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Marissa
Garcia, an artist from Louisville, Kentucky, has found a way
to use her own unique artistic talents to help people who
are dying for lack of clean water and inexpensive
treatments. Garcia is donating the profits from the sale of
one of her lithographs, and note cards from two of her
larger works, to help bring an end to deaths caused by
waterborne diarrheal illnesses and donations made during the
month of December that are recorded on the Omidyar.net
website, will be matched 1 for 1 by Omidyar Network, LLC
through Omidyar.net's Q4 Funding Project.
WATERBORNE
DIARRHEAL ILLNESSES (WDI) are diseases that cause diarrhea,
usually resulting from infection from viruses (Flavivirus-Yellow
fever; Calicivirus-Norwalk; Picornavirus-polio), bacteria
(i.e. Escherichia Coli, Hepatitis A & E) and parasites (i.e.
Giardia Lamblia, Amebiasis) through ingestion of
contaminated water. Besides water, diarrheal illnesses can
also result from contaminated food.
Marissa's
sister, Dr. Elizabeth Garcia-Gray (Liz), has been a member
of the Omidyar.net community since September. Dr.
Garcia-Gray found the humanitarian online community after
she had read a blog about eradication of poverty which
linked to Omidyar.net. Linda Nowakowski had just started a
discussion about the WDI issue. Interestingly, WDI is a
cause that Liz advocates because of its urgent global
significance and Liz joined the team. Within a month Liz had
lured her sister, to the community. And Marissa so
appreciated the incredible collaborative efforts, hard work
and dedication of the WDI team, that she became an honorary
team member.
"After
reading about this problem, I was angry that people could
not work together to deal with this problem, apparently
because of the indelicacy of the topic. I wanted to do
something and mentioned it in a discussion on possible
funding areas on Omidyar.net" says Linda Nowakowski. "I was
excited by the support I got." Within a week the team had
been self-selected when David Bale in England, Phyllis
Hurley in Mississippi and Willy Walusimbi from Kampala
joined the effort.
The WDI team
is made up of five individuals from four continents, none of
whom has ever met any of the others: Linda Nowakowski
(teacher, Ubon, Thailand), Elizabeth Garcia-Gray (physician,
Kentucky, USA), David Bale (retired from Probation Service,
Cambridgeshire, UK), Phyllis Hurley (educator, Mississippi,
USA), Willy Walusimbi project resource Director of Rural
Health Care Foundation, Kampala, Uganda). This group spans
geography, cultures, and generations.
From there
the team worked together like a well-trained team. "It was
amazing! Just as all of this got started, I had to move from
Bangkok to Ubon. I was off-line or with limited connectivity
for most of a month and this team picked up the ball and
played the game like all-stars." The team researched
organizations that were doing work in the area and narrowed
the field to 41 potential candidates. The final selection
was based on 5 specific areas that need attention to fully
deal with the problem: rehydration (International Centre for
Diarrheal Disease Research, Hospital, Bangladesh), education
for health providers (Foundation for International Medical
Relief of Children), sanitation (Practical Action in Kenya),
sanitation education (Rural Health Care Foundation, Uganda),
and pure water sources (New Life International), Uganda.
The team is
determined not just to raise enough to secure the $12,500
funding match by the end of December, but to carrying on
raising money for clean water non-profits for months to
come. More than this, Marissa and the team are hoping to
raise public awareness of this worldwide problem and of it's
simple and effective remedies.
"The WDI team
members are the most inspiring and empowering people to work
with. Their dedication and enthusiasm in uplifting this
cause is contagious. I am so grateful for this opportunity
to serve others using my art work. Words cannot adequately
describe the inspiration this project gives me. The image of
Mother Teresa and Child entitled "Unconditional Love" seems
very appropriate to help the "poorest of the poor". The
image of the "Healing Angel" holding a golden bowl catching
water from a mountainside speaks for itself. I have always
associated water with healing, and we are raising funds to
provide clean water to those who do not have this basic
human necessity. " says Marissa.
You don't
have to be physician or a first responder to help save
lives. The WDI team at Omidyar.net encourages others to
donate to this most worthy cause.
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