Water for Haiti....

So, I'm supposed to be catching up on the recap of our little trip to Hawaii. Which seems totally insignificant right now, considering Haiti. I think that everyone who doesn't live under a rock feels a sickening sense of helplessness in the face of this kind of overwhelming disaster. Especially, especially in Haiti. I mean, they were on the brink BEFORE. What now?

And yes, you can give your money to the Red Cross, and Doctors Without Borders, and those organizations do amazing things. But they are a stopgap. They will leave, at some point. I want something better. I want to help with something today, and something that will still be helping tomorrow and the week after that and the year after that, when we've resigned ourselves to seeing these images on a regular basis, and forgotten the driving, desperate needs of children sleeping outside, with no food and no clean water to drink.

photo via AFP/Getty Images

Speaking of water. I wanted to take a few minutes to tell everyone about an amazing and effective way to help RIGHT NOW.

This is my friend Aaron's blog. Our families have known each other since we were kiddos.
He works for an organization that is doing incredible things in a lot of places around the world. Healing Waters International provides water filtration systems in some of the most desperately impoverished places on the planet. Their model is one of the reasons I think they're so great....

They work in poor communities where the water supply is contaminated, and community members have access to water that is not safe to drink. Bottled water is out of reach, due to cost. They partner with local churches, already committed to helping those in their community, to install, maintain, and manage various water filtration systems that take the available water supply and make it clean and drinkable. The water is then sold at a price that covers the operating costs and yet makes it accessible to even the poorest members of the community. Through their 83 projects, they now serve about 120,000 people each day with clean water.

If you're looking for a way to help Haiti, they can provide a solution right now. Because of their strong presence in the Dominican Republic, and a partnership with Compassion International, HWI is able to provide gallons of clean drinking water in Haiti for about two dollars per gallon, while continuing to provide water to the communities they already serve. The cost basically covers the container and the transport. Please, if you're interested in giving to something that will be effective RIGHT NOW, TODAY, then check out their website and consider a donation online. In addition to providing clean water today, the second phase of their plan includes becoming a permanent presence in Haiti and installing 50 water filtration systems that will continue to provide clean water for years to come. It's under $10,000 to permanently affect a community. If your organization or employer is interested in sponsoring one, check out the website for more info.

Think about it. Pray about it. And the next time you fill your water bottle or grab a bottled water, consider Haiti.