My Nonprofit Reviews

Wells Bring Hope (www.wellsbringhope.org) is a non-profit that brings safe water to the rural villages in Niger, the poorest country in the world. Perhaps I had a very small part in inspiring their creation.

I had just finished a four year photo project in West Africa that resulted in a photo book and essays from Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ellen Johnson-Serleaf, Mary Robinson,and UN Secretary General Kofi Annam. The photos and essays focused on the need to bring safe water to rural villages and thus freeing up women and girls to spend their time more productively. Women as micro-credit entrepreneurs and girls going to school -- often for the first time in the history of the village.

My job was to inspire individuals and organizations to raise the funds necessary to bring bore hole wells and sanitation to these rural villages.

Early on I spoke to a group of about 60 women in Los Angeles. My talk inspired them to want to raise money for these wells. After raising enough money for three wells, the women asked me to help them start a non-profit where 100% of the donated funds would go to drilling for wells. That was the brith of Wells Bring Hope. Nine years later this volunteer group of quality and resourceful women and men have partnered with World Vision and together they have now financed the building of 442 wells! We now see women in those 442 villages starting their own small businesses and, best of all, girls going to and graduating from school. The work of the volunteers at Wells Bring Hope is life changing for them but especially life changing for the people in the rural villages that now have clean, safe water.