This event is a staff favorite because it gives us an opportunity to meet so many of you for the first time and also to share something that we’re all very passionate about: how to stop the trafficking of young girls.

We were blessed to have several girls from our safehouse in Mumbai over as special guests, as well as a performance by Jason Castro, with Keith Garvin of CBS emceeing and Jeanne Rogers speaking.

We are grateful, as always, to Chalk Cullum & Associates for sponsoring the event, making it possible for all event proceeds to further the work of rescuing girls.

]]> http://sowerofseeds.org/blog/uncategorized/evening-of-hope-recap/feed/ 0 http://sowerofseeds.org/blog/multimedia/deadly-water-crisis-grips-india-cnn-photos-cnn-com-blogs/ http://sowerofseeds.org/blog/multimedia/deadly-water-crisis-grips-india-cnn-photos-cnn-com-blogs/#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:08:10 +0000 Sower of Seeds Admin http://sowerofseeds.org/blog/?p=1959 In the village of Mangi in central India, Laxman Tekam committed suicide after two years of failed cotton crops and mounting debt.

An estimated 200,000 farmers in India have taken their own lives since 1997, according to government statistics.

Photojournalist Michael McElroy met Tekam’s father while he was covering the issue in 2010. He says it became clear that there was a link between the high suicide rate and the country’s water crisis.

View the Photos and Read more at Deadly water crisis grips India – CNN Photos – CNN.com Blogs.

And every day, nearly 3,000 children under five die from diarrhoeal disease caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

They are among the poorest and most vulnerable children in the world, deprived of nearly all their needs, and denied their right to reach their full potential.

These harsh markers of such elemental inequity should spur us on to do even more. Now is the time — with success on clean water in sight, and failure on sanitation an unsettling prospect — to redouble our efforts.

We must use the momentum of this milestone to focus greater effort and investment on reaching the most disadvantaged children, their families, and their communities. This is a moral imperative, and a practical one, too.

more at Steven M. Hilton: Water And Our World. – Huffington Post

How your church can help give water to communities in India. Pastor Toby Slough from Cross Timbers Church shares in this video about Triple Seven.

$4,800 provides one well for a village community
$777 provides water for 100 people
$388 provides water for 50 people
$194 provides water for 25 people
$39 provides water for 5 people
$7.77 can save one life by providing clean water for one person 

Imagine what it would look like if all the water connections in your town were turned off, never to be turned on again. What would you do?

Now imagine that those connections never existed in the first place. The only water available was dirty ponds or streams and that water was killing the children in your town at an alarming rate.

In India, “Largely for lack of clean water, 2.1 million children under the age of 5 die each year.” – New York Times (September, 2006). That means that 5,754 children are dying every day. What if they were your kids? What would you do if you knew there was a solution that could save a life for as little as $7.77?

When you look at the picture above, do you see happy, healthy children or survivors?  This small group of children are survivors. A recent article in TIME states that one in thirteen Indian children dies before they reach 5 years of age.

There is perhaps no greater need in India than the need for safe, clean water. People have been asking 
for help and together we can do something about it.

The solution is simple, water wells equal healthier living children.  A water well can transform a community.

There are fewer infant deaths. Girls get time for school. Valuable resources in poor communities become available to address other problems like malnutrition, obtaining healthcare, education and security.

The average cost of a water well is $4,800. An average water well serves around 650 people. That means: For every $7.77 anyone gives, 1 person gains access to safe water.

Nowhere will your $7.77 make a bigger difference in individual lives. Everyone can do SOMETHING.

What impact does your resources allow you to have in the kingdom? Some of us can transform communities. Some can transform families. Some can afford to save one child’s life. The only requirement is participation.

Will you consider today what you can do?

$4,800 provides one well for a village community
$777 provides water for 100 people
$388 provides water for 50 people
$194 provides water for 25 people
$39 provides water for 5 people
$7.77 can save one life by providing clean water for one person 

The lack of safe, clean water affects everyone. Drought and increased agricultural demand for water is steering India towards a crisis, especially in communities that are dependent on contaminated surface water or unreliable groundwater from shallow wells.

You can participate in this life saving outreach in the following ways:
$4,800 provides one well for a village community
$777 provides water for 100 people
$388 provides water for 50 people
$194 provides water for 25 people
$39 provides water for 5 people
$7.77 can save one life by providing clean water for one person
… for the next 30 years!

“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them.” -Isaiah 41:17 (New Living Translation)

SOS has provided over 500 wells to date in India. While the average cost of a well is $4,800, The water crisis in India is so severe that every personal donation counts.  We designed 777 to make it easy and simple for you to give one person water every month.

To help you spread the word this year, would you consider embedding a picture in your email signature or on your blog?

Google apps allows you to attach an image to your email signature and add a link.  If you have a blog you know what to do with the following:

The address for this image is: http://www.sowerofseeds.org/mail/sticker_savealife.jpg

The link is http://www.777water.org

Help save lives!

Subscribe to the RSS feed for the SOS blog

Please be aware that this video contains explicit content and may upset sensitive viewers (portrayal of drug use and some sexual content)

In 2007 Ashley Judd was involved in making this documentary, talking about HIV and human trafficking in India -via Snag Films

“Mumbai:  A two-month-old baby was stolen from Girgaum and later sold for Rs. 12,000 to a brothel keeper in Kamathipura. Police managed to recover the baby and arrest the culprits on Sunday. Officials believe the gang used to steal infants regularly and traffic them in the red-light area.”

Read more at Two-month-old sold to brothel for Rs 12, 000.

Read more at Rani Hong: Voice of Survivors: Human Trafficking Prevention Month.