The Transforming Power of Clean Water In Africa: An Interview With Amie LoPresti.

Posted by parkejladd on Feb 23, 2010 in Featured {Article}, Slider | 4 comments

Last week I had the chance to meet with Amie LoPresti of Africa Water Is Life, an organization dedicated to harvesting clean water in Africa for those who live without. I find her story not only moving and full of life but also compelling and worthy of a justified response due to the extreme nature of the situation in Africa that is their desperate need for clean water. This is her story. This is her passion. My hope is to convey to you the energy and fervor with which she speaks about the people of Africa and their desperate need for clean and living water alike. Amie is a woman broken for people. She sees beyond dry mouths and bloated stomachs and into hearts. She believes that in order to genuinely change people’s lives they must first be able to drink without fear of death. Clean water, she believes, can be the transforming switch to end poverty. She believes it is a crucial element for initiating change in a continent that is so desperate for hope. For Amie, it’s simple, water is life.

Parke: How did Africa Water Is Life get started?

LoPresti: In 2008 I went on two trips to Sierra Leone in Western Africa with World Hope International. While there we met and spoke with the President of Sierra Leone, and he told us of his people’s dire need for clean water. He told us that most of Sierra Leone has water residing just beneath the surface of the ground, but the people have no way of retrieving it. They have no means or money to drill down and take what is resting just below the ground upon which they currently live. We came back to the States impacted by the need, knowing we had to do something, so we started raising money. My church raised $150,000 and an anonymous donor matched it. Not long after that, we established Africa Water is Life as a marketing tool for World Hope International.

Parke: What was your initial strategy to begin raising awareness in Indiana?

LoPresti: Back in the States we began exploring how we could make the biggest impact. My background is in the promoting business so I have a lot of experience in bringing attention to events and organizations. Our approach became: What can we do to involve the next generation, to empower teens and young adults to help the people of Africa. We wanted to do more than just convince a lot of people to give us money. We wanted to educate, raise awareness, and allow people to become an intricate part of the movement. We wanted them to get behind Africa Water Is Life and make it their own. We made it our goal to provide potential donors with creative ways to directly support the water crisis. And it worked!

Parke: What were some of the creative ways?

LoPresti: One of the first ways we raised money was by taking donations for bracelets made in Sierra Leone. We went to Dave Matthews weekend, and the fans wouldn’t let us leave. They wanted more bracelets; to know more about the cause; and to join us. That’s when I knew we were on to something. I realized that people, once informed, were willing to join and help in any way they could. Even if all they could do was simply donate for a leather bracelet, crafted by a woman living and working in Sierra Leone, they still wanted to be involved.

Everything we do goes directly to building wells. It’s that simple. I think people love that about Africa Water Is Life. It’s not complicated. Do this and people get clean water. Donate for a bracelet and help build a well.

Parke: The youth are passionate about this?

LoPresti: They are! The youth are doing it. Getting clean water in Africa is possible, and yes, the kids are spearheading the movement. They are taking control, leading it on their own with very little help from us.

Parke: In Africa, what does drilling a well look like?

LoPresti: The cost to drill a well in Africa is $4,850. That one well will supply 700-1,000 people with clean water for a very long time. One well can transform an entire village.

Parke: You’re telling me that $4,850 will impact and potentially save up to a thousand lives?

LoPresti: Yes! It’s incredible! And we don’t just go in, dig the well, and leave. We train people within the village how to take care of and repair the well, to sustain it, and treat it as their own. We guide them through the process of buying new parts for the well in case something goes wrong. We want to allow the people to make it their own.

Parke: How do the villagers respond at the first site of clean water?

LoPresti: They celebrate! In one village the water started pouring out of the ground, and the leaders, the men of the village, were completely silent. They couldn’t believe what was happening. They were silent, and their eyes were full of tears. They were weeping out of joy. They were so happy and thankful, they couldn’t hold back their tears. And then they danced! Women with buckets on their heads started dancing around, children started singing and performing. They put on a show for us!

I believe water is a human right. Everyone should have access to clean water, and there they were, joyful and dancing over water, a basic human right we have with us every day.

Parke: What’s the water culture like within the villages before clean water?

LoPresti: Women play a huge role in getting water. They are the water haulers. Daily, they carry these terribly uncomfortable 40lbs, 5-gallon buckets on their heads for miles at a time. Some walk with their buckets for more than five miles a day just to get water. I have a friend who saw an older, pregnant woman struggling to carry her water and decided to try and help her by carrying her bucket. She grabbed the woman’s bucket, but she couldn’t even lift it onto her head. It was too heavy. My friend described the smell of the water as an unbearable stench. She went on to say that it was a long, hard walk not made any easier with sloshing swamp water precariously resting on her shoulder as she breathed in the stench over the course of her journey back to the village.

This is a trek that women, even pregnant women, make every day just to keep their families alive. The people’s animals swim in, defecate in, and walk through the same water which they use to cook with, bathe in, and drink. Seeing people consume this water, as the stench alone overwhelmed me, was truly humbling. I will never be the same. I think about it every time I turn on a faucet or have to choose between buying bottled water instead of tap. We take a lot for granted. We take water for granted. The next generation has to take ownership of this because it’s really going to be their problem and their challenge very soon.

Parke: What are some creative ways that people are contributing here in Indy?

LoPresti: A friend of ours started a snowplowing campaign. He offered to plow driveways in exchange for donations! So, we went out and told residents about Africa Water Is Life and asked if they would be willing to let us remove their snow in exchange for a contribution. For those who said yes, we sent a blue ribbon to put on their mailbox, and our friend plowed the driveways that showed support. He plowed, they made a donation, and together we raised $14,000 in one winter!

Parke: What? $14,000 by plowing your neighbors driveways?

LoPresti: Yes! You just have to talk about it, and you have to be passionate about what you stand for. Some people will believe you and some won’t, but those who do will want to join you in your passion. You have to be willing to ask people what they’re good at. Ask what they can you do to help, to serve, to step out and make a contribution. Some people plow driveways. Some write. Some organize people. Some play music. You have to be willing to ask people to use their talents, treasures, and time to help others. There are no boundaries to loving and helping people. There is no time line. The giving and serving should go on and on and on; everyday, regardless of whatever else you have going on.

Parke: How does your faith play into Africa Water Is Life?

LoPresti: So much of our help comes from people, and up to this point so many have stepped up to help and donate their materials and skills to us for free, but most importantly, and this is what we love about World Hope, everything we do in Africa is Bible based. We long to share the gospel with the villagers whom we drill wells for. We have to give them lasting hope. The villagers ask, “Where does this well and water come from?” We get a great opportunity to tell them, “He’s provided it. God has blessed us.” The relationships and connections being made on the ground with those receiving clean water have to be filled with love because none of our work could be done without God. We make that clear to everyone on the ground.

Parke: Regardless of who we are or where we come from, we can all relate to water.

LoPresti: Right. Whether you’re in high school, in college, at a church youth group, at a Phish concert, into your career–wherever you are, no matter what you believe–water is something you can relate to. Whether you think about it often or not at all, water is extremely important to your life.

Parke: Tell me about the marketing behind Africa Water Is Life.

LoPresti: Social media is important. It’s been huge for us. Facebook, Twitter, texting, blogs, have all helped us get the word out and spread our message to the masses. Meeting face to face is great, but let’s face it, the younger generation has to be initially approached through social media. It’s the most effective way. It’s where we’re moving in terms of communication, and we are leveraging it to the best of our ability.

Parke: So this is a social media success story?

LoPresti: Right, yeah. Very much so.

Parke: In an age when giving to or being a part of a charity is trendy, what sets Africa Water Is Life apart?

LoPresti: Well, for me, I don’t ever want to be the face of this cause. It’s not about me or my glory or my fame. David Cranor and I are partners in this, and he has been like a brother throughout, but neither one of us want to be the face of this cause. We don’t want to be in front of it. We want World Hope to be the hero. We want God to be the hero. I don’t know why we’ve been successful or so highly energized in an era of charitable trendiness, but we have been. We’ve been blessed. Don’t misunderstand, we’ve gone through our struggles, but we keep forging ahead. God has given me a creative, strong determination, and we’re not giving up on the water crisis in Africa. I think what sets us apart is that we are allowing the youth to take the reigns of the movement and make it their own. I want the next generation to shine through. I want the kids to know that it’s simple. We’re giving those who are thirsty a cup of clean water.

Parke: Where does the donated money go?

LoPresti: All of our proceeds go to World Hope International which in turn gives them to the well building efforts in Africa. We take nothing. Everything goes to the people. I have a full time job so it’s not about personal gain through charity. It’s about not being able to ignore people in need of clean water.

Last year we raised funds to dig 10 wells. Six weeks into the new year, we’ve raised as much as we did last year, $30,000. Our goal was to do another 10 wells, but I think we’re going to double that. It’s comparable to birth. For months we’ve been nurturing this effort, spreading our cause, and eventually this great, God given thing pops out, and after all the struggles and hard work, there’s this miracle. After all the struggle, you start to gain momentum and help a lot of people.

Parke: You all work very hard! I’ve seen you and your team in action, and it’s obvious that you are extremely passionate about what you’re doing.

LoPresti: If we can get in somewhere, we’re going to go. Festivals, schools, churches, fairs, concerts, wherever; we’re going. It’s not easy to make this go, but we are going. We’re looking for students and kids who are excited about helping dig wells and share the story.

I just love the people. They’re so cool. I love the African community. We can’t help but work hard. Everyone is working together. Everybody is moving. Those in Africa and those here in the States. It crushes me every day to know that people don’t have clean water. It’s a daily struggle for me. In Africa, 90% of the kids die before reaching the age of five, and 4,500 kids pass away daily, 6000 people every day. And please understand, the loss of a child in Africa is no different than it is here. The mothers still hurt, still weep, and the families are still in desperate need of help.

Parke: What happens when clean water is introduced into a village?

LoPresti: It changes everything. Imagine, everyday you wake up and your stomach is more bloated than the day before. You are malnourished, dying from diarrhea. You have skin diseases from bathing in soiled water. You have terrible flu like symptoms–vomiting and uneasiness–every, single day. But, when we implement clean water, all of that goes away. Clean water changes everything. Women no longer have to walk miles each day to retrieve water. They can stay at home and plant gardens and prepare healthy meals for their families. The children are no longer sick or feeling nauseated. They can go to school and get an education.

It’s far more than just water, it’s life. It’s living water. Water effects everything they do. Water effects everything we do! I challenge you, take away all of your typical sources of clean water and then go out and try to find clean water. Where would you go? These kids play in muddy, dirty, diseased water. The elders within these villages never thought they would see the day when clean water would come. The average life span is 42 years because of their struggle to survive. Due to dirty water, life is a struggle for survival. There is no advancing if you spend every day just trying to survive.

Parke: What can we do beyond writing a check?

LoPresti: Go. Go to Africa. If you haven’t seen it, you really can’t even imagine. Forget your feelings of worry or insecurity. Your chances of dying on Highway-465 are greater than in Africa with our trained teams and guides. Go and experience what it’s like. Just go. You have to see it because I can’t find words to fully express what I have seen. The look of a mother when she says, “Take my child, we’re going to die, there are no resources here, it’s too hard.” For the families and children alone, we should help them. More people need to experience it so they can deeply understand it and have it impact their lives. There’s no way it can’t deeply move you to action, to help in some way or another.

Go and see how beautiful the people are; their laughs, their smiles. They’re happy to have the shirt on their back. They don’t know about TV or traffic jams or waiting in line at Starbucks or the other so called problems we experience here. They don’t know what they don’t have. So sacrifice. Give up something for a time. Whatever you would spend on that, give it to Africa to build wells. It’s not hard. We drill wells. It takes money. The more you give, the more wells we can drill, the more lives will be saved. It’s simple. Water is life.

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