BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — When Colleen Burroughs heard a news report last year that a drought in Malawi threatened to kill 5 million people, the Birmingham resident, who was raised in Malawi by Baptist missionary parents, knew she had to help.
She initially thought she'd contribute resources to an existing organization to help irrigate the nation, but she soon found out there were no organizations doing that work. So she and her husband, David, founded Watering Malawi.
Now the fledgling non-profit organization has reached its goal of raising $150,000 to provide wells, pumps and simple irrigation systems in the drought-ridden nation. Much of the money came from Christian youth, as well as grants from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Pure Water Pure Love and the Florida CBF.
“It has been like Christmas to come to work, read letters from all over the place, and hear how teenagers brought this issue up with their schools, churches and civic organizations,” she said. “Teenagers have done everything from auction off eye-brow waxes to throwing rock concerts. The results are astounding.”
The Burroughses started Passport Camps Inc. in 1993 to provide mission-oriented summer camps for Christian youth. They knew the campers could prove vital assets to the new water project, even though most Americans were unaware of the devastating drought.
“With Katrina swamping us, just after a catastrophic tsunami, last year's drought in Malawi just didn't seem to be on anyone's radar,” Burroughs said. “So we put it in front of Passport teenagers, and they took the ball and ran with it. Students began events prior to the summer, gave an offering during camp, and then went back home and created Watering Malawi events all over the map.”
The teenage campers donated $60,000 last summer. Fifty-six individuals and 46 congregations from various denominations contributed as well. Communities know the effort is a “vehicle they can trust,” Burroughs said.
The organization works with World Vision, which installs the pumps.
A nation of 13 million people, 1 million of which are orphans, Malawi gained international exposure recently when Madonna adopted a boy from Malawi. She also has plans to build an orphanage near the country's capital, Lilongwe.
Eighty percent of Malawi's population is Christian, and much of the remainder is Muslim. The democratic republic is currently in the middle of its fourth major drought in 10 years, and HIV/AIDS has killed many of its workforce. Most of Malawi's people live in villages and survive through subsistence farming. More than half of the people live below the poverty line.
Only 2 percent of Malawi's arable land is irrigated, so Burroughs' deep borehole wells are welcome sources of clean water. Each well costs $6,000 each to dig, and they are centrally located in villages to provide clean water for the largest number of people possible. Treadle pumps, which are also used, are human-powered pumps that lift water from seven meters deep or less. They cost a mere $200 each.
The project has been so successful, it has attracted attention even outside Christian circles. A national article recently appeared in Associated Press.
Next year, Burroughs plans to raise even more money for Malawi, although she said she's not exactly sure how much or how it will be spent. “The difference will be what Malawi requests. It's not my place to tell [people in] Malawi to water their gardens,” she said.
Passport's board and advisory committee is “strongly” behind her. Horace Hambrick, a committee member from Georgetown, Ky., said he hoped the project would continue to have long-term effects.
“It's important to help young people know that long-range solutions can't be solved in one year,” he said. “We all need to understand that significant change takes time and commitment to the task.”
No matter the outcome next year, Burroughs said this year has been surprisingly successful in helping a nation that desperately needs it. And even though she now lives in Alabama, she's committed to making a difference in her birthplace.
“I grew up in Malawi. There are plenty of spots around the globe that need the same thing, but this is my home congregation,” she said. “When I started [Watering Malawi], I didn't really even know if anybody would really listen to me. To meet a goal like this in 11 months is just astounding.”
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