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The GoodLetter Thursday, November 14, 2002
GoodThings, Inc. :: Stories, actions, ideas, and greeting cards that connect us.
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Greeting Card of the Week
Holiday Card Offer: Hope Is, Joy Is, LOVE IS
Want a sneak peak at one of GoodThings' new Valentine's Day cards? For the next week, order a pack of either our "Hope Is" or "Joy Is" holiday cards (or both! -- see them at right), and get one "Love Is" card as a free bonus! Make it easier on yourself -- send a few GoodThings holiday cards this year and get a unique Valentine's Day card to share with your most loved. (If you're a fan of our "Hope Is" and "Joy Is" holiday cards, don't forget our Colorful Voices cards, featuring the real voices of children. Proceeds support children's arts education programs.)
Every card you buy and send helps broaden awareness of progressive actions and ideas around the world. (We print all our cards on recycled paper using soy ink.)
Please visit our online store today by clicking here or on any card
PLANNING TO ORDER GOODTHINGS HOLIDAY CARDS TO SEND OR GIVE AS GIFTS? Place your orders by November 22 to guarantee delivery to you in time to use them for the holidays! If you think customized GoodThings Greeting Cards like the ones pictured above would be perfect for your non-profit organization or company -- or even your family -- to use for the holidays, send an e-mail to cards@goodthings.com and ask us about our card customization program and volume discounts.
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Click above to order
Front of Valentine's card:
Love Is...an unexpected surprise, being understood, a sweet kiss, breakfast in bed, forgiveness, a hug for no reason. Love is every minute with you.
Inside of Valentine's card:
Happy Valentine's Day
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This Week's Feature
Healing Waters
by Susan Davis, WaterPartners International
Where clean, safe drinking water flows, lives flourish. One international organization's mission is as simple as it is elemental.
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Dear GoodLetter readers,
"How much do you want to know?" I must talk to four or five new people about my job every week and I always ask them that when they want to know what I do. I've realized I'm so excited about my job as Director of Development with WaterPartners International that I tend to go on and on.
Since high school, I knew I wanted a career helping people. I've volunteered for all kinds of things -- built houses, tutored children, cheered on Special Olympics participants -- but it wasn't until I earned my Master in Public Health that I realized that people in other countries are much more desperate.
I wasn't around when WaterPartners started, but I find it inspiring that we've come this far. The groundwork for WaterPartners was laid in 1990, when Gary White and his family invited friends to a dinner to learn about the plight of people in Central America. That first dinner raised $3,000 for a water project in El Limon, Honduras that's still working. Gary and Marla Smith-Nilson met while in graduate school at the University of North Carolina, and officially established WaterPartners as a non-profit in 1993, with a vision of the day when everyone in the world could take a safe drink of water. Now, we have a budget of $600,000, Water for Life events across the country, and a Web site that gets visitors every day from around the world.
Although you and I can take for granted the glass of water that runs clean from our taps, much of the world does not have that luxury. Even in these ultra-modern times, more than one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and more than 25,000 people die each day because of unsafe water. Water-borne diseases are the single largest killers of infants in developing countries -- diarrhea alone causes four million deaths each year.
What's more, the fetching of water results in a huge economic burden. The world's women and children spend what amounts to three billion hours each day just gathering water. In urban areas, the poor pay up to 100 times as much for water as those with plumbing. And, although much money has been spent by well-meaning organizations trying to solve this problem, 50% to 75% of water projects fail.
The way WaterPartners works is unique. Most people who hear about us think that the WaterPartners staff, or maybe staff and volunteers, actually go to communities in developing countries and build water systems. But what we do is find the organizations in developing countries that are the best at facilitating community-based water projects. When we fund water projects through them, these organizations provide training, engineering experience, and technical oversight, but the community residents provide the labor and part of the capital funding. It is amazing to see impoverished, struggling people like Reyes Bautista of Santa Rosita, Honduras pull together to change their own lives. As Reyes told me once, "I'm happy because of water. We were marginalized; we had no future. Since [the water project] began, we've been working very hard to improve our communities and our families."
WaterPartners has been growing by shifting from a focus on bringing safe water to one community at a time to developing strategic partnerships to bring safe water to more people faster. One exciting way we are doing this is by working with PATH, based in Seattle, to make loans for water projects through the local partner organizations in Central America we have screened and selected.
As you might suspect, one of the most exciting parts of my job is the international travel. In 2001, I made two trips to Asia. In Bangladesh, India, and the Philippines, we met with several organizations to interview their staff. For those that seemed promising, we visited some of the communities where they have facilitated water projects. This was my favorite part. I heard so many inspiring stories from the women there.
Govindammal, age 37, wore an orange shirt and a blue and pink sari. She was one of the community leaders. She spoke to us inside the community meeting house. "Before [the water project] you wouldn't have wanted to visit this place." (The meeting house had been built in an area that used to be a large outdoor toilet.) "But now that we've constructed latrines, we can go through here to get water and use this area to sit." Nine months ago, the community had marshaled their small resources and, with our local partner organization's assistance, built a toilet facility.
My travels with WaterPartners have been constructive in nature, but they have also opened up whole new worlds to me. On a rare free day in Tiruchirapalli (southern India), we rented an autorickshaw (a semi-enclosed motorized tricycle) right outside the hotel for 220 rupees to take us to the three major temples in town. "Waiting is free," our driver insisted. At the first temple, Sri Ranganathaswamy -- the largest in India -- a government guide approached us and made us a deal: "If you like my tour, you pay 280 rupees; if you don't, you don't have to pay." Needless to say, I thought he was great.
We walked through one of the many courtyards in the temple and saw a painted elephant. The guide said if I put coins in his trunk, the elephant would "bless" me by touching his trunk to my forehead. I thought that was pretty neat. It must have worked, because I stayed healthy during the whole three-week trip.
The guide also showed us the so-called Gates of Paradise, decorated colorfully with the pantheon of gods, which ironically are only open ten days of the year. Those unfortunate enough to visit on days the gates are closed can still get their chance at salvation. Down the hall, around the corner, you can place your feet on the carved bare feet on the floor, place your fingers in the five holes in the ground (like you would in a bowling ball), and crane your neck to see the gates down the hall. I was just tall enough able to see them without falling over. I guess there's hope for me yet!
Whenever I feel overwhelmed by the global water crisis, I remember people that WaterPartners has reached, like Indra, in a slum of Tiruchirapalli. She told me, "Before [the water project] we lived like a herd; we had many health problems. It was like a living hell. Now we have clean houses. We are getting more water. We used to be ashamed to talk to other communities. Now we are proud. We go to banks, we can shake your hands, we can speak freely in front of you." Thanks to a water project. Now that's inspiration.
Susan Davis
Atlanta, Georgia
[Photo credits: (a) Jim Nilson (b) WPI/Gary White]
Susan is the director of development for WaterPartners International and is a graduate of Georgia Tech. She also holds a Master in Public Health degree from George Washington University. She migrated up and down the east coast as an environmental consultant until she joined WaterPartners three years ago. She lives in Atlanta, for now. Click here for her favorite goodthings
(Thoughts on Susan's GoodLetter? Inspired by what you've read? E-mail us -- don't forget to tell us your name, where you're from, and if we can use your words in a future GoodLetter or on our Web site.)
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Good Grabs : Headlines that teach and inspire
For the past couple of years, we've found our favorite positive or constructive piece of world news and have featured it in our "Good Grabs" section on the GoodThings.com home page. We've heard from many readers who've told us they'd love to see Good Grabs in The GoodLetter. So watch this space every other week or so, and we'll tell you about a few GoodThings-esque news stories we've found during our Web wanderings. And as always, if you have a positive headline to suggest, please let us know. It could end up here!
~~~~~~~
Calls for peace
War Ignores Life's Sacredness
(Common Dreams / Madison [WI] Capital Times)
Environment
In California, A City Begins Recycling Diapers
(New York Times)
[more][still more]
World health
At The Heart of Hunger: How AIDS Brings Famine Nearer
(Christian Science Monitor)
Surprising story of the week
A Helpful Street Drug: PCP is a scourge, but it also holds promise for new treatments of schizophrenia
(National Post -- Canada)
Cross-cultural connections
Piano Tuners Seek Amazon Jungle Harmony
(BBC News)
Arts
In This Musical, Some Sing, All Sign
(New York Times)
[more]
~~~~~~~~~~
We love to hear from you about anything: ideas or situations that are inspiring you or challenging you to think, as well as organizations, programs, and people that contribute to your community and the world everyday. Please drop us a line.
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Good Gravy
In this week's Good Gravy "Wet Weather" Reading List, we share Part Two of a list of some of the books we've been reading in recent weeks, as the rain begins to settle in us here in Seattle (and not that we needed to tell you, but any of these books would make a great holiday gift!):
[Did you miss Part One?]
6. (book) Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett (2002)
"As is clear from the title, this fictionalized account of a real international incident in Peru five years ago where Japanese diplomats were held hostage by rebels features music as its centerpiece. Appreciation for beauty and art humanizes both the captors and those held captive and celebrates our shared humanity, even amidst trying socio-political crisis."
7. (book) Patriotism and the American Land, by Richard Nelson, Barry Lopez, and Terry Tempest Williams (2002)
"Since when did patriotism refer only to ardent nationalism and flag-waving? In this powerful collection of essays published by the non-profit Orion Society, three writers remind us in compelling ways that love for one's country is more basic than ideology. The truest American patriots, they contend, are those who love and defend the land itself. Divisive symbols mean nothing to them, only a 'profound love for the earth underfoot.'"
8. (children's book) Summerland, by Michael Chabon (2002)
"What's a renowned writer to do once he's won the Pulitzer Prize? Write a children's book, of course! Chabon follows the success of his 'Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay' with a literate fantasy for kids of all ages. Set in the rain of a fictional island near Seattle, this book tells the tale of Ethan Feld and does for good old baseball what the Harry Potter series has done for a crazy, make-believe sport called quidditch."
9. (book) One Man's Leg, by Paul Martin (2002)
"Released by spirited independent publisher GreyCore Press, this autobiography tells the story of a man who tragically loses his leg only to emerge physically and mentally stronger. He becomes a tri-athlete and so much more. Paul Martin is the unsung Lance Armstrong of the year."
10. (children's book) Hoot, by Carl Hiassen (2002)
"Like Chabon, Hiassen's never written a children's book until this one. He brings Florida to life for the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew set with an environmental mystery where kids work to protect endangered species and keep their town from becoming a big strip mall. Hiassen's wry humor is a sharp as ever, so his adult fans won't miss a beat."
Talk to us: What's your Good Gravy? What do you think of our new Good Gravy format? Let's start sharing good entertainment finds with each other! Send us your list of what you're reading, watching, or listening to and let us know why you think it's good. Your Good Gravy could be featured here next week.
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