Update!
Following special offerings, and our Lenten Challenge, we are coming close to the church's goal of helping a group of people acquire clean drinking water. Our Church Family has now committed to funding a protected spring for the Shihingo Village in Western Kenya, a farming community of 240 men, women and children. The farms are community-owned and one of the main crops is sugarcane. The culture in Shihingo limits men from household chores. Along with older children, they go to the fields to work, and it is the women and younger children who go out to find the water their family needs. They rely on the Inzuka Spring which bubbles up from a hole in the rocky terrain and is exposed to all kinds of contamination, including from animals. This dirty water isn't only dangerous to drink but is time-consuming to fetch, taking hours away from schooling and cottage industries. Sanitation and good hygiene are also wanting in Shihingo, causing sickness and time lost. The funds we are raising are to be used for construction, beginning around the end of July, to protect the spring from surface runoff and other contaminants. The project includes the education of village leaders in the maintenance of the spring, and the handling, storage and treatment of water. The Water Project technicians intend to mobilize village members to collect locally available materials for construction, thus creating invested interest for all. The families will be taught proper hygiene and sanitation methods to ensure a healthy outcome for this clean water initiative. Two hundred and forty members of this village anticipate having more productive, healthier and happier lives. We thank all of our contributors, both church members and others who have partnered with us. We are now seeing that this goal is attainable! The Outreach Team of The First Congregational Church of GeorgetownThis summer, our missions committee surveyed the church and decided we wanted to support clean, accessible water for people in other parts of the world. We are glad to be raising funds for The Water Project, and we hope you'll consider joining us. With your gifts and your help rallying support, we can provide clean, safe and reliable water to a community in Africa.
Today, too many people suffer and die needlessly - walking miles for dirty water that makes them sick. This is an affront to our faith commitment to love and justice. You and I can do our part to share in the creation's abundance.
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