Message from the Executive Director

August, 2006

I am proud to announce the generous grants that Water 1st has recently received from the Agora Foundation at Peninsula Community Foundation, from Covenant World Relief, and an Ethiopia Matching Grant from Ty Cramer and Steve Romein. I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to double your support for people in need of safe water.

I am also proud of the progress we have made over the past year – the projects being implemented now will bring safe water and latrines to 18,000 people.

The success of our work rests with all of us–each donor who reaches out to help someone they have never met in Ethiopia, India, Honduras, or Bangladesh, each parent in a poor community who is determined to secure a brighter future for his or her children, and each of my colleagues (both paid staff and volunteers) who works tirelessly.

It’s so important to me that you know your role in making safe water a reality for the people we serve. In the past few weeks, I’ve been invited to a couple of dinner gatherings where I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of new people, and of course I was happy to talk about the work of Water 1st. Interestingly, most of the people I met were surprised to hear that the majority of funding for Water 1st projects come from individual donors. They assumed that government and foundation support would make up the bulk of our budget. In fact, I was reading a survey recently that said that the average American guessed that the US government spends 15-30% of its budget on non-military international assistance. The real number is less than 1%.

Certainly foundations and corporations, including several in our backyard here in the Seattle area, have significant resources to give to water project support. But together, individuals can do even more. Over 75% of all charitable giving comes from individuals. However, for me it’s not just about the statistics.

I truly believe that the key to solving the water crisis facing developing nations is educating individuals: When people here become aware of the millions of childhood deaths preventable annually and the billions of hours spent daily by women and young girls just carrying water, then we will see amazing change.

That’s why we value each of you and your donations to Water 1st, which we can turn into life-giving gifts in villages in need of safe water. Thank you for your generous support of our work and the people we serve around the world.

Marla Smith–Nilson
Executive Director, Water 1st International