Improving the Lives of Women and their Communities with Clean Drinking Water.
In many parts of the world, drinking water is so scarce that women must spend hours each day walking to collect it, transport it back to their communities, and boil it so that it’s safe to drink.
“A five gallon bucket of water can weigh 40 pounds and carrying it is a struggle,” says Malcolm Morris, Chairman Emeritus of Living Water International.
“I’ve seen everything from women suffering miscarriages to their spines compressed because of the heavy load.” Living Water is one of the OPIC partners bringing clean water to remote communities.
Living Water, a faith-based nonprofit in Houston, was formed in 1990 to help expand access to drinking water around the world so that those in remote communities could establish safe and secure sources of water close to their homes.
With the support of OPIC financing, Living Water was able to purchase new drilling rigs to more efficiently access water and provide safe water to over five million people.
“Every community that gets clean water gets more prosperous,” says Morris.
“Women are not spending all day collecting water.
They have more time and sometimes they establish small businesses creating jobs and income for other members of their community.”

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STANDING ROCK — After months of protests, lawsuits and occasional clashes, oil started flowing Thursday through the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.
The 1,172-mile-long pipeline is now in full commercial use, said Vicki Granado, spokeswoman for Energy Transfer Partners — the pipeline’s developer.
The $3.7 billion project, which stretches across four states, drew fierce resistance from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota, its allies and environmentalists.
“Now that the Dakota Access Pipeline is fully operational, we find it more urgent than ever that the courts and administration address the risks posed to the drinking water of millions of American citizens,” said Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux.
It’s expected to move 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Opposition to the pipeline sparked months-long protests, with as many as 10,000 people participating during the peak of the demonstrations.
The Oceti Sakowin camp, the main protest camp closest to the pipeline, was cleared in February following an emergency evacuation order signed by North Dakota Gov.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe had also asked protesters to leave, saying the fight over the pipeline belongs in court.
In February, the US Army Corps of Engineers granted permission for the last stretch of the pipeline, under Lake Oahe, which had been opposed by Native Americans and environmentalists.

"Wine Into Water" event will raise money for safe drinking water efforts.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video SOUTH BEND, IND- South Bend’s Best Week Ever continues.
The 9th annual “Wine Into Water” fundraiser will be Thursday night at the Palais Royale.
There will be delicious fine wine, beer, spirits, food and music.
The wine will be from different Indiana distributors and includes live music by Jack Gregory and other local artists.
One of the highlights of the fundraiser is a raffle.
Raffle tickets are $5 each and you can enter to win several prize packages.
All proceeds will benefit “Water for People,” an organization that ensures people all over the world can enjoy safe drinking water.
“We provide counseling, support, guidance so that communities can learn how to be self-sufficient on their own and maintain sustainable water supply systems throughout the world,” Williams said.
If you didn’t purchase one in advance, you can buy one at the door.

Use your zip code to dive into data about your drinking water Canandaigua’s drinking water is the best tasting in the state, the New York American Water Association determined this year for the second time in four years. But what exactly is in that treated Canandaigua Lake water quenching 35,000 people? A new online water portfolio has the answer. Not just Canandaigua drinking water, but all public drinking water statewide is broken down into what it’s made of at “What’s In My Water?” Think contaminants like nitrates, coliform, bromomethane, strontium, cobalt and trichloropropane — they’re in the data you can pull up for your drinking water supply by putting in your zip code. Megan Ahearn is program director for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) that unveiled the project Tuesday. The tool gives New Yorkers “an interactive, easy to navigate resource about the state of their drinking water,” Ahearn stated in a release. The site includes information on the presence of contaminants found through state and federal laboratory testing, and the location and nature of some potential threats to local drinking water, all searchable by…

Syria: Safe drinking water at last, after four years.
If you lived in rural Homs, you wouldn’t need to imagine it.
“Our only choice is to buy from the trucks that carry water from unknown sources.” In March 2017, I was part of a Medair team from Damascus on a field visit to southern and western Homs.
We met with local water authorities in Homs to get an overview of the situation, and then visited three villages near Homs: Al-Aliyat, Al-Nezha, and Swairi.
In each of these villages we connected with people who shared their stories and concerns over their lack of access to safe drinking water.
“I do not know where the water we buy from the trucks comes from,” said a father from Swairi.
“I am worried about the health of my children, but we have to drink water to stay alive.” Sadly, the high cost of trucked-in water makes it unaffordable for many families.
Thanks to your monthly support, we have been able to rapidly provide safe drinking water to these three villages through two projects.
As we travelled back to Damascus after the March assessment, I reflected on the suffering that my family and I had endured recently—suffering felt by all the people of Damascus when the fighting affected our water supply.
Thank you, Medair!” Your monthly gift to Medair makes these kinds of critical projects possible.

Syria: Safe drinking water at last, after four years..
If you lived in rural Homs, you wouldn’t need to imagine it.
“Our only choice is to buy from the trucks that carry water from unknown sources.” In March 2017, I was part of a Medair team from Damascus on a field visit to southern and western Homs.
We met with local water authorities in Homs to get an overview of the situation, and then visited three villages near Homs: Al-Aliyat, Al-Nezha, and Swairi.
In each of these villages we connected with people who shared their stories and concerns over their lack of access to safe drinking water.
“I do not know where the water we buy from the trucks comes from,” said a father from Swairi.
“I am worried about the health of my children, but we have to drink water to stay alive.” Sadly, the high cost of trucked-in water makes it unaffordable for many families.
Thanks to your monthly support, we have been able to rapidly provide safe drinking water to these three villages through two projects.
As we travelled back to Damascus after the March assessment, I reflected on the suffering that my family and I had endured recently—suffering felt by all the people of Damascus when the fighting affected our water supply.
Thank you, Medair!” Your monthly gift to Medair makes these kinds of critical projects possible.

Bob Dunning: Portland train heroes do us proud.
THREE PORTLAND HEROES … by now, just about everyone has heard of the two horrific murders aboard a MAX train in Portland, when three ordinary — yet extraordinary — heroes tried to stop some terribly hateful harassment of two young women riding the train … of the three men who intervened to protect the women, two were knifed to death and another was seriously injured … the women were not physically harmed … the murderer was arrested, also unharmed … When you look at the incredibly diverse backgrounds of the three heroes and the two young women, you realize just how remarkably brave that people can be in incredibly trying circumstances … never underestimate the power of the melting pot to combat hate … WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE … my good friend Harold from Public Health Advocates has invited me to a conference on June 14 — Flag Day — “dedicated to making the human right to safe and affordable drinking a reality in California and beyond.” … wow, “safe and affordable drinking” is something I’m sure the students in this college town can get behind … The authorities, no doubt, would like the “safe” part and the students would like the “affordable” part … as for “safe and affordable” drinking being a “human right,” that’s probably an issue for the U.N. to take up … OK, perhaps Harold meant to add the word “water” between “drinking” and “a reality” or maybe he was just trying to catch my attention … either way, I’ll just smile at his intentional/unintentional omission and move on as if he meant for the word “water” to be in there … Adds Harold, “California’s drought may be over, but the high-stakes politics of water in the Golden State continue like ever before, leaving more than 1 million people without reliable access to safe and affordable drinking water.” … I don’t know where Harold gets his figures, but if true, those are stunning numbers … But wait, Harold is not through with this issue … “Drinking water is a fundamental issue of health and health equity that can largely be solved through public policies currently being considered by the state legislature,” he goes on … “Join with other concerned residents, researchers, health and environmental advocates, policymakers and business people to learn about and discuss cutting-edge strategies for promoting water access, water quality and water consumption in California and the nation.” … The conference will be held at the Sheraton Grand in Sacramento … contact PHAdvocates.org for more information on the conference or if you wish to clarify if this is strictly about water or a somewhat stronger class of beverage … FROM THE REDUNDANCY FILE … posted in the gutter where B Street runs into 14th was a large street sign that declared in bold-faced, all-cap letters “NO ILLEGAL DUMPING OF YARD WASTE.” (see photo) … this, of course, immediately begged the question of what sort of dumping of yard waste would be deemed “legal” … I’m sorry, officer, but I believe what we are doing would be classified as legal dumping, and, as you can see, it’s only “illegal dumping” that’s against the law … after all, we sort of presumed that “illegal dumping of yard waste” was, well, illegal, just as “illegal robbing of bank” is also against the law … I’ll have to check Davis Municipal Codes 32.01.090 and 32.01.125 to be sure I don’t become a common scofflaw the next time I come upon this intersection … — Reach Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net

Croatians create an application that maps global sources of clean, free drinking water.
This week Croatian startup Freewa launched an Indiegogo campaign aimed at gathering funds for project development and invited people to report in well-known sources of drinking water.
Freewa is actually an ecological water bottle and mobile application that can be used to locate the nearest drinking water, whether it is a natural source or public.
Freewa glass eco bottle & felt bag are made by five recycled plastic water bottles, to further reduce the amount which ends in the seas, and can also become an original souvenir.
People are also invited to located and register free drinking water sources via the app.
The Freewa team is made up of Marko Rašić, Vedrana Vrabec, Goran Ladišić and Mihaela Ivanec.
Marko and Vedrana are Designers and Art Directors with 13 years of experience in interdisciplinary projects and multimedia, and internationally awarded cultural programs.
Goran spent years on management positions in large companies.
Mihaela is a lawyer with a background in tourism and real estate.
“What connects us all?

‘FOLLOW THE WATER’ Soccer Project Underway in Unification Town.
FOLLOW THE WATER brings The Last Well and DonamiSport together to begin a pilot project to reach every child and family in Unification Town/Smell No Taste in Margibi County with clean water and soccer, Doc Lawson, chief executive officer of Donami Sports told YMCA Executive Director E. Timotheus Kamaboakai yesterday.
FOLLOW THE WATER is a new initiative from The Last Well, under the suggestion of Doc Lawson, to team up with the Young Men’s Christian Association of Liberia (YMCA) to ensure kids that are involved in DonamiSports-YMCA soccer programs to have access to safe drinking water.
Mr. Lawson told YMCA General Secretary Kamaboakai at the YMCA headquarters on Crown Hill, Monrovia, after demonstrating how to purify water using two buckets especially designed for it, adding that residents of Unification Town will be the first beneficiaries of the project.
“This filtration will ensure that each family has safe drinking water in Unification Town.” He said the project will take about one month, and presently assessment teams are in Unification Town working with families to benefit from the project.
Lawson said the FOLLOW THE WATER project uses soccer to get kids active, provide them with safe drinking water and ensure that no child dies from waterborne diseases.
After the project in Unification Town, Lawson said representatives from the YMCA already in the city will ensure that families are making good use of the system.
After the system is turned over to families, there will be two six-month assessment visits to ensure that they are using the buckets as expected.
“The buckets for the purification are free to each family,” Lawson said, “and we have 60,000 buckets to get everyone on our project ready for safe drinking water.” After Unification Town, he said the project will go to communities such as New Kru Town, West Point, Clara Town, and others.
The purifying buckets are programmed to last for 15 years, he said.

After a childhood spent collecting water, she wanted more for her adult life.
She is now an artist, a wife, and an empowered mother who is changing her family’s world.. Ruth is hopeful and determined.
Empowering women is critical to solving the water crisis.
We empower moms to get safe water and sanitation by helping them access affordable financing.
A young Ruth may have spent days dreaming about the things she wanted to create, the pictures she wanted to draw, the artist in her she wished to explore.
When she wasn’t walking to collect water, Ruth helped her mother with household chores like cooking, cleaning, and sewing.
For no other reason than it was what the family had always known, Ruth was to continue collecting water each day – for her parents and now her own home.
Water.org’s work in Peru meant Ruth could have access to safe water at home.
We created WaterCredit for people like Ruth, to empower the poor to finance the construction of their own water tap, at home.
And at the center of that potential was an artist – an artist who could sew and make a living creating.