Written by Brian Cute, CEO of Public Interest Registry
During my working at Public Interest Registry, I have been fortunate enough to witness hundreds of stories about organizations who work tirelessly to improve the lives of the people and conditions in their local, regional and national communities. It’s not only been a powerful learning experience for me to see the best of humanity and philanthropy, it’s also been incredibly humbling to witness social issues playing out – for better or for worse – across the globe. At those moments, beyond my work at Public Interest Registry, I often find myself asking, “What can I do to help make this situation better?”
This year, I have the opportunity to directly support an organization called WaterSchool. WaterSchool educates school aged children in Kenya and Uganda on how they can create clean, drinkable water and practice good hygiene to reduce disease. The beauty of Water School is that it teaches the children how to transform non-potable water into safe, drinkable water using only sunlight and plastic bottles. I got to visit WaterSchool in Kenya in 2016 and was inspired by the impact this education had on the young students and equally amazed to learn that the children teach their parents about clean water and hygiene back in their homes and transform their families’ lives.
I learned about WaterSchool from Richard Lau, a member of the domain name industry who also serves on the Board of Directors at WaterSchool. Richard enlightened me about how polluted water and poor sanitation can plague entire communities with illnesses and ailments that then prevent the people from pursuing education and work, and ultimately becoming active members of society. This is a problem that is entirely preventable if the people are equipped with the proper tools.
Next week I will be part of WaterShave, shaving my head to help raise awareness and donations for WaterSchool’s mission at their annual gala, WaterNight. To date, the organization has trained over 400,000 people on how to improve water sanitation and hygiene practices. I am committed to helping WaterSchool increase that number and change lives and communities for the better. I have my own donation page – water.ngo – and my goal is to raise upwards of $30,000 by January 24th. If you’re not available to attend the gala in person, but you’re interested in supporting the cause, please consider donating online. Any amount – whether it’s $5 or $5,000 – helps…truly more than you know.