Shake up Monday Music with Pentatonix! Their a capella and YouTube videos are stellar!

Rajasthan, India

During my trips to India, I stay in a small town in northern Punjab. Visiting my grandparents abroad is one of the highlights of my life; however, every time I travel there, I experience water limitations.

The main experience that stands out during my India trips are the bucket showers — bucket showers in the middle of winter in a home without a central heating system.

I will never forget my experience in 2004, at my grandfather’s house. The shower room, separate from the bathroom, is located outside the main house. In the wintertime, it is impossible to take showers once the sun has set because it gets too cold. I remember having to switch on the hot water plug and waiting almost 30 minutes for the water to heat up. I only had two buckets for my shower, which, then, seemed so little to me.

Once I got in the shower room and pulled the string to switch on the lights, I wished I hadn’t. Mosquitos, or some kind of similar insect, lined the walls. I tiptoed to the water buckets. I thought, “Perhaps if I don’t make too much noise, they won’t bother me.”

The creatures didn’t bother me for the most part of my bucket shower. However, there were times I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and inadvertently screamed. My cousins found this quite amusing. They stood outside the door, laughing every time I made a noise.

It was an experience I will never forget… nor will my cousins.

When I went to India as a young child, I never thought about water as a human right. I simply dreaded the “bucket showers.” As soon as I got back to the states, I would take an extra long hot shower.

This time, however, I thought about it. I realized how much water I use daily in America and just how often I take it for granted.

In India, water doesn’t come pouring endlessly from shower-heads. The water is limited and, many times, contaminated. According to a New York Times article, half of the water supply in rural areas of India is “routinely contaminated with toxic bacteria.”

The bucket showers taught me to conserve water. I don’t need to leave the shower running for 30 minutes to get clean. I can do it in five, using one-third of the water.

When I returned to America, I started turning off the shower while shampooing and applying soap. Furthermore, I don’t think I could ever take hour-long, hot water baths knowing entire villages could use that amount of water to shower.

My visits to India always teach me valuable lessons about water. They teach me to appreciate and value water, something I took for granted for a very long time.

Saba Naseem studied journalism, Middle East Studies, Arabic, and French at the University of Arkansas. She has traveled to India, Morocco, and Jordan to visit family and as part of study abroad programs.

This is part of a DigDeep series following people who have firsthand experiences dealing with the human right to clean, accessible water.

Here’s a little video that (almost) blew up the Internet this week. In it, Nestlé Chairman (and former CEO) Peter Brabeck calls the idea of a right to water ‘extreme’ and seems to argue that the free market is the answer. 

Our Director, George McGraw, did a little digging (pun intended) and published an analysis on the Huffington Post today. What do Brabeck and Nestlé believe, and why does it matter? What’s the ‘right to water’ anyway? Read more to find out. 

Why we’re going #OneDayWithoutShoes

“Finish your water - There are thirsty kids in Africa.”

Our founder - George McGraw - on the Huffington Post this World Water Day. Read it here. 

Meet the boys at Collegiate School on New York’s Upper West Side. They had a book fair last month, just in time for World Water Day. In one day they raised over $625 for clean water projects in South Sudan.

Collegiate - founded in 1628 - is the oldest school in the country, and has an incredible reputation for academics and service.

100% of their incredible gift will be used to bring clean water to families just like theirs, half way across the world… because wherever they live, all people have a human right to clean water.

DIGDEEP

We’re always so inspired by the communities we work with. Here’s an email we got over the weekend from our Project Manager in Cameroon, Mr. Ndode:

I traveled to collect project pipes yesterday. Due to the bad state of the road, the truck could not reach Lokando village. The pipes were dropped at Mukete rubber plantation, far from Lokando. I took courage and got to Lokando at 8.00 pm.

The town crier was instructed immediately to alert all villagers about the situation. Surprisingly men, women and youths this morning left in numbers to transport all the pipes to their village… I was very suprised because I could not imagine that the pipes will be transported as such.

I have now scheduled a meeting with Mr Akuru on Monday to discuss how we have to move a step forward.

Kind regards and have a wonderful weekend

Ndode

Los Angeles, CA

DIGDEEP HQ is in the heart of Los Angeles - the city with the largest homeless population in the US. The infamous Skid Row is just blocks from our office - a place where nearly 50,000 men, women, and children struggle every day to find basic services like a clean source of water or the privacy of a bathroom. 

Whether it’s flowing from our faucets, swirling in our toilets, or filling up our bath tubs – most Americans take our easy access to water for granted. Not so for our homeless neighbors, who often face criminal or civil sanctions when they try to improvise necessary solutions.  

Last December, David Busch faced charges of public nuisance for improvising a restroom on a Venice sidewalk, using nothing more than a bucket of soapy water, a sponge and a tent for privacy. Fortunately, Busch was acquitted, but the problem remains: homeless Americans face one of the largest human rights challenges in the country. And few of us are paying any attention. 

This year, DIGDEEP is focused on bringing awareness of the water crisis home. In addition to our important work abroad, we’re pledging to work closely with at-risk communities in the US - like American Indians and the urban homeless - to find meaningful ways to defend their right to water.

Every American has a right to the water we need to live in dignity. Help DIGDEEP defend your human right to water by making a donation. We’ll put 100% of it to use in the field. 

Happy World Water Day from DIGDEEP HQ!

This is part of a series for World Water Day celebrating our global water access projects. Help DIGDEEP defend your right to water this March 22nd by visiting digdeepwater.org 

It’s that time again - a ThirstyThursday playlist just in time for World Water Day tomorrow. Catch the music we’re playing at DIGDEEP HQ on the third thursday of every month. Happy WWD!

Kajo Keji, South Sudan

Almost 2 years ago we flew across the globe to celebrate independence for South Sudan. We met local beneficiaries, established friendships, and began an ambitious slate of field projects with our partner WHI that continue today.

In some parts of rural South Sudan, up to 70% of the population lacks access to a safe and reliable source of clean water. Water projects, like wells, are bringing much-needed health and opportunity to hundreds of communities, schools, and clinics every year. 

But there are still some marginalized groups that fall through the cracks.

Isaac Buk, for instance, is a criminal. Until recently Isaac, his guards, and his fellow inmates have not enjoyed access to clean water.

The right to water for prisoners is protected by many international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions and the European Charter of Human Rights. Without clean water, closed communities like prisons become breeding grounds for disease. Water also provides a unique security concern. Several prisoners have escaped from Yapa while collecting water in recent years. 

You can see the full report for the Yapa Prison well here.

DIGDEEP’s water projects recognize the needs of individuals like Isaac, who don’t fit the traditional charity model.  We believe that every person has a right to the clean water they need to live in dignity. Because no one – prisoner or free – deserves to be sentenced to a lifetime of illness.

This is part of a series for World Water Day celebrating our international water access projects. Help DIGDEEP defend your right to water this March 22nd by supporting our work at digdeepwater.org 

Lokando, Cameroon

It’s just starting to rain at DIGDEEP’s newest field site in Lokando. The rain will bring the mud, and the mud will slow down progress on a new tap system scheduled to bring clean water to over 7000 people later this year. 

But not to worry! Through a unique collaboration with our friends at Water Collective we’re using the rainy season to collect data on human rights and economic sustainability that will make the Lokando project one of the most innovative worldwide.

Fifty percent of Cameroon’s 8.1 million people live in rural communities without access to an improved water source. But conditions within a community can vary widely from place to place. DIGDEEP’s human rights metrics treat each community - each person - as a unique partner for change. We empower community volunteers to study things like public health, school attendance, and income gaps to ensure that their project has the best chance for success and sustainability.

In addition to providing a significant percentage of project funding, the people of Lokando have already become active builders, teachers, and advisors… all with the hope of transforming a small stream of dirty water into a reliable source for future generations. 

Leanne lives in Lokando. She wakes up at 5am every day to fetch water before cooking, cleaning, and farming. She always takes the extra time to boil it before giving it to one of her seven children. Leanne - and many women like here - are the real strength behind this project, freely donating their limited time and incredible insight.

Join DIGDEEP as we defend the human right to water - for Leanne, for Lokando, and for you. 

This is part of a series for World Water Day celebrating our international water access projects. Help DIGDEEP defend your right to water this March 22nd by visiting digdeepwater.org

Coffee with Crystal Sprague from http://myrefugehouse.org - talking insane stats and even more amazing work to end #HumanTrafficking. (at Spring For Coffee)

For the run-up to World Water Day, Katherine Straus shares updates from each of DIGDEEP’s active field sites. Katherine is Director for People and Places.

SMITH LAKE, NM

We’ve been trying for months to drill this fact into your brain: 13% of American Indians do not have access to clean water. The water crisis is closer to home than you think.

DIGDEEP’s newest field site is only 10 hours form LA - in Smith Lake, New Mexico. We’re piloting a project in Smith Lake to improve trucked water delivery to rural homes. Water delivery gaps are a huge, complicated problem, and water trucks are only a first (urgently needed) step. 

Since planning started last Fall, we’ve spent a lot of time visiting local Navajo residents and hearing their stories. We’ve met people like Mrs. Johnston, a tribal elder who has spent most of her life walking 3-5 miles to collect water from a local pond. She and her family now receive about 400 gallons of water a month by truck. Without a local fill station, however, it’s not enough water to meet the basic needs of her 13-member household!

DIGDEEP is helping our partners in Smith Lake by constructing a new well in a centralized location, and improving home water delivery and storage.  Factors such as uranium contamination and water depth (over 2000 ft!) have made the planning period a long one. But this Spring, we’re moving out of the planning stage and into construction!

If you’re interested in defending the right to clean water in the US – we could use your help fundraising! Donate or create your own fundraising campaign here!

This is part of a series for World Water Day celebrating our international water access projects. Help DIGDEEP defend your right to water this March 22nd by visiting digdeepwater.org 

Women make the world go ‘round… especially when it comes to confronting water injustice.

A disproportionate number of women bear the burden of water collection. It often negatively impacts their health, safety, education and livelihood.

But when a community defends its human right to water, women make all the difference. They’re the strongest voices on a community water council, they reinvest personal earnings in their communities, and they make sacrifices for the health and happiness fo their families most of us can’t even imagine. 

So today we celebrate women everywhere. Women like Maude Barlow. Women like Elenor Roosevelt. Women like Nombiko.

The right to water is a women’s rights issue. Happy International Women’s Day. 

DIGDEEP