Day 26: Those who thirst (need clean water)

I had trouble falling asleep and got about five hours of sleep last night. That made for an interesting Monday morning.

This is not all that unusual for me, though. I'm a night owl and somehow get a surge of energy around 11 p.m., regardless of how tired I may have been all day. This does not bode well for someone who has to work regular office hours, as I do. Thus, a few minutes ago I took a Benadryl. It usually does the trick to knock me out at a decent hour. If what I'm writing here doesn't make much sense, I blame it on the sleep-deprivation and the Benadryl, by the way.

Right now I'm still awake, but the drowsiness is setting in as I drink the rest of the water from the glass I filled to swallow down that little pink pill. Most of the time I take for granted that I can go to the faucet and pour myself a glass of clean water whenever I want it. Before it reaches my faucet, this water goes through quite the process to get drinkable and flowing out of my tap, yet it seems like a given to me that I will always have it when I need it. Often I forget how fortunate I am for this seemingly simple access to clean water. And now comes the point to all of this...

It seems hard to fathom, but over a billion people around the world do not have access to drinkable water. Something that is a necessity for all living beings should not be so scarce for so many. Therefore, as part of my plan this week to highlight charities for giving this holiday season, here are two clean water charities to look into (and there are also many more great charities for clean water if these two don't float your boat):

Blood:Water Mission and their 1000 Wells Project ($1 = one year of water for an African)

Living Water International, through the Advent Conspiracy