“This is the true joy in life – being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one – being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for it’s own sake.
Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations . . .”
Jon with Rose – orphanage clean-water project in Haiti.
We transform water that takes away life . . . into water that gives life.
On Tuesday, February 22, we spent Jon’s 33 birthday traversing the rugged landscape of Haiti – from ocean to ocean, over tall mountains and through dense jungle, from Port de Paix to Port au Prince to Petionville to Leogane to Jacmel, into the ocean, under the waterfall. Our trusty guide, Fritz G. Pierre-Louie, carried us to and through ancient hidden treasures of Haiti.
And even while celebrating Jon’s birthday we completed two clean-water distributions and trainings, from the northern most city in Haiti to the southern most village, crisscrossing the entire country via airplanes and off-road machines and finally by foot on jungle trails.
This is what we love to do: Bringing clean water and having fun, celebrating the fact that when we arrive we meet people suffering from the consequences of drinking from a water source that takes away life and when we say “Farewell’ and disappear down a dusty dirt road these same people are now drinking water that gives abundant life.
Waves For Water in Partnership with United Nations & Humanitarian Organizations
Example: By plane, truck, boat and foot, the Waves for Water team has completed the distribution & training for 56,000 Sawyer clean-water filter systems to the most remote regions of Haiti. These have been donated by Compassion International.
1-Fritz & Jon flying to north coast to meet trucks for big Compassion International distribution and field operations training. 2-Jack & Zach delivering to Mirebalais. 3-Boat carrying our filters & buckets to La Gonave, an island near Port-au-Prince. 4-Jack & Zach in St. Marc. click images to enlarge
Water 4 Everyone . . . a father & son story . . . Waves for Water.
Jon Rose is currently traveling & working with the U.N. & Sean Penn’s team in Haiti – www.jphro.org Can read Jon’s daily updates from the front lines at www.wavesforwater.org. So far, Jack & Jon have distributed 10000 clean-water systems throughout the earthquake zone, and in remote regions of the country, bringing safe drinking water to over a hundred thousand people.
All of us would like to extend a special acknowledgement to Dennis Haysbert, Sean Penn, Diana Jenkins, Patricia Arquette and employees of Patagonia for their extensive donations of time, talent & funds. Together we will continue to bring clean drinking water to the survivors in Haiti.
Jon with Rose – orphanage clean-water project in Haiti.
