Water for the World

I mentioned a while back about our planned trip to South Sudan to work on water projects, education and microbusiness.

This past weekend we joined our South Sudanese friends in celebrating what they've waited a lifetime to see--the independence of their country. South Sudan became an independent and soverign nation on July 9, 2011.

This past week, we took some important steps to get ready for the trip. Melat needs her certificate of citizenship, so we ordered that. Destiny and I spent (along with five more members of our South Sudan mission team) at a training camp to learn how to make BioSand water filtes. The training was created as a ministry of the Quaker church, but we had representatives from many faiths and nations including India, Pakistan, Iraq, Burundi, Kenya, Hondurus, Nicaragua, Uganda and South Africa, and of course our South Sudan team from Kent Lutheran Church.

We learned the skills and equipment required to build the biosand water filters, but also, we learned how to train others (in a culturally appropriate and sensetive way) about heygine, sanitation and water safety. (Photos below).

The sand filters that we learned to build are designed for the Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology in Alberta, Canada. They are basically a molded concrete shell with a biological filter (much like what a serious aquirist might build within their aquarium to keep water clean for their fish). The filters cost about $10USD to build and take one day for construction, after that, they can provide drinking water for up to 70 people for 30 years. Talk about a return on investment! The water is 98.7% safe, or about the same as the bottled water available in East Africa, and the sand filter can remove all toxins, bacteria, viruses and pollutants except for salt and pesticide (they don't have much of either in South Sudan).

We're also pursuing CAWST's training in latrine construction--especially imporant in South Sudan as the water level is quite high--groundwater is reached around 11 feet, so if latrines aren't constructed properly, we risk infecting the community with microbes or salt.

We've also been taught how to "franchise" the water filter program, providing jobs for about 60 people. Other microbusinesses will include solar power, agriculural farming of the moringa tree (a powerhouse!) and fishing businesses and sewing mosquito nets locally, rather than hiring out work to China.

There was a huge party in Seattle this week for Seattle's South Sudanese community (http://www.youtube.com/user/KLCSouthSudan), and over the weekend, I sold paper beads and told people in Kent's community about the project.

My favorite thing about this project is that is it is a joint venture between Americans and Sudanese refugees. They have the intimate knowledge of culture and tradition, and several are considered elders in their community, which lends a lot of authority to the projects. We expect that this will really enhance our team's effectiveness.

If you're interested in following along on these adventures, or contributing towards travel, we would love support of all kinds (prayer, spreading the word or financial support). Our family's fundraising goal is $12,000, which is quite daunting. We have the Paper Beads fundraiser on our web site at www.klcsouthsudan.blogspot.com. Perhaps the biggest help right now is something simple like "liking" the Facebook page and asking others to do so too. We're going to need a lot of prayer warriors for this.

We're also on Blogger. (There are more photos in our Flikr account, Blogger, Facebook and our Youtube channel). (Social media? We got it!)

Raising Funds for Sudan Mission

Many of you know, that we're planning a mission to South Sudan in 2012. Our church has a large membership of South Sudanese refugees. They've told us the story of the civil war, which raged since 1985, and we celebrated together when a resolution passed in January of this year making South Sudan a separate nation, finally ending a war.

Approximately four million of South Sudan's citizens fled the war, most by literally walking across the country, and have lived in refugee camps in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda since the fighting began (some now in their second generation of camp life!) A small number of refugees have been able to immigrate to North America, Australia and Europe, but most remain in Africa in refugee camps made for 1500 residents hosting as many as 80,000, on one meal a day.

Our church has made a commitment to aid in repatriation of one city, literally rebuilding most of the basic services. Our family is planning to be part of that trip. We're building water filtration systems, a school, and micro-enterprises, and preparing a place for refugees to return to.

If you are interested in helping our trip, we are actively raising donations with fundraiser sales and donations. Donations can be made to Kent Lutheran Church 336 2nd Ave Kent WA 98032 and checks to KLC marked "Sudan Mission Fund." There are no church overhead costs on this mission.

We're trying to raise $15,000 for the school building, $10,000 for teacher and school supplies, $5,000 for water filtration projects, and an additional $5,000 for other microbusinesses. Our travel expenses will be about $3,000 per person, which we are also responsible for raising.

If you would like to support our project, we have the first fundraiser items available: Ugandan paper beads.

These beads are fair trade and made of recycled magazines, calendars and advertisements.

beads from uganda, a set on Flickr.

These beads are for sale to support our mission trip to South Sudan. Beads are priced as marked (in photo description) + $5 shippping. The beads were hand-made in Uganda and range in size. If you have questions, email Jessica about the strand you want (identify it with the number) jessc098@gmail.com. We will do our best to keep inventory updated, and sold items marked as such.