SIMPLIFY + GIVE + CHANGE = WATER

Posted by: Simple Living Works! on: April 2, 2013

• In: Others' resources | SLW! resource
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Friend and author of Mustard Seed Conspiracy, Tom Sine has recommended OverflowProject.org to us. It’s motto is: SIMPLIFY + GIVE + CHANGE

Writing a check can be too easy. The Overflow Project challenges us to step beyond simply writing and instead, invites us to get involved. Together we can invite family, friends, and communities to change the world.

Simplify: Enough is enough. Simplifying our lives engages us in the process of creating change.  Consider how you currently allocate your time and finances. Identify creative ideas to give up purchases to save at least $1 a day. 

Give: Open your hand and heart. YOU already have what you need to make a difference and with thousands of people joining together to give $1/day, the effect on poverty will be significant.

Change: Engage locally and globally. Change starts with the way you live, and when you change, so can your community. And through this project lives around the world will be transformed by clean, safe water.

ABOUT THE OVERFLOW PROJECT

 The Overflow Project is a non-profit organization changing the world through simple living and generous giving. We bring communities together for collective change to help end poverty by supporting clean water projects in developing countries. Inspired by a church program called Spilling Hope in Seattle, a team of individuals formed to create The Overflow Project.  This all began by taking a step with faith, envisioning more churches, groups and communities coming together to change the world. We partner with specific organizations who focus on sustainable living and the long term implementation of clean drinking water solutions.

Get Involved: If you would like to join our project team in any capacity, we would like to connect. You can host an Overflow Project event in your city. Contact us to learn how.

Contact: info@overflowproject.org or 206.850.9031

WHY WATER?

Without clean water, a community cannot develop. But with it, people have a real chance to fulfill their potential. Clean water changes everything. In some parts of the world, children get diarrhea dozens of times in their first years of life. Their guts are teeming with viruses from dirty water. This onslaught of disease stunts their growth and interferes with their cognitive development. Clean water is fundamental for human life and a foundation for community improvement, including health, education, and economic development.

WATER IS MORE THAN H₂O

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) solutions help close the cycle of disease in a community. Inability to access clean water makes even the simple act of washing your hands an impossible task.

THE FACTS

• Getting clean water to rural villages is ranked the #1 strategy in Cost Effective Compassion. Christianity Today (Feb 2012)
• According to Living Water International, nearly 90% of all diseases are caused by poor hygiene, inadequate sanitation, and unsafe drinking water.
• The UN Development Program says clean water is among the most powerful preventive ways to reduce child mortality.
• A World Health Organization study estimates that the availability of clean water in a rural village reduces infant mortality by 35% to 50%.
• Research in Uganda found households spending on average 660 hours a year collecting water. This represents two full months of labor, with attendant opportunity costs for education, income generation, and female leisure time. – United Nations Development Program, 2006

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Tags: Drinking water, Tom Sine