Two Young, Local Non-profits Bring Clean Water to an Orphanage in Africa
Contact: Stephanie Weaver
Moorestown, NJ-July 1, 2010-A Drink for Tomorrow will partner with newly formed non-profit organization, BLOOM Africa, to bring clean drinking water to an orphanage located in Thaba Bosiu in Lesotho, Africa. Both A Drink for Tomorrow and BLOOM Africa are non-profit organizations founded by young adults who graduated from Moorestown High School. A Drink for Tomorrow founder Stephanie Weaver and BLOOM Africa founder Andrew Steele both felt compelled to spend their lives serving others, and founded the organizations at 22 and 23 years of age, respectively. They are thrilled to collaborate to bring clean drinking water to Little Angels orphanage where 46 orphans are currently forced to drink water from a nearby source where animals drink and defecate. Many of the children have contracted illnesses from the water, and as several children are HIV positive, this is a dire problem.
The project will entail the creation of a rainwater harvesting system, which requires the purchase and installation of a 2500-liter tank, a 5000-liter tank and specialized gutters that will be used to harvest rainwater and keep it safe from contamination. The 2500-liter tank will be used to supply water to their drip irrigation system in their garden, the main source of fresh vegetables used to feed the children, while the 5000-liter tank will be used for drinking and cooking. The rainwater harvesting tanks require little to no maintenance and will bring clean water to the orphanage for 10 to 20 years. BLOOM Africa will oversee the implementation of the project, while A Drink for Tomorrow will provide the funding. Updates on the project's impact will be provided on both organizations' websites, http://www.adrinkfortomorrow.org/index.php and http://www.bloomafrica.org/
Founded in 2010, BLOOM Africa exists to provide resources to orphans in support of their basic needs through sustainable projects, educational programming and financial support by collaborating with the people of African nations. A Drink for Tomorrow is committed to providing impoverished communities that lack clean drinking water with affordable and sustainable access to this human right. When Steele approached Weaver about working together on this project, Weaver was excited to partner with another young social entrepreneur to bring life-giving water to this community in need.
