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Fall 2009

MEET JEAN BOSCO:

A story from the field in Rwanda.

page 3

CHARITY BALL 2009An evening to benefit the work of charity:water and bring clean, safe drinking to communities in need. page 4

HOW YOUR MONEY GOES EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANT IT TO.A look into how 100% of your donations directly fund wells.page 2FR

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Visit our blog at imaginedrinkingthis.wordpress.com

The Levi's® brand announced charity: water as

the winning charity of its recent GO IV Fortune

$100,000 green charity giveaway last month.

Beginning in mid-October, GO IV Fortune players

nominated hundreds of charitable organizations

with a commitment to sustainability and the

environment. The list was narrowed down to ten

finalists and thousands of gamers voted for the

charity they felt best embodied the Levi's®

brand's pioneering spirit and rich legacy of

promoting sustainability. 

Charity: water was announced as America's

choice – so thank you!

The charity: water team rallied our followers and fans to

join in the movement to bring water to developing nations and used social

networking and word-of-mouth efforts to encourage people to vote for

them in Levi's® GO IV Fortune challenge.  We appreciate your response. 

Without you, this would not be possible!

Continued on page 4

ALL POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF YOU Charity:Water recognized for environmental efforts through Levi’s GO IV Fortune Charity Giveaway

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How Do We Give 100%You may be wondering – how does charity: water give away

100%? A group of private donors, foundations and

sponsors help pay for the everyday costs of running

the organization. Our flights to the field, our staff,

our office, even paperclips and ink toner are

sponsored so your money goes straight to water

projects. From the beginning, our mission was to restore

people’s faith in charity, and one of the ways to do that was to

direct 100% of donors’ money straight to project costs.

In fact, we’re so passionate about giving 100% that

we pay the paypal and credit card transaction fees

each time you donate online. So each time someone

gives, a true 100% goes straight to building a well.

Interested in supporting operating costs?

Private

donors fund our

administrative costs

so you don’t have

to!

100%

charity: water is a registered 501(c)(3). All Donations are tax-deductible.

[3]

Meet Jean Bosco.

A story by Esther Havens and Taylor Walling

 

Rwanda.

GPS: S02º2488 E30º6423

For over a year, I had been aching to

see a well installation in Africa. I had

donated money, seen photos, watched

videos and heard stories.  Each new

exposure drove my desire.  I longed to

witness the affect of a Water Pump in a

community.  To see the power of clean,

accessible water.  At long last I had

made it.  Today I would witness a village

transformed.

Children carrying their sacred yellow

Jerry Cans on their heads and shoulders

approached the site in a continuous flow

of curiosity.  As the drills fired up, the air

was filled with thick red dust.  Red

African dirt has become the subject of

legend and here we were, drilling deep into its insides.

The diverse and mingling crowd watched and waited for the first

signs of water. Finally, at only seven meters deep, the red dust was

replaced by muddy water shooting into the air. In continuous flow, the

water kept spurting up.  Higher and higher it pushed toward the sky.

From the crowd came excited whispers, "amazi, amazi", "water,

water".

In the crowd was a boy named Jean-Bosco. Shy and sturdy, he

carried an empty 20 gallon Jerry Can on his head with a banana as

the cork.  At fifteen years old, his days are filled with little more than

water fetching.  Four to five times a day, every day, he walks.  Back

and forth, to and fro, the monotony would bring to me to the brink –

but daily he wakes up to walk.

In an effort to better understand his story, we decided to join

him. We eventually came to a brown, murky, stagnant pond.  Small

crowds of people filled their cans and despite the smell, Jean-Bosco

didn't hesitate to wade right into the water in order to fill his.

Staring down, I knew then that clean water is far more than a

valuable commodity.  It is a treasure.

Leaving the hole and heading back toward Jean-Bosco's home,

we passed leagues of crops and farmers.  I couldn't imagine how this

brackish substance was being used to drink, cook, bathe, plant and

water animals.  

The following day cement was laid and dried around the tubing

of the well.    This creation, this simple new contraption would change

their lives forever.   And then, just like that, it was done. The workers

jumped toward it and began pumping up and down as quickly as

they could.  As soon as water hit the spout, the crowd rose in huge

cheers of celebration.

The children made a mad dash for the water, drinking, bathing

and basking in their refreshment.  Like liquid magic, joy swept the

crowd.

The water gushing out was naturally filtered and free from

parasites.  Together we drank and though I had known it would be

clean water, I'm not sure I ever imagined it would be this clean. Every

last one of us should have access to this kind of clean water.

For this village, Murinja, the well means a nearby clinic will finally

be able to treat the sick with healthy water.  For Jean-Bosco, it

means less walking and never needing to boil out the inventible

diseases that come from stagnant pools of unclean water.

Eventually, with more disposable time, efficiency and better

health, it will be children like him who will be able to rebuild this

community.  They will be able to create a more developed, safe and

thriving home - thanks to the presence of clean, life-sustaining water.  

Seeing it once, I can't help but want it again.  And again and

again and again.  My world will never be the same.  Neither will theirs.

meet jean bosco.

RWANDA

For more info visit our website at charitywater.org

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Each year Charity: Water hosts what we call

the charity: ball.  This year the ball is Dec. 14

beginning at 7 p.m.  It will be at the

Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City.

At Charity: Water we consider ourselves

unique.  Unique because we serve a cause

that gives life in a tangible way.  Unique

because 100% of your donations go directly to

building wells for those who do not have

access to water. 

Donating 100% directly to well-building is a

part of our organization that separates us

from other non-profits.  But, we’re not able to

do this by chance.  The charity: ball is what

makes it possible for us to not use donations

to go towards operational costs.

In 2008 over 1,000 guests attended.  In that

night $500,000 was raised.  There is a live

auction, silent auction, merchandise to buy

and our special event: the water walk.  The

water walk is a great way to get a feel for

what it would be like to live in a developing

country.  Instead of a typical cat walk, this

walk is about carrying two jerry-cans of water

back and forth to get an abbreviated feel of

what that it would be like to daily carry that

water from miles away.  The participant only

carries it for approximately thirty seconds.  In

low-income countries, women carry it for

hours. 

This year’s event is hosted by Adrien Grenier,

the star of the show Entourage.  Other stars

are expected to make appearances at this

year’s ball.  Dustin Hoffman has already

donated an hour acting lesson to the auction

and Amos Lee will be performing at the end of

the evening.

The 2009 Charity: Ball is definitely an event

you won’t want to miss!  It combines holiday

cheer, fabulous celebrities, education about

the world and great times with amazing

people.  Come and let us connect you first

hand to the people we’re trying to help.

Without charity: ball, Charity: Water could not

ALL POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF YOUcontinued from page 1

"We're thrilled to accept the generous $100,000 charitable gift from Levi's. Almost a billion people on the planet currently lack access to clean drinking water, and 100 percent of the money will be used to bring clean and safe water to 5,000 people in need," says Scott Harrison, president and founder of charity: water.

Levi Strauss & Co. is an industry leader in promoting sustainability issues. From pioneering labor and environmental guidelines for suppliers, to supporting more sustainable ways to grow cotton - values guide everything the company does.

Charity: water shares Levi's® passion for pioneering positive change and commitment to making our world a better place. The Levi's® brand said it is honored to support charity: water's mission to provide safe and clean drinking water to people in developing nations.

CHEERS TO GIVINGAn evening to benefit the work of charity:water and bring clean, safe drinking to communities in need.

Charity:Ball 2009Monday, December 14, 2009

Metropolitan Pavilion, NYC

Charity:Water

200 Varick Street, Suite 201

New York, NY 10014

t. 1 646 688 2323

f. 1 888 707 6466

Trenz Pruca4321 First StreetAnytown, State ZIP

 It’s hard not to think about water today. In the western world, we face growing concerns about our stewardship of the world’s most precious resource. There’s talk of shortages, evidence of reservoirs and aquifers drying up, and of course, plenty of people who simply don’t care.

But forget about us.

Most of us have never really been thirsty. We’ve never had to leave our houses and walk 5 miles to fetch water. We simply turn on the tap, and water comes out. Clean. Yet there are a billion people on the planet who don’t have clean water. It’s hard to imagine what a billion people looks like really, but one in eight might be easier. One in eight people in our world don’t have access to the most basic of human needs. Something we can’t imagine going 12 hours without. Here, we’d like to introduce you to a few of those billion people. They are very real, and they need our help. They didn’t choose to be born into a village where the only source of water is a polluted swamp. And I didn’t choose to be born in a country where even the homeless have access to clean water and a toilet.

I invite you to put yourself in their shoes. Follow them on their daily journey. Carry 80 pounds of water in yellow fuel cans. Dig with their children in sand for water. Line up at a well and wait 8 hours for a turn.

Now, make a decision to help. We’re not offering grand solutions and billion dollar schemes, but instead, simple things that work. Things like freshwater wells, rainwater catchments and sand filters. For about $20 a person, we know how to help millions of people.

Start by helping one.

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