Water for Ethiopia

Dear Friends & Family,

Think back for a moment about how much water you consumed today.  How simple was it to turn on the faucet?  Did you leave a half empty glass of water after lunch, or maybe took an extra long shower?  How hard did you have to work to provide water for your family? 

Consider these facts about Ethiopia, a place very close to our hearts after our recent adoption journeys.  On average, women walk 4 miles and carry 40 pounds of water to their family daily.  50% of Ethiopians are living with water borne diseases.  3.7 billion work hours are lost every year due to long-distance water gathering.  1 in 10 children will die before their first birthday and 80% of all illness is due to water born diseases. 

We are committed to giving back to our children’s birth country and raising awareness on this life or death issue.  Please join us in a fundraising effort for Ethiopia.  In honor of Silas (age 2), Grace (age 1) and Addia (age 1 ), we want to raise funds to build three wells which will provide clean water and offer hope to a country who desperately needs our help.

Our hope is to have friends and family join our team, WATER FOR ETHIOPIA. You can help in the following three ways: a) make a donation below, b) launch a supporting campaign, or c) buy a "Water for Ethiopia" T-shirt at www.waterforethiopia.blogspot.com.  If you choose to launch a supporting campaign, your campaign's donations will be linked to ours, showing the net result of all efforts.  Think of the impact we could make with all of us working together towards the same goal. 

As one of our activities, please join us for a FREE WATER WALK on Saturday, March 26th.  We will walk 2 miles to collect water and then the 2 miles back.  We encourage your family to only use this water for the rest of the day to help teach your children about the dire water situation in Ethiopia.  The first walkers will start at 9am and then start times will be staggered based on participation.  Register today by sending your name, # in party, email address and phone number to Jana Garrett at garrettjams@yahoo.com.  You will receive an email with the starting location and time once finalized.

We are thrilled to be partnering with A Glimmer of Hope, a non-profit organization that helps lift women and children out of extreme poverty in rural Ethiopia. 100% of all donations go directly to funding projects, more than 5,000 to date. Over the last 10 years, A Glimmer of Hope has improved 2.5 million lives.

We are committed to giving back to our children’s birth country and appreciate your support of our campaign. On behalf of those whose lives are forever transformed by your generosity, thank you!  Would you please forward this to your friends, families and others that would be interested in making a difference.   Take a moment and watch the video below and see how we can make a difference together.

Love,

Sara & Tom Jackson, Shannon & Mark Collins and Jana & Matt Garrett