A Replenishing Partnership
It all started with a birthday party.
A top night club promoter in New York City, Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water, was captivated by much more than the wealth he earned in his career. For Harrison, it was about giving back, ultimately leading him to West Africa as a photojournalist. Harrison documented life and human suffering of some of the world’s 1.2 billion living in poverty through his journey, which eventually acted as a catalyst in founding charity: water, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
For me, charity is practical. It's sometimes easy, more often inconvenient, but always necessary. It's the ability to use one's position of influence, relative wealth and power to affect lives for the better. Charity is singular and achievable. Scott Harrison
founder of charity: water
On Harrison’s 31st birthday in September of 2007, he asked friends to bring $31 as a donation towards initiating charity: water instead of a birthday gift to his party. A total of 700 people donated and the collected money helped to construct six water wells in Uganda. In 2008, the September birthday campaign raised almost $1,000,000 to bring clean water to people in Ethiopia. Since then, the annual September birthday campaign has expanded into an online forum where thousands have given up their birthdays and other special occasions to fundraise for clean water.The commonality that clean drinking water is necessary for health and the improvement of livelihood in developing countries is what ties charity: water and A Glimmer of Hope together. The loyal partnership dates back to 2008 when charity: water began implementing water projects in Ethiopia through A Glimmer of Hope. charity: water and A Glimmer of Hope are benefiting 274,000 people living in some of the poorest communities on Earth. From 2008-2010, charity: water raised and donated more than $5.8 million to A Glimmer of Hope. Thanks to Glimmer’s 100% Promise, every dollar reached the projects they were intended for in rural Ethiopia.
This video from charity: water explains the global water crisis in a simple yet powerful way.
As of the end of 2010, the partnership had implemented 1,095 water projects and 108 latrines throughout the Tigray and Amhara regions as well as the Kelem zone of the Oromiya region. This year, 317 water projects and 21 latrines have already been funded to continue to provide clean water and sanitation village by village in rural Ethiopia. Glimmer’s partnership with charity: water has grown significantly since its beginning in 2008. charity: water is implementing water projects in 19 countries, however they have funded more projects in Ethiopia than in any other country, making Glimmer its largest partner. Looking forward, partners charity: water and Glimmer are set to impact even more lives in 2011.
