09/06/2021
Namaste Beautiful Souls,
It's been a while since I've posted . As many of you will know, my husband and I moved to Scotland in March, and I've been enjoying seting up our new home this past few months. We are so happy here, surrounded by Mother Nature in all her wondrous glory - trees, mountains, a lot of sunshine and the ever flowing river Tweed a stone's throw away 🙏 So much to be grateful for!
You may remember, when I offered the Quantum Healing & Chakra re-alignment course a few months back that many of you donated to my "Just Giving Page" to help the people of Bali. Today I would like to tell you about how that money has been spent and about the families it has already helped.
When I initially decided to fundraise to help the people of Bali I didn't have a clear idea of how exactly to distribute the funds in order to make the most difference, so I enlisted the help of my dear friend, Em Roblin, who is currently living in Bali with her family.
Em researched a number of different charities, all of which were very worthy causes, and I decided on the Songan Water Project, because I believe that it will do the most good in the long term. This joint project between Kerja Bakti - a platform for social change in Bali - and Terra water aims to provide safe drinking water all year round for the 400 families who live in Balik Butik Songan, a village 8 kilometres up a mountain in Kintimani Province.
There is no well in this village because the area is so dry that it could mean drilling hundreds of metres, which would cost a lot and would not be guaranteed to work. The only source of water is rainfall, but it only rains for a few months a year. The rain water is stored in tanks and every morning the women get up early and boil the water for several hours to decontaminate it to make it safe for drinking. However, sometimes the water is not boiled for long enough to get rid of all the pathogens and parasites, and this can be a cause of sickness and child mortality.
During the dry season, the villagers have to travel 8 kilometres down the mountain to buy water. They spend approx £7 for 750 litres of water, which they then have to transport back up the mountain. This is a lot of money for these people, who do not have much to begin with. During the dry season, there is no work in farming, so many of the men have to go to other regions to find employment, leaving the burden of looking after all the family's needs to the women.
The Songan Water Project aims to provide a locally handmade ceramic water filter to each family, as well as sanitation and water hygiene education. The water filters are made from local clay and require no energy, fuel or electricity to turn dirty water into safe drinking water. They work by catching pathogens in the microscopic pores and then neutralising them using antimicrobial colloidal silver.
A water filter will save a family about £365 over two years, as well as freeing up about 5 hours a day, usually for the women, who no longer have to spend the time trying to provide safe drinking water for their families. This time can now be spent in economic and educational activities which can improve the quality of life for the women and the children.
I am so delighted and grateful to report that the money we raised has already enabled 25 families to have a water filter, and the project is so grateful for our donation of £500.
So, a big thank you to those who donated. What may have been a small amount for you has made a huge difference to the lives of 25 families.
I would just like to add a little personal note about one of the reasons why I chose this particular cause. In my early childhood we did not have running water in our house, and my brothers and I used to have to go to a well about a mile away to get two buckets of water and wheel them home on the handlebars of a bicycle. Happy Days!!!
For years my mother campaigned to make the local council bring water to the village, and she finally succeeded. Because of her strength of will and determination, every house in the village got access to running water and life improved dramatically for all the village children, who like me and my brothers, also also used to spend a lot of time fetching water when they would rather be playing. So, I feel that by helping to give access to clean water to the people of Balik Butik I am honouring my own past, and especially, honouring my amazing mother (now 96 and still amazing) who always did what needed to be done to feed the children, and showed me what a woman can do when she believes in a cause. 🙏🌟❤️💃
Huge gratitude, love and blessings,
Mary❤️
