1.1 Billion people on our planet do not have access to clean, safe drinking water. (That is one in every six of us.) 4,500 children under the age of 5 die every day as a result of drinking contaminated water. (That's approximately one child every 15 seconds.) Over 80% of all world-wide diseases are easily-preventable, water-borne illnesses. These kill over 2.2 million people each year- more than all worldwide violence combined.
Sound daunting? The problem is big, but the solution is easy. As little as $5,000 can build a freshwater well in a developing nation or impoverished community, providing up to 700 litres of clean, safe freshwater an hour to a community of as many as 400 people for 20 or more years! It's time to do something!
vital stats:
people impacted:
34,000
people involved:
16
why it's important:
My name is Seth Maxwell. I'm a 22 year-old college graduate, and in March of 2008, I decided to do something about the clean water crisis. I organized a group of eight of my friends, college students, who committed to making a difference. We pitched in all the money we had between us (at the time- about $70) to purchase about 1,000 bottles of water. We went out on Hollywood Boulevard and gave the gift of free water. This allowed us to talk to people who otherwise wouldn't have listened to us and we engaged them in conversations about the water crisis. We asked, "did you know that 1.1 billion people don't have access to safe, clean drinking water?" By the end of the day, we'd raised awareness through conversations with over 1,000 people and almost everyone who took a bottle of water gave back, raising over $1,700! (Not a bad return on investment!)
I had no idea what I was getting into. From that day, people we met began calling, requesting we bring our "organization" to speak at their school or church and I thought, "Woah there! We're not an organization...we're just eight college kids." As the requests increased, I sat down with my friends who were interested and we started to talk. That day, The Thirst Project was born. We legitimized, incorporated, filed for 501(c)3 status and began the work of building a charity.
*Mission Statement:
"The Thirst Project is a nonprofit organization that exists to raise awareness of and bring solutions to the clean water crisis through Education Outreach Programs that educate, equip and empower individuals to explore the human journey and take action in projects that create radical and sustainable global change, and champion hope and respect for the positive values of life."
the plan of action:
We fund water projects in the field through partnering with other international development agencies and/or independent contractors on the ground in the communities we're helping. When we began, we knew there were already a number of non-profits whose work was to provide solutions to the clean water crisis, so when it came time to decide what made us different, we decided to stick to what we know- people our age. The Thirst Project leads its initiatives with an Education Outreach Program.
Through Live, On-Campus Events/Speaking Engagements, we raise awareness on school campuses by showing photos of the problem and the projects we've completed to provide solutions and equipping students to lead their own fundraisers.
This reality of the story is so huge, and yet we hadn't heard about it until our last year of college. We asked, "what would we have already done if we'd learned about this four years earlier?" That's how we got where we are.
Since then, we've spoken at and had events on over 32 Middle School, High School and College campuses and raised over $290,000 to fund freshwater wells, sanitization and hygiene. We've completed 5 projects in Ethiopia, 3 in Uganda and 1 in Niger, and have raised funds to provide over 34,000 people with safe, clean water! (More projects have been funded and are in the process of completion RIGHT NOW!)
how you can get involved:
Bring The Thirst Project to your campus, church or event. We have high-quality multimedia materials that can make your event a success and raise great awareness and impact.
Organize a fundraiser- use your birthday or a holiday to raise money to build your own well.
Working with DoSomething has been great, because they bring a tremendous amount of public attention and credibility to our organization.
In addition, the DoSomething Team has been great about being a resource to guide us as we grow, need direction, tools, etc. Once you're a part of the DoSomething Family, you're in for life. :)
1.) It was exciting for us to investigate how to implement new projects that are not wells, yet still maintaining our standards of sustainability.
2.) This project took us into India, where previously we had not been working.
3.) The communities we've begun working with in India have begun investigating their own ways to replicate this- without our donor dollars- because it IS so cost-effective and works so well.
Our India Bio Sand Filter Project has been one of our Team's favorite projects to watch unfold. The water tables in the village of Nimboli in the Maharashtra State of India (about 3 hours outside of Mumbai) has a really high arsenic content. This made our usual method of implementing water projects- building wells- nearly impossible, because the process of removing arsenic from water is incredibly challenging. In response, we started this small factory, hired one National, and began building and installing these Bio Sand Filters into individual family's homes. They can serve a family of four and cost significantly less than Community Well Projects do. (About $75 Total)
The community, who once suffered from a number of water-borne illnesses, has seen a dramatic decrease in those illnesses, which has led to students being able to go to school, and overall improved quality of life.
08/25/2009
***NEWS***
8/9/09
SETH MAXWELL AWARDED $1,000 DO SOMETHING! GRANT AT VARIETY MAGAZINE'S "POWER OF YOUTH" PARTY ON HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD.
Last night, Thirst Project Founder, Seth Maxwell received the $1,000 Do Something! Grant at an event co-hosted by Variety Magazine. This grant will help The Thirst Project continue to further develop their mission and objectives as they set out to bring safe, clean water to over 1 million people by 2014! Thanks to Do Something! for believing and empowering this work!
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 MEDIUM.jpg "In the Indian Kolwan Valley, a Nanegaon Woman carries water by the Sugarcane Fields back to her home. Often, women have to walk several miles to collect water for their homes. (Copyright: The Thirst Project)")
 MEDIUM.jpg "The task of water collecting often falls on young girls, leaving them no time or energy for school. This is true for these young girls inside the Thar around Bikaner (Rajasthan). (Copyright: The Thirst Project)")
