An invitation from Blue Planet Run Foundation:

Come Out With Family and Friends March 19, 22 and 28 to TAPPED, the Movie and Support Safe Drinking Water Projects

Blue Planet Run is marking World Water Week with 3 fund-raising showings of the award-winning documentary, TAPPED. TAPPED is from the producers of Who Killed The Electric Car? and I.O.U.S.A. The movie portrays the size of the global bottled water industry and its negative impact on the world’s environment, health and local economies.

We are proud to put these showings on with our partner, Earthlust, the maker of our beautiful, eco-conscious water bottles. There will be 3 showings at the Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, CA in the Mountain View Room:

* Friday, March 19, 7pm (wine and snacks will be served)
* Monday, March 22, 10:30 a.m. (babies welcome and drop off child care available)
* Sunday, March 28, 5 p.m. (family friendly)

There is a suggested donation of $10. All proceeds will benefit Blue Planet Run and our work to provide safe drinking water for life to people in need for as little as $30 per person.

A Twitter update from one of Katie Spotz’s friend’s:

“Just had a chat with Katie on the sat-phone. She’s great, but we were rudely interrupted by a fish hitting her face! [Sam]”

Katie has been rowing from Africa to South America for more than 52 days. Her cause: To raise money for Blue Planet Run Foundation and to raise awareness of the need for clean drinking water in many parts of the world.

I’ve been following her blog. This is a strong woman, both physically and mentally. Can you imagine living in a high-tech row boat? She has a few conveniences, like solar power so she can blog and get fresh water. Of course, she has fresh fish flying all around her!

Encourage Katie by leaving a comment on her blog. She’ll reach land in 28 days at the soonest. But it could be much more if she encounters strong currents, winds, or a big storm.

This article is from the Blue Planet Run Foundation, an organization that I help promote with my blog. (See their page “Blogs Featuring Our Cause.”)

San Francisco, CA – Dec. 16, 2009 – San Francisco Environment and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission officials presided today over the launch of GLOBALTAP, a new and innovative alternative to bottled water, with the introduction of the first drinking water “filling station” at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco.

Unlike traditional water fountains, GLOBALTAP provides an innovative system for people to fill reusable bottles with water in high visibility public areas.

The pilot installation at Yerba Buena Plaza will lead to the rollout of additional units throughout the city of San Francisco in 2010. Ultimately, GLOBALTAP plans to extend its reach on a global scale, from the United States and Europe to Africa, Asia, and South America, donating tap stations to cities and villages in second and third world countries. GLOBALTAP will not only be in places where clean water is more available but also where water it is not readily available.

“San Francisco has been a leader in educating people about the negative impacts of bottled water,” said Jared Blumenfeld Director of San Francisco Environment. “Today we are honored to be the first U.S. city to host a GLOBALTAP filling station. Now San Franciscans can ‘BYOB’ (‘Bring Your Own Bottle’) every day.”

“I support Mayor Newsom’s efforts to make San Francisco a model for green initiatives such as the GLOBALTAP Pilot Project,” says Fred Blackwell of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, property owner of Yerba Buena Gardens.

“San Francisco has the best tap water in the world,” said Laura Spanjian, SFPUC Assistant General Manager for External Affairs. “Our partnership with GLOBALTAP will make it easier for everyone to enjoy our great-tasting Hetch Hetchy tap water and reduce waste from all those plastic bottles.”

Go to Blue Planet Run Foundation to read the rest of this article.

Katie Spotz is on day 17 of her rowing voyage from Africa to South America. She expect it will take from 70 -to 100 days to complete the trip. What would you do during that time? Besides row? Katie is spending her time listening to her iPod, of course! Music, lectures, and audio books on one iPod. She also brought an iPod Touch to watch Harry Potter movies, Twilight, Borat, and more. Check out her latest posting. Leave her an encouraging comment. Then help her raise money for Blue Planet Run Foundation.

Katie Spotz is rowing from Africa to South America to raise awareness of the need for safe drinking water and money to do something about it. You can follow her progress on her Row for Water website. She’s rowing a custom 19 foot boat that’s designed for the ocean. It holds months of provisions, gear, freshwater, and has solar power for desalination, satellite phone, radio and radar. The boat is supposed to be seaworthy in 30 foot waves.

Endurance events are well known to Katie. She was the first person to swim the 325 mile long Allegheny River. She’s also cycled 3,300 miles across the USA, ran 150 miles across the Mojave and Colorado desert, and complete a 62-mile ultramarathon in Australia.

Sabrina Walasek of Blue Planet Run Foundation says this of Katie:

“I met Katie last spring at the Blue Planet Run 24-hour trail relay. Throughout the last several months, I have had the pleasure of getting to know her better and I continue to be awed by her abilities and endurance. Not only is she a tremendous athlete, she is such a thoughtful human being. We are fortunate to have her support in providing safe drinking water to people worldwide.

I hope that many other athletes and young people are inspired by her compassion and commitment to improving the world. She never gives up and she never forgets the billion plus people who wake up each day without safe drinking water.”

Read more about her cause and donate.

Mulande , a Kenyan boy, rises before dawn to fetch water for his family before walking to school. He leaves school at noon to fetch more water. The water he hauls back across a dry, rocky trail may make him sick, but it’s better than dying of thirst.

Blue Planet Run’s year-end campaign is helping children like Mulande around the world will receive safe drinking water for life.  Mulande and the other children in his village will be able to go back to school full time, avoid waterborne diseases that can kill them…and have the chance to be children with a lifetime of possibilities in front of them.?

For only $30, you can give Mulande a lifetime of safe drinking water.

Please donate today, make a gift on behalf of family, friends and colleagues, and help us spread the word.  Through December 31st, all donations to Blue Planet Run will be matched 100% up to $15,000.

Mrs. Margarita Maria Treminio Vega tells her story.

In the beginning, when I was young, I came from Casas Viejas (a nearby community) and came to La Ceibita to marry. I had to carry water from the well about 3-4 hours each day.

At that time, the well as small and uncovered with a wooden and rock wall to hold the water. We came to get water in our sandals, and we were often contaminating the water with our dirty feet. The women, we carried the water in clay pots, one on our head and another on our waist. One day, carrying back the clay pots full of water down a hill, and one of the young children scared a dog behind me and the dog ran between my legs and it knocked me over. The clay pots shattered, but luckily I only hurt my knees.

I was not the only one to suffer this kind of fall. An older woman slipped and the clay pot fell on her feet. She suffered a great injury and was rushed to the doctor immediately. She needed 11 stitches. All this because of the long and uncomfortable trail that we used to obtain a little contaminated water.

In the rainy season, the roads were so bad that we could hardly get down to get the water and these problems were compounded by the fights for water, pregnancies, having small children with you because there was no one to leave them with, the tiring trip to bring water, the gossipers, the delay in doing our household chores, sometimes leaving us without time to send them to school.

But as time has gone on, some NGOs appeared like El Porvenir that have come to help us and resolve problems. We have improved little by little. CARE helped with the well, digging it, constructing it with a rope pump and chlorine for the water all through our community effort. This was great, but the trail continued to be difficult. We built some latrines with great effoty and some donations of other latrines, and in this way, our health started to improve.

Six years ago, we benefitted from the installation of Electrical Energy thanks to our work with the mayor’s office. The road to the community was improved as well, and our husbands helped us carry the water. When our children were getting bigger, we sent them to help carry water as well. In that time, we stopped using clay pots and started using plastic buckets to carry more water for the bath, washing clothes and all the household chores. In this way, our community has been continually improving. We are happy, thanks to these organizations that have come to help, good and generous people. Because of them, we can live as Christians with more time to improve and we can pray more. You won’t believe this, but I have converted my father and I have taught him to read the Bible. He now talks to the family more, he helps to care for the children and sends them to school. We know we are poor communities that without the help of these nations and organizations that come to Nicaragua, we wouldn’t ever be able to lift ourselves out of misery, but thanks to them, the communities have improved a lot.

We have always dreamed of trying to improve our community more. When we saw a similar project in Casas Viejas and Las Mesas, we searched for ways that took us to Managua since we needed and wanted potable water so much. We wanted to make this dream a reality and we found people with such great hearts that made our dream come true, thanks be to God and thanks to the donors. We feel very thankful since now we no longer have to dedicate 3 hours daily to carry water and now we have free time to dedicate to the children, to our household chores, to pray for tomorrow that we will have less problems. We are in the present and heading to the future, we ask God Almighty that He keeps helping the Nicaraguan people. I hope we can understand and be very careful in the maintenance of this potable water system that El Porvenir has brought us and will be improving our families’ health. This seed we plant today will continue to grow and we can be an example to future generations that they only need to organize themselves and be united to find the solution to their needs.

An Interview with program beneficiary Mr. Nguyen Lam
Age: 80

1. Where did you go to defecate before you had a hygienic latrine?

In the daytime we went to the hill where there are lots of trees, 7500m -1000m away from home. At night we dug holes in the garden.

2. What are the impacts of not having a hygienic latrine?

It is a nuisance, especially when you have to defecate at night and when it rains. We had to wear raincoats and often got wet after finishing such a work.
The water source in the neighborhood is contaminated. We often have diarrhea. The environment is polluted and smells bad.

3. What about the effectiveness of the new hygienic latrine?

We find it very convenient and comfortable to have new hygienic latrine. We don’t have to spend much time when we need to defecate, and we don’t have to bring any tools to dig holes to bury the feces.
The environment is cleaner. We have less disease, especially diarrhea and cholera.

4. Why did the local people take part in the program?

Local people are quite aware of the health and convenience benefits of having hygienic latrines;
We work together with everybody in our hamlet to participate in the sanitation activities of the community.

5. Why was your family chosen to get the subsidy?

We are one of the poorer families in the commune, so it is difficult for us to pay the full cost of the latrine ourselves;
We are in the area where there are a lot of people interested in the program.

6. If you haven’t got the $20 of subsidy, would you have built this hygienic latrine?

Without this subsidy, it might have taken us a long time to build this latrine or maybe we would not have built it.
Our awareness of building hygienic latrine to keep the environment clean in the community is high so when we knew there was $20 of subsidy for anyone who wanted to build hygienic latrine, we decided to take this good chance

7. What benefits that hygienic latrines bring to your family and community?

* To your family:
The convenience and comfort. Also, your family will be recognized as an educated family. There will be fewer diseases. Health is better and safer.
* To the community:
Education/Culture: More families considered as educated families in the commune compared with the previous years.
* Economy: Improved because the health of the local people is better.
* Environment: Is green, clean and fresher. No pollution, less disease.

8. Are hygienic latrine activities implemented at the same time as the clean water system?

Yes, the construction of the clean water system and the hygienic latrines is implemented at the same time for 4 of 8 hamlets in the commune of Tam Anh Nam. The other four hamlets do not yet have any clean water systems. The government is working with the community to prepare a proposal to build clean water systems for these hamlets.

Mrs. Maria Antonia Mendez Flores lives in Boaco Viejo, in the sector of July 19th. She is the mother of 7 children, three boys, all single and 4 girls, 2 of whom are married. She has lived in Boaco Viejo for 14 years. Before the water project, there was water close by to the house, but it was on private land owned by one of the land owners, and this man did not like to let them take this vital liquid, since he had cattle and that was his priority. What he did was to reduce the amount of water they could take. Normally, they carried 6 buckets of water on their heads over a distance of 1km. They used this water exclusively for drinking. For washing clothes, she had to go in search of water in the streams of the community, and sometimes walked up to 3km, since in the dry season, the streams dried up and it was not easy to encounter water. The children were left alone in the house, and the majority of the people had the same problem, and had no one to look after their kids. She only brought the newborn with her to carry water, since he needed more care and attention.

The activity of carrying water on one’s head was carried out every day devotedly and the labour to leave the home to wash clothes was carried out every three days. In order to be able to go out to wash the family clothes, the day began at 4am, to prepare the food so that her husband could leave for work with some food in his belly and with a lunch in a container wrapped in some cloth, since she would not return from washing clothes until 5pm. The children were fed before she left, but the lunch was eaten cold. According to Maria Antonia, these small activities took a lot of time since just looking for the vital liquid consumed time to be able to carry out the other activities that she learned as a young single woman.

Maria Antonia reflected that now with the construction of the water project that was completed with the help of El Porvenir in her sector, as well as the construction of the sanitary units (washing and bathing station), everything has changed. Now she can get up a little later without worrying if they will allow her to have the vital liquid, it is now just 80 meters away from her home. Now they take advantage of the time saved to do other activities. A year and a half ago, she installed a small store in her home to be able to help with the economic expenses in the home and in her free time, she takes care of the roses in her house. This is one of her favorite activitie because she loves the gardens when the roses are blooming and as well she invests time in making embroidered pieces like hankerchiefs or pillow cases. Most importantly, she considers that she has more time for her family, especially the care of her mother who is still full of life although she has osteoporosis. But in spite of all this, she considers that she has a more relaxed life, since she does not get up in the morning with the worry of going out to the river to wash clothes with the fear of being surprised by some animal or being a victim of lightning in the rainy season and now her husband and children eat their three hot meals a day when they have them (food).

Eisha Shaban, Head Girl from Kalembo Secondary School in Tanzania, sends her thanks to Blue Planet Run Foundation for getting clean water to her school:

“We students of Kalembo Secondary school, we send our greetings of thanks to Blue Planet Run Foundation (BPRF), all our fellow Schools from USA, and all others who in one way or another have made us accessing Clean and safe water in our school. The bore hole you have build for us has reduced several problems we have been facing for more than 6 years now. Among the problems we have been facing include:

* Loosing several periods due to long distance moving to collect some water
* Drinking unsafe water for our health as we were fetching from local dug wells
* School building construction was also tough as we traveled the same distance in order to get water for the work
* The same wells we used to collect some water we were sharing with animals like pigs and dogs

Your assistance has made us free from above problems. We are now ensured with good health and improving our academic performance as most of our time will be used in academic issues.
Thank you very much for considering our need.”