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Touching Bottom
“I remember days as a young boy, swimming in the ocean off the coast of southern Maine. The exhilaration of that first step beyond the hard sand. I would stand on the soft ocean sand looking toward the shore, and let the din of body surfers, sand castle builders and even the sound of small transistor radios on the blankets of sunbathers all become a muted echo. When I was younger, I loved to sway back and forth as the gentle current caressed my scrawny little body. It was a sanctuary… until it wasn’t.”
Read MoreExciting Updates from the Field
We are so grateful for your support even in these difficult times and for the incredible work of our partners, so we wanted to give you a little update on how each of them are doing amidst the COVID-19 crisis as it grows in Africa.
Read MoreToday’s Heroes Create Everyday Miracles
Heroes can be teachers, mailmen, parents, or a public figure you’ve never even met. Today in the US, we have thousands of health care workers serving tirelessly to contain the COVID-19 crisis in our overstuffed hospitals. Volunteers are stepping outside of their comfort zones to make sure that people without the funds for groceries can receive food to sustain their families. Our partners know these problems well, but with this new global development, they also face the possibility of seeing an immense health crisis.
Read MoreTake a Moment to Reflect
“When I Consider How My Light Is Spent”
By John Milton
When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Read MoreWhat Water Wells and Kidney Transplants Have in Common
We as a culture have looked at the local organization as the younger sibling to the large international organizations. In doing so, we have fueled a long, solutionless investment that has done more to build a western hero complex rather than truly help solve the challenges that continue to burden our world. It is time to change.
Read MoreThe Experts Are Not Who You Think
The question that should pop up in your brain at this point is, “Has the international development community largely operated without elevating the importance and integral role of local expertise?” And the answer to your question is a resounding and painful, “yes.”
Read MoreWe Need YOU this #GivingTuesdayNow
In support of our partners fighting coronavirus in their communities, we are announcing our Frontline Funds campaign to help equip and empower our partners on the ground in Africa as they face this new health crisis in the vulnerable communities they serve. The outbreak is intensifying in many African nations, and experts predict the worst is yet to come for the continent. Blood:Water exists for moments like this. And you have a vital role to play.
Read MoreStand Together And Overcome – LCA Partner Update
LCA is placing WASH at the center of their efforts, emphasizing the importance that every household has access to a tippy tap, soap, and water. They are in the process of creating a workflow with support groups to produce their own soap to make sure they have a 3 month supply in addition to homemade respirators. They are also trying to implement hand-washing stations in all facilities, local markets, and community centers.
Read More“CHANGE” – An Original Poem by Dan Haseltine
We will feel the urge to grasp for all that is slipping around us. Our hands will reach and our arms will contort to catch what falls. Our eyes will blink and blur from the spray of dust born of a million pieces of an old concrete life falling to the new earth that shifts around us and below us, sticking to our eyelashes.
Read MoreOn The Frontlines In Uganda, Our Partner Is Taking Action
While COVID-19 still presents a serious threat to them and the people they serve, our partners have been proactively fighting to contain the disease in their corners of the world. And we are excited to highlight the efforts of one such partner to show you how, despite all of our current challenges, we can still band together to help. Partners for Community Transformation (PaCT) has been one of Uganda’s leaders in health for some time now, and they are going above and beyond to proactively address this new pandemic.
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