9 million Ghanans who are currently living without it.
J. Carl Ganter - Co-Founder & Director of Circle of Blue
Carl Ganter is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in many major media outlets. After serving as the vice-chairman of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Water Security and as a member of the Global Future Council on the Environment, Ganter founded his own news organization to raise awareness about the humanitarian water crisis.
Circle of Blue is a nonprofit news organization that consists of independent journalists who report on the issues caused by water scarcity. The rationale behind Circle of Blue is that problems cannot be solved before first being recognized. As a journalist, Ganter feels a responsibility to make information about emerging crises available to people around the world.
Barbara Goldberg - Founder & President of Wells Bring Hope
Barbara Goldberg, who had successful careers in marketing in New York and California, was inspired to found Wells Bring Hope in 2008 when she listened to a presentation on the water emergency. In 2009, she travelled to Niger and was inspired to continue to work to raise awareness about the water crisis in Western Africa.
Goldberg’s experience from her advertising and marketing career and founding the incorporation, Responsive Research, has been integral in the success of her nonprofit venture. Wells Bring Hope drills wells in Niger, the poorest country in the world, to save lives by providing access to clean water.
Todd Phillips – Founder & Executive Director of The Last Well
At age 24, Todd Phillips converted to Christianity and devoted his subsequent years to spreading the Gospel. During his ministry with young adults in Texas, Phillips was inspired to start The Last Well to eradicate water-borne illnesses in Liberia.
This inspiring program aims to reach the entire nation of Liberia with the Gospel teaching and clean water by the end of 2020. The project includes building and rehabilitating wells, as well as installing Sawyer clean water systems. As this major project is on a tight schedule, The Last Well partners with other organizations in Liberia to make a big impact on water accessibility in that country.
Water is Life!
The lack of access to clean water not only makes water-borne illnesses and parasites an ever-present health concern, but it also makes rural villages more susceptible to air-borne diseases and other contagions.
Rural villages are more vulnerable to disease without sufficient clean water, and girls tasked with water collection miss out on educational opportunities and must cope with the physical strain of carrying heavy water barrels on their heads. This leads to mental, physical, and emotional tolls that are not often initially considered when discussing the water crisis.
Getting reliable and clean water across the globe requires much more work to be done, but the tireless efforts of these ten incredible philanthropists have resulted in many global communities gaining access to potable water.
Media Contact
Verb PR *****@verbpress.com https://verbpress.com
