Church News
Mission Highlight
WaterStep
Many thanks for your support of our 2024 Shoe Drive!! We collected 5,936 pounds of shoes.
WHY SHOES?
The exporter who buys the shoes sells them to local vendors in some of the same countries where water purification projects are done. They then sells the shoes to the local who need affordable shoes. So your donation contributes to micro-enterprise ventures that benefit the economy.
One pair of donated shoes serves multiple purposes:
1: Building the economy of a local community
2: Providing affordable footwear
3: Keeping shoes out of landfills
HOW DOES WATERSTEP HELP?
Through training and WaterStep’s simple technologies whole communities will have access to clean water. These technologies include well installations/Repairs, chlorine generators, rain catchment systems, Water on Wheels carts (mobile mini-water treatment plants). Training is done on those technologies, but also on health and sanitation.
WHY WATER?
Access to clean water is one of the Worlds biggest problems. Most people can just turn their faucet on and have clean water, but 1 in 10 people can’t (about 663 million people). There are many waterborne illnesses, such as cholera, and children are the most vulnerable. A child dies every 60 seconds due to diarrheal diseases per UNICEF’s Child Mortality Report.
In addition water collection takes hours a day, and the burden falls on the woman and girls. This keeps them from going to school, learning skills and taking care of their families. The entire community benefits!
