3 Minute Read
Love and hope are powerful feelings. You can fall so in love with a person or place, that you’re no longer the same and a small piece of you is forever connected, no matter the time or distance apart. Africa had a way of getting into my heart and remaining there to this very day.
When I learned about the global water crisis, I knew I wanted to get involved. After raising $150,000 for clean water projects during my solo across the Atlantic, I was eager to help build and visit the water projects. Fast-forward a year later and I am in Kenya for a month-long trip to visit projects and help build them. It was exciting to see that change was possible and encoring to know that there were solutions with lasting impact.
It was also incredibly overwhelming.
I felt deflated thinking how every one person we helped, there were a hundred or maybe a thousand more we could never reach. I felt more overwhelmed than I felt running 100-miles or covering thousands of miles on the bike. I was running low on hope.
Loud bursts of laughter from a group of children got me out of my head and caught my attention. I was curious to find out the source of joy these children so deeply felt. I just had to find out.
I looked down at the ground to see rusty wire. Dusty bottle caps. Bits of string tied together. Essentially, I looking at what most would consider a pile of trash.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Charles and all his friends would scavenge through the trash, finding any useful bits, and make their very own toys. They weren’t waiting for someone to help them or show them the way. They weren’t wasting a moment to discover joy in what they had in front of them even if it didn’t come in a shiny package.
My heart was so touched by their spirit to take what most would consider to be useless and turn it into something beautiful.
Pain was real, but so was hope.
Hope was not gone but smiling right back at me.
Hope was possible in places & in ways that it didn’t seem to belong.
Remembering them — their laughter, pride, and smiles — always gives me that warm feeling deep within. They helped me see that that there is still light in dark spots, and that, in fact, light shines brightest in the darkest places.
If Charles and his friends can hold onto hope in dark spots, so can I. My hope is that you are encouraged to know, as Charles and his friends so beautifully reminded me, that even if we have nothing left in this world but hope, that is enough.
Just like Charles turned trash to treasure, Coasters for a Cause is all about turning up-cycled nautical charts into gifts to buy and share. All proceeds go to a clean water project in Ethiopia. More than $1,000 has been raised for the water project thanks to everyone who ordered Coasters for a Cause.
Still holiday shopping? Consider placing an order for handmade up-cycled nautical coasters with all proceeds helping a project in Ethiopia!
PROJECT UPDATE: Preparations are underway for the clean water project in Tanzania that was funded by Run4Water. Here are some things the field team has been working on:
Translating training and community engagement manuals into Swahili.
Introducing the model of “Vision of a Healthy Village” (VHV) to local villages.
Preliminary hardware designs for water points.
Connecting with local churches and religious institutions for support.
Recruiting and hiring more staff on the ground.
I hope you are just as excited as I am to see all the real, sustainable change God has planned for these families!
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