Feel Good Friday - Wello Water

I've got water on the brain. Not in a take-me-to-the-ER bad way, in a good way. 

I've been reviewing the footage from our Inspiration Safari interview with Gemma Bulos, director of the Global Women's Water Initiative, in order to make a screening deadline. She's taken the innovative approach of working with the people in the communities she serves to create solutions to the water crisis. So has Cynthia Koenig the creator of Wello, which is why we're talking water on Feel Good Friday.

Cynthia Koenig created Wello and worked with people in India to create a more effective and ergonomic way to transport water. Their mission is "to effectively deliver clean water to a thirsty world." Great, you think, but why the focus on water collection? 

photo credit: Kushan Dave 2013

If you've done any travel in developing countries, you've seen women walking with containers of water on their heads. While it make look picturesque, it is literally a pain in the neck! As described on Wello website, "The time spent fulfilling this basic need keeps many children out of school and prevents women from carrying out all the domestic and income generating work for which they are responsible. In much of the developing world, it is often necessary to walk five miles (8km) or more every day to fetch water. In the dry season, it is not uncommon to walk twice this distance. Collecting water can be dangerous too. The traditional method of carrying water – carrying a 5 gallon (20 liter) water bucket on the head – can severely damage the spine, causing severe pain and even leading to complications during childbirth. In some countries, walking to find water exposes people to the dangers of land mines."

photo credit: wello 2013

The Wello team interviewed 1500 community members in order to develop the WaterWheel. What does that mean for the people who use it? "By giving people easier access to potable water, the WaterWheel frees up valuable time, and in the process, removes barriers that prevent children from going to school and empowers women to engage in more productive activities. Research shows that when women have extra time, they choose to spend it on activities that boost family income, education, health, and wellbeing. Women with even a few years of education have smaller, healthier families, and are more likely to send their children to school. Female education is a key means of breaking the cycle of poverty."

For further information you can read articles in The Guardian or Humanosphere, watch the short film Hello Wello or watch last year's TedxTalk, which includes the short. As with most of the groups I profile, Wello has a Facebook page and they'd like it if you like it. 

Feel Good Friday - Destination Hope International Medical Missions

We've kicked off 2014 talking a lot about Adventure Philanthropists - people who donate their skills, time or money while traveling. I like to think of these people as being on an Inspiration Safari.

To learn more about this, you can read the book by Erin Michelson or read my interview with her as a fellow Adventure Philanthropist here.

For today's Feel Good Friday, I want to let you know about a group a learned about from a friend, Destination Hope.

As they explain on their website, it's a group of plastic surgeons who volunteer for medical missions to "treat birth defects and other deformities among individuals in the developing world." Children born with facial deformities "are often disadvantaged when it comes to education, finding jobs, or starting families." The people of Destination Hope want to level the playing field for these children so their primary work is reconstructive surgery for cleft lips and cleft palates though they also perform burn reconstruction and other procedures.

Because the medical professionals donate their time and work with resources in country, costs are minimal. "$250 is often enough to cover the cost of one cleft lip surgery for one patient in most countries." Results, however, can be dramatic.

To learn more about this organization you can watch videos from their missions or like their Facebook page. If you want to support their work, they'd be happy to help you write off a donation of some of your cold, hard cash!

If you know of a person or organization that could use a Feel Good Friday shout, leave the info in the comments section or send a message to me at: kristian@inspirationsafari.com. I really do love learning about and sharing these stories!

Feel Good Friday - Kristian Ruggieri, Adventure Philanthropist

Laying bricks in
Madagascar

Wait a minute. Who starts the new year making themselves the subject of the Feel Good Friday post? Looks like I do!

Here's why.

On December 13th, the subject of FGF was Adventure Philanthropist, Erin Michelson. (You can read the original blog here.) The summary is that she traveled the world for two years donating her money, skills and time. She dubbed it adventure philanthropy and upon her return home, wrote a book to share the stories of the people she met and inspire others.

Painting walls in
Madagascar

I met Erin at a book signing in San Francisco in November. When I told her a little about my Inspiration Safari films, she asked to interview me as a fellowAdventure Philanthropist!

The films I've made and my volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity are what make me an Adventure Philanthropist.

The great thing about this is - if you've ever combined an adventure like traveling with a donation of your money or your time, you're an Adventure Philanthropist too! Now don't you feel good?

You can read my interview with Erin here: http://www.goeringo.com/2014/01/01/inspiration-safari-interview/

Posing for a photo with
Omar in Chile

If you've got a story of your own to share, Erin wants to hear from you. You can reach her at Erin@GoErinGo.com. Like her Facebook page while you're at it so you never miss out on a good dose of inspiration!