I wrote about Blog Action Day yesterday to get things flowing as we come together to take action on a single topic: water.  Our goal is to get clean water, safe water, enough water to under served people across the globe.  Since it's Blog Action Day and not just blog "write about it for a day" or blog "make someone else do something day" I wanted to write about two things I am doing to take action.


1. Charity:Water

As I mentioned yesterday, my co-authors and I are donating 100% of the proceeds from the sale of Age of Conversation 3: Time to Get Busy to charity:water.  This is a smart business book, great for your library or as a gift for business associates, clients, partners and friends.  Because all proceeds are donated, purchasing it is a bit like giving two gifts in one!
I purchased my copy, and a few extras for friends. You can get yours in hardcover,  paperback or for the Kindle. (Note - these are affiliate links and the affiliate proceeds are also donated!  Image above courtesy of Charity:water)

2. GFA's Water Program

My family and I are long-time supporters of Gospel for Asia, which has a tremendous water program that is bringing life and hope to many across Asia.  It's no secret that many villages do not have ready access to water, and people must walk miles to gather precious rations to sustain them each day.

While lack of water may be an availability issue -  very often gaining access to available water sources is a larger one. Tribal, caste, feudal or even faith issues prohibit "unclean" individuals from gaining access to drinking water - whether they are men, women or innocent children.  As a result, people suffer. GFA's Jesus Wells are established in the Spirit of their namesake. They are open to everyone - without discrimination. They often found near churches and become a center of communal life, and outreach, building bridges between peoples, supporting a better way of life, promoting economic growth and bringing hope to all who thirst.  Here's some field video from a GFA photographer in Ragasthan, India that will tell you more (This is pretty long - from a conference, I think)


GFA's well program is one of the most efficiently run water programs around.  Donate a well to a village for $1000 .  Send a BioSand filter for $30 to a family, and help them purify polluted water. All of your money will go to the cause you select.  There is no money subtracted for overhead, administration, marketing (etc.) because every GFA staff member raises his/her own support.  GFA also employs native workers and uses native resources for its work, creating employment and economic growth in each country. Supporting GFA has been some the best money we ever spent. They even call to ask how we are doing, periodically!


Purchasing Age of Conversation 3: Time to Get Busy, supporting charity:water and GFA are just three places to take action today.   If these don't line up with your vision, passion, faith or conviction, there are many other terrific charities on the Blog Action Day website.  Take action today!

Tomorrow, on October 15th, it's Blog Action Day - and thousands of bloggers are uniting to discuss one thing: Water. Our goal? To rally people to the cause, in a single day, to raise awareness, action and funds to help get safe water to the underprivileged and under served people.

Nearly 1 Billion people do not have safe water to drink? In fact, every day 42,000 people die for lack of safe drinking water - and 38,000 of those are children. In many countries, the scarcity and quality of water is a life or death issue. Water is a vital resource that is the cause of wars, strife and conflict that take many lives.

That might seem foreign to us here in the USA, where for the most part, we seem to have plenty of clean water. In the name of "healthy" and "convenient" we consume, on average, 200 bottles of water per year, per person. 86% of those bottles are never recycled. The 14% that are, require the consumption of 17 million barrels of oil per year to re-purpose. Imagine the funds spent on bottled water alone could do to support clean water projects all over the globe!

My point is this: It's time to get thirsty for the right things.   Every one of us can afford to take some kind of action in the name of responsible stewardship. At a minimum, we can all make a difference in the areas of water conservation and follow the conscience we all to often ignore. We can do so much more together to support the delivery of clean drinking water to people around the globe.

I am happy to say I've teamed with my co-authors on the book Age of Conversation 3 to donate 100% of the proceeds from our book to Charity: Water. The Age of Conversation examines how the global marketing landscape is changing. The book features articles from over 300 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators and is rich with information on a variety of complex topics faced by business people in all walks of life.  We're proud of the book, and delighted to supporting charity: water and the great work they do.  Here's more about it:


Together with Change.org and the community of bloggers participating in Blog Action Day, we are encourage you to ask what you can do to make a difference, today. Here are a few ideas:

1. Spread the word at home, work, school & online.
2. Visit the Blog Action Day site help with fund raising and even sign or start new positions to support a charity supporting water related projects.
3. Tell your friends about Age of Conversation and help get the word out.
4. Purchase "Age of Conversation 3" knowing your funds are going directly to charity. It's available in hard cover, paper back and for the Kindle.
5. Participate in our "BUM RUSH" for Age of Conversation( Valeria Maltoni explains that here) to drive book sales and $$$ to charity: water
6. Donate to a water related charity of your own

Finally, if you're a blogger, participating in blog action day is easy. All you have to do is register on the Blog Action Day website and write a related blog post on the 15th. The site includes a list of helpful facts and water related topics you can write about, to get those juices flowing.   Whatever you write -- do it from the heart! And if you're a fan of AOC3, consider mentioning it!

Beautiful things happen when beautiful people come together. Please join me and make your mark, as you feel led.  I'll share more of my family's personal involvement with water charities tomorrow. ;-)