Harry's World of Opportunity

First goal reached ! At 300$, I sacrificed my precious hair, only a few hundret left to make it 1000$ and my beard will follow !

Dear friends, family, and colleagues –

It’s been a while since I crossed Africa's northern regions on my motorcycle, but the memories of its people, culture and landscape are still alive. Riding a motorcycle has the advantage that it brings you closer to the people and the land –but you also notice how much our countries differ in terms of political stability as well as the ability of providing food and life support for it’s people.

A lot of things that we take for granted are often not available for people in Africa and quite frankly, it’s always the children and their families suffering the most.

“What can I do ?” is a question that I ask myself a lot and it brings up endless pictures of advertisements of humanitarian organisations asking for money. Money is a good way to help, but “What CAN I do?” . One of my good friends Fiona is a medical doctor -sure she can join “Doctors Without Borders” and do so much good stuff –but “WHAT CAN I DO? As an engineer, I am used to solve problems in combining my skills, education and experience to bring changes and improve things whenever needed. Why not using my skills for doing good things in life? Well, finding the answer took only 5minutes of my time as I am lucky to have a friend like Ryan, who told me about Engineers Without Borders (EWB). Joining does not need any explanation. EWB supports people in Africa in providing what engineers/future engineers can do best: using creativity and ingenuity to help others to do good things in life.

In communities across Zambia, Malawi, Ghana and Burkina Faso there are millions of people seeking the chance to improve their lives. Yet, all too often they are stuck - unable to move forward because they lack the same opportunities that you and I have here in Canada.

I support EWB’s work to foster these opportunities for rural Africans. As many as 35% of the water points in Malawi simply don’t work. Without lasting access to clean water, thousands of families are needlessly trapped in a cycle of sickness and poverty.

“What Can I do ?” has now changed for me into “HOW CAN IT BE DONE ?”.

I think that for the people in Malawi, access to clean water is important and that’s why I would like to support EWB with this fundraiser. EWB is mapping water points and monitoring their functionality across Malawi, to best understand why they break down. The team of volunteers (check out the video) is creating innovative tools to better manage the flow of this critical information to help bring long-term access to clean water in Malawi’s most remote communities. In 2010, 30 EWB volunteers will improve the sustainability of Malawi’s wells, contributing to our overall goal of having 90% of water points working within five years.

This is why I am asking you to support EWB’s work this holiday season. I know that these dedicated people will use your donation effectively, and continue to make things happen based on what they can do best – solve problems as Engineers and help people in need.

This holiday season please donate to my World of Opportunity campaign and support my passion and commitment to EWB. Together, we can help increase the opportunities for rural Africans to thrive.

Thank you for your support !