It was windy and wet in Lake Oswego last Saturday as new WaterAfrica Presidents, Gary and Judi Mittelstaedt, gathered candles and set up chairs, preparing to welcome people to their home for the scheduled WaterAfrica donor event that evening. In spite of regional power outages and stormy conditions, the lights stayed on and over 60 people gathered in the Mittelstaedt home to enjoy performances from musicians Wendy Bamonte, Jeff Wood, Ben Schumacher, and Judi Mittelstaedt. WaterAfrica Treasurer Kevin Cummings shared about his experiences volunteering with WaterAfrica and the transformative nature of this relationship.
Sam Jackson, World Vision Director of Philanthropy, shared how World Vision’s persistent and continuously improving expertise in providing safe water has made dramatic impact over the last decade. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene are the foundation programs in each Area Development Project (ADP) where World Vision works. By 2016, 60% of World Vision ADPs will have fresh, safe water with the goal of 100% by 2020.
Sam expressed deep appreciation for the work of WaterAfrica, which has now provided WASH to over 26,000 Zambians and challenged us to keep the long goal in sight as we continue to Raise Awareness and Funds for this important, Transformative work.
The evening ended with celebration as Lake Grove Presbyterian Church Pastor Graig Flach gave tribute to the vision and leadership of WaterAfrica cofounders, Bill and Diane Savage. We invite you to watch this video prepared in their honor and shared that night:
