LatinaLista —
Campaign: The Water Van Project
Diego, Coke, Chechu and Edu are four childhood friends who wanted to make a difference in the lives of poor Latin Americans who are dying because they have no access to clean water. According to their research, over 100,000 people die every year in Latin America due to water contamination and every 18 seconds a child dies in less developed areas because there is a lack of clean water.
The four friends, who have taken a short leave from their professional pursuits, want to raise global awareness about this important issue while helping bring clean water to those who need it the most. So, they are undertaking an ambitous mission: travel over 3700 miles in six months to 9 countries, from Mexico to Peru, to bring water filters to over 10,000 men, women and children. They've dubbed their journey the Water Van Project.
They plan to work with local NGOs in providing two different kinds of water filters to those who have no access to clean water.
They begin their journey this month (January 2016) and in addition to helping families by bringing them water filters, the four also plan to accomplish two additional goals:
Educate – Teaching communities and organizations the proper installation and maintenance processes for those filters as well as raising awareness of the water crisis in the world, how to make a more efficient use of it and the importance of sanitation.
Promote – Raise awareness about the global water crisis, and push people to get out of their comfort zone through the exposure of other social and innovative projects.
Using their own money to finance the project, the four plan to apply campaign funds towards the purchase of the water filters but are actively seeking sponsors and companies who would like to collaborate with them in exchange of advertising in the form of social and media impact, to help pay for other expenses.
The four plan to document their entire journey via photos, social media and their website. At the end of the journey, plans are to create a documentary showcasing not just the culture and diversity of Latin America but the people whose lives were changed with suddenly having access to clean water.
At the Water Van Project we believe that we all share one common goal, happiness, and in order to achieve it we must spend our time doing what really fulfill us on a daily basis. In our case, it is showing through our journey that there is no better way to travel than helping (those) who need it the most.
The campaign's goal is $26,000.