Chik-Fil-A Fund-raiser night for Wells for Life !!
November 15th, 2011
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Monday, November 21 · 4:00pm – 8:30pm
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| Location |
Chik-Fil-A, 10770 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, KS (Speedway/Legends)
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The Jewelry Bee
November 7th, 2011
Here is a link to a video being funded by The Jewelry Bee, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_4PoBosU4E
This project is being hand drilled and on either the 16th or 17th of this month I will dedicate it on behalf of the donors. To know more about the Jewelry Bee and their work visit them at http://thejewelrybee.bigcartel.com
Manchester Park Elementary School Well Drilling
November 7th, 2011
Just a quick note to say the drilling is wrapping up for the 3 water projects funded by Manchester Park Elementary School. Here is a link to YouTube where you can check out 1 of the projects – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jFHFw697K8
I leave Thursday for India and either on the 16th or 17th, I will be dedicating these projects and the villagers will be enjoying their own protected water source.
Thanks to everyone who came out and participated in Water Palooza.
India in November
November 3rd, 2011
Leaving again next week for India and what I thought was going to be a full trip complete with travels to Trichy and Tuni turns out to be just a trip to Tuni. For some reason the Tamil Nadu government doesn’t like any building projects to take place around election time so our 2 community centers and our 5 bore well projects will have to wait.
This sets me back somewhat but what can you do? If the government says “no work” then no work shall be done. At this juncture I am hopeful our work in Trichy will resume before month’s end as many villages are waiting for our help.
Speaking of help, at this time our project total for 2011 is 44 which is about where we were at this time last year. We ended 2010 funding 65 fresh water projects, 1 sanitation project along with goats, cows, seed and some community workers for after school programs and health and sanitation education along with maternal and infant care.
I am trusting between now and December 31 we will see a continual inflow of gifts so that we can fund at least 60 new water projects this year. In order to reach this goal, 16 more projects need to be funded and these will be earmarked for Trichy; so $32,000 by December 31 is my goal and would love your help in reaching that!
For this upcoming trip next week, 5 new projects are undergoing drilling as we speak and I am hoping my trusted assistant, Kim Shroyer who is in Tuni as we speak working with our N.A.S.A. partner will be able to visit each well site and grab some video of the drilling and post it for all to see, so check back soon to our blog to see what we have going in that respect. As soon as I dedicate these projects we’ll upload the dedication and have that available as well.
In a previous blog post I spoke of video podcasting and after digging into this deeper we decided we would stay simple and just continue to blog and not venture down the podcast road. In order though to accommodate those who like the podcast route, what you can do is subscribe to our RSS blog feed and every blog post which takes place will generate an alert to your inbox which you can click on and be taken to where you need to be. I will add video to the blog along with some audio narration of what is happening thus giving you something like a podcast.
My goal on this trip is to keep connected electronically which means we need to pray for a strong internet connection in Tuni so that I can blog and upload video of our project dedications. Twitter is also a great way to stay in touch and track our movements.
Next words you should be hearing from me will be next Thursday at MCI as I embark on another 24 hour travel pattern to South India.
Until then….enjoy all that Halloween candy!
Next door
October 3rd, 2011
Sunday afternoon we left the NASA offices and went to dedicate 2 water projects which were towards Yelamanchili. We rolled into the first village after about 20 minutes driving and the crowd which greeted us was spectacular. We stayed for about 30 minutes in the village and I was taken by their hospitality and the joy in their faces. After leaving and reflecting on the place I told some others that this village made me feel like I was at home and it was a place I could easily spend the day at, just hanging with the locals and engaging in whatever they needed me too. A lot of life and love was on display.
The last project of the day just happened to be down the road from the New Life Children’s Home, and when I say down the road, I mean not more than 300 yards down the road.
I won’t bore you with all the details and history concerning New Life and the acquisition of the property or the problems had with the nearby residents but here we were in their turn dedicating one of our projects. It never dawned on me that we should bring water to this place as a form of “good will”, and thank God that brilliant ideas aren’t left up to me. Here we were though treading into what I felt was unwelcome territory and I thought to myself I had better be prepared for a quick exit in case things got tense.
Truth was folks there were happy to receive us and more important they were excited that we gave them water.
What made this project special for me though was the donor. I don’t know from one village to the next who the donor is as the projects are matched by our partners. I just send the names and they attach them to the project unless of course the donor requests a certain project.
So here I am ready to dedicate this project being just down the road, literally next door if you will from the work that I helped start which involves orphan and semi-orphan children and the curtain covering the plaque is pulled back and there is the project sponsor complete with misspelled last name and I just had to smile.
Jarek Hammerl is a young guy who lives in Waterbury VT I believe and he wanted to make a difference in the world and do so through raising funds for a hand pump bore well. He found Wells for Life and set out speaking to his friends and family members and with time raised the necessary money to send so that we might bring water to a needy place in India.
How fitting I thought that Jareks work would be the bridge between a village and an orphanage. Not only did Jarek’s efforts bring water and alleviate the water scarcity situation being experienced by these villagers but it also helped bridge a gap between the villagers and those at New Life Children’s Home.
I can’t tell you the number of times I have driven up and down the road to New Life and looked past those on the side of the road. Occasionally there would be smiles but it seemed more like scowls coming from them and I often imagined what they must have been thinking about me or maybe it was just about my driving.
The reality was I hadn’t paid them the same respect as I do in other places and now that was all being mended.
I woke up early this morning and as I sat up in bed I realized I didn’t get a good photo of the dedication plaque so I got dressed, grabbed my camera and snuck out and walked down the road to the village.
When I reached it was around 6am and the well was already in use by some ladies collecting water for the morning. I smiled and took some photos of the plaque and before I knew it I was surrounded by children. They looked and smiled at me as I took their pictures then I decided I had better introduce myself so I thought and then said “Na Pedu Viser” which I think is “my name is Viser”, it must have been right because they repeated Viser and that was it, I was in.
I started hearing “Viser” called out and I would turn and they would smile which was my cue to take their picture. I snapped quite a few pictures and then was summoned by a woman to follow her down the trail to her house. I was about 10 yards away and out came her daughter with a new born baby girl, 2 weeks old and as precious as ever. I spent a few minutes loving on the baby and the mom, snapped some photos then excused myself.
As I walked down the path back to the dirt road I couldn’t help but smile as I thought of our work there and how it took a young boy in Vermont to mend a gap and create a bridge between a village and an organization.
Thanks Jarek for being an inspiration and a bridge builder between cultures and people!
Cheers.
- Viser