Thursday, November 3, 2011

We Did It!!!

The Water Walk in Clovis was an amazing, astounding, unbelievable success!  Here's a story that the Clovis News Journal ran about us: h2o article.

The day of the walk dawned bright and beautiful!  After months of worrying about wind, rain, or snow --- we could not have asked for more perfect weather.  We had almost 100 people show up for the event.  My original goal was 40, but Justin said all along that he believed it would be closer to 100.  So glad I was wrong!  Participants ranged in age from little babies to mature people in their 80's.

I was glad to hear many people talking about how impacted they were by the experience.  For us here in America, clean water is something so easy to take for granted.  I hope that everyone will remember the walk, the brown water, the sore muscles, and the people across the world who face that reality every.single.day.  Here's what my friend Gwyn had to say about the experience:
If, like me, you take fresh water for granted and don't give turning the tap on a second thought, then I challenge you to take part in your own water walk. I just joined others in walking 3/4 of a mile to collect water from Greene Acres Lake and then back to the church I grew up in. We filtered our water through t-shirt-like material and then put it in a stock tank. The walked symbolized what thousands of others do EVERY day, multiple times a day to get water for their families. The sad part is, the water they collect is dirtier than that found in Greene Acres. Those sent to collect the water are often children who are walking more than 2 miles a day, and the water is being used for cooking, cleaning, bathing and drinking. Imagine using water from Greene Acres to bathe in, to clean your dishes with, to cook your meals in and to drink for hydration. Become aware, as I have, to the need and the simplicity in which you can make a difference.
We raised $3000 at the walk.  I'm super excited to announce that generous donations came from other places, as well, and the well is now fully funded!  We never imagined that this journey would be so quick!  We were hoping to have the money by next summer.  We never dreamed it would be raised in 2 1/2 months!  THANK YOU to everyone who supported us with prayers and monetary gifts!

Our friend and partner in Kenya, Tom Abungu, just told the people of the village in Kenya about our project.  He told me: 

I just got back from the village and I broke the news to them that a new well was coming to them and it was an imaginable joy on the faces of the people. Songs of praises to God was being sung. What a blessings!

We have decided to keep this ball rolling!  We are now working on well#2.  Stay tuned for details!  Below is a video of some of the fun at the water walk.


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Ten Days!

The Clovis Water Walk is only ten days away!  Wow!  We're very excited about it and can't wait to see everyone.  

The water bottles that registrants will receive, courtesy of Taco Box and Clovis Veterinary Clinic, arrived yesterday.  They look great!  Make sure to go ahead and register to reserve yours.  Clovis Bottlers has also donated bottles of water for walkers.  We appreciate our sponsors!

We want to clarify that this is a donation basis.  If your family would like to participate, but cannot do $25 per person, please come out anyway and donate what you feel led to!  This is, of course, a fundraiser.  But it's also about raising awareness about the conditions in many parts of Africa. 

Don't forget to bring a container to haul water in.  Milk jugs or something along those lines would be perfect.  For families with children, a wagon or stroller might come in handy.  Be creative!  In Ethiopia, we saw water hauled on heads, backs, carts, donkeys, and bicycles.

The painting from our last post sold on the same day that the announcement was made!  What an exciting blessing!  That thermometer on the left of the page is inching toward our goal!

This Saturday night, we are having our second Parents Night Out event, in conjunction with Celebration Baptist Church's outreach for the Courageous movie.  The church has tickets available for $7.50 each.  Childcare will be at the church and is $10 each for the first two children and $8 for each additional child.  Preregistration is required.

Thanks for all the support and we hope to see you in Rio Rancho on Saturday night or in Clovis on October 22!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Not One, but TWO Generous Donations!

This fundraising journey has been astounding.  

A man who is new to our church heard Justin give a little 
 talk at a prayer service.  

His name is William Stebe and he's an amazingly talented artist.
After hearing about our well project, he donated the beautiful painting below, of an African acacia tree.  
He suggested a $500 donation for it.  
It was gone within minutes of the announcement in church this past Sunday.  

Today I walked into church and saw this on the wall:
 
 I could not walk past it.  I had to stop and admire it's rich colors and 
serene feel.  The texture and depth of field are amazing.
Then our pastor walked out of the office and told me that Mr. Stebe 
has donated this painting for the well fund, also.  
We are blown away.  We are humbled.
For a donation of $900, you can own this magnificent painting.  
The pictures do not do it justice.  
The colors are deep and it's large.  
I'll post the dimensions soon.

Thank you, Mr. Stebe, for your generosity and your heart for Africa!

Second Parent's Night Out

Our next Parent's Night Out event has been moved to Saturday, October 15. We'll be offering a childcare option for people who are attending the Courageous movie that evening.  We will provide dinner, a movie, and games for kiddos while parents get to watch a movie!  We ask for a donation of $10 each for the first two children and $8 for each additional child.

For tickets to the movie or more information, call Celebration Baptist Church at 505.994.0430. The movie is supposed to be fantastic!  


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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

 

Project leaders and partners in crime - Cade and Josh, showing of their awesome new h2o shirts! 

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Super Cool Shirts

We are now selling tshirts to raise money for the well fund!  They are super-duper awesome, even if we do say so ourselves.  These shirts are perfect to wear while you're out and about, to help spread the word about the water crisis in Africa.

They are $20 each if we deliver them to you in person and $25 shipped.  Please allow two weeks for delivery. 

Send an email to hydration2others@gmail.com for payment information.


Shirt Front

Shirt Back


Parents Night Out

Octopus and Seaweed entree
Our first official fundraiser was last night and I don't know who had more fun, us or the kids!  We raised $140 with our sea themed Parents Night Out.  The octopus and seaweed dinner was a big hit.  We're now taking reservations for the next one, which is scheduled for October 14.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Rio Rancho Parent's Night Out

If you're a parent living in Rio Rancho and devote all your time to your kids, drop them off at Celebration Baptist Church, 5620 Laredo Road NE, at six o'clock.  Pick them up at eight thirty, that's two and a half hours to yourself!  This only costs $10 each for the first two kids and then only $8 each additional kid!  This is for all kids ages three (potty trained) through eleven.  The dates are September 9, October 14, November 11, and December 9.  We will feed them dinner, play a movie with a moral, and have lots of fun! Preregistration is required.   Call to register at 505-934-3689 or you can email hydration2others@gmail.com.  All proceeds go to the Kenya Well Fund. All workers are CPR and First Aid certified. 

- Cade

Clovis Water Walk 2011

We're really excited about this event.  It's going to be amazing and make an impact on those who participate!  

Experience what it's like for the people of Africa who haul water every day.  Click on the Water Walk Registration tab to register and make your donation.
  



Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The project kickoff announcement on the Robbs family blog:
 
Our sweet boy celebrates his fourth birthday today! Melkam Lidet, Eyob Masebo! We celebrated on Sunday with his closest friends.

Please keep reading to see how you can help us celebrate and honor him!

After visiting Ethiopia twice, we became passionate about helping provide clean water to people there. Everywhere you look, people are carrying or otherwise hauling large yellow jugs for clean water.

Here are some water facts:

  • 884 million people lack access to safe water supplies; approximately one in eight people.
  • 3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease.
  • Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources.
  • At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
For months, we've been trying to make arrangements to put a well in the community that Eyob is from. We've talked to many organizations and hit dead end after dead end. We had two requirements. #1 - the organization had to spread God's word to the community in the process of placing the well. #2 - it had to be close to a specific location. Unfortunately, no one that we could find is drilling wells in that area right now. We waited the whole summer for a site survey to come back from one organization and in the end, they could not accommodate our request. So we decided to just fundraise for an Ethiopian well in an unspecified location, but God had other plans.

We have a friend, Tom Abungu, who runs a school and orphanage in Kenya. He spent most of the summer staying with some of our good friends and was able to travel to the church I grew up in to give a presentation. During that service, he talked about another part of his ministry, which is helping to put wells into needy communities in Kenya. Tom gave examples of being able to spread The Gospel during past projects. *Ding* A light went on for Justin and myself! It resonated so deeply with us that we immediately knew this was where we should focus our energy.

Drum roll please.... I'm excited to announce that we are now working toward a goal of raising $10,000 for a well in an area of Kenya called Urimba, Siaya Village! People in this area have no close source for water and must walk two hours to obtain it. Tom says a well will bring great hope to this community.

We have several awesome fundraisers planned for this fall, so stay tuned for that. Right now, though, you can help us kick off our project by celebrating Eyob's fourth birthday. In honor of him, please consider making a donation to our well fund. Any amount will help $4, $40, $400 or whatever you feel led to give. You can click the donate button on the right side of this page to make a contribution through Paypal. If you'd like to make a tax deductible donation, please contact me directly and I will get the information to you.

Thank you for helping us to help others!

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. John 7:38

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