This morning, my doorbell rang and a serviceman from our local water service notified me that due to a mainline break up the street we'd have our water shut off in about 15 minutes. The outage would last about 2 hours, he said. We quickly drew a bath for our daughters before the water was shut off, since they needed to get a bath before they hit the road with my wife, heading out of state to attend a funeral. My wife also needed to shower, and of course, someone would need to use the toilet over the course of the next two hours. And I wanted to brew a second pot of coffee. We were concerned about the process of getting everyone bathed. I was irritated.

It was in that brief amount of time without access to running water that I had a thought that brought everything into perspective. I remembered our neighbors in Tsipasi. The folks who have to walk nearly a mile to gather contaminated water.

Two hours without access to clean, treated, safe, hot-or-cold-depending-on-what-I-wanted, water seemed so insignificant in comparison.

The second pot of coffee didn't seem so...necessary. The showers could wait. We could surely get through two hours using the water in the tank of the toilet.

And I wonder now how this very temporary water outage can shape my reality. How can I sacrifice so that people around the world can have access to clean water for the first time? How can I help my neighbors in Tsipasi? How can I help their children walk far less to retrieve water? How can I help ensure that water is clean?

These questions help make the decision to pursue a clean water well in Tsipasi obvious. How could we not?

And what about you? Will you help us?

Here's two quick and easy ways to get in on the joy that comes when you help your neighbor across the world in a small village called Tsipasi:

  1. Register for The Water Ride, set to take place on May 17, 2014
  2. Give securely to our water initiative - type "Water" in the memo section to have your donation go directly to our water project.

Together, we're changing the reality of those in Ghana while we change ours as well.

The next move is yours,

Sam

Comment