In 2003, I committed myself to clean up water for kids – to make it safe for drinking. I saw the need initially in China, but my view quickly expanded to include South and SE Asia, as well as certain countries in Africa. To this day, my focus continues to be upon children, in institutional settings, in urban areas, children who do not have reliably safe water within reach. And I continue to believe that every child has a right to clean water.
I am proud to say, today, that I am surrounded by a remarkable team who is assuring safe drinking water for well over 200,000 children – and that number is changing all the time. Thanks to lots of smart, dedicated people, as well as remarkably generous philanthropy, we are on the path to serving over one million children, in sixteen countries, all the while modeling what is possible for those who would like to learn.
I am writing today to celebrate the rollout of our new website. I hope you will find it to be functional, helpful, accurate, beautiful, educational, and inspiring. I also hope you will find it to be share-able! It is my greatest hope that you will find, here, a call both to action and to community. We are looking for friends – more and more, all the time – who can help us assure clean water for children in orphanages, schools, children’s hospitals, rescue homes and shelters.
Much more than a marketing and community-building presence, this website will house a platform for accountability and transparency unlike anything I have ever seen before. Indeed, professional peers in children’s services, global health, water relief and fundraising have said clearly: We have never seen anything like this before!
The platform of which I speak is called ProvingIt, and I expect it to go live on October 17th. When it does, you will have at your finger tips exactly what I have at mine: a way to monitor the work of a child's right, on the ground, including both successes and failures, both challenges and opportunities. Developed initially for our own quality assurance and project management purposes, we decided to make this an open database – rather than a private one – so you can hold us accountable for everything we promise to do.
There is a great deal to discover on this site – stories from the field, discussions of our strategy in each country, this new blog, photos and videos, just to name a few – and I would ask you to take time to look it over. Then come back. We would love to have you spend enough time on our website that you will be able to advise us on content that would make it more useful and engaging for you and your friends.
There is a lot of talk about our innovation in durable water solutions, as well as the new ProvingIt platform, but there is a third area I would like to shine a light on: our culture. The a child's right culture is one of honesty, rigor, teamwork, happiness, play, strategy, accountability, balance, respect and grace. It is not enough for us to simply do our work. Neither is it enough to simply do our work well. We will do our work with excellence and fun – for the kids and for us – and we will endeavor to be brutally honest at all times. As I say to our team members in the field, when they travel to schools, orphanages and hospitals to do the work of a child’s right: “Never have a forgettable experience!” They shall conduct their work in such a way that, when they return later, they are greeted with smiles and joy. We do this work specifically for children, and children deserve far more from us than expertise. They deserve love, dignity, humor and encouragement to strive for the very best.
Will you please let me know what you think of our new website? The comment box below is waiting for you. We will read every comment, and we would love to know how we can be of increasingly excellent service.
Thank you for accompanying a child's right on our journey thus far. We have a tremendous road ahead, and we would love for you to join us!
Eric Stowe
Founder & Executive Director
October 3, 2011
I am proud to say, today, that I am surrounded by a remarkable team who is assuring safe drinking water for well over 200,000 children – and that number is changing all the time. Thanks to lots of smart, dedicated people, as well as remarkably generous philanthropy, we are on the path to serving over one million children, in sixteen countries, all the while modeling what is possible for those who would like to learn.
I am writing today to celebrate the rollout of our new website. I hope you will find it to be functional, helpful, accurate, beautiful, educational, and inspiring. I also hope you will find it to be share-able! It is my greatest hope that you will find, here, a call both to action and to community. We are looking for friends – more and more, all the time – who can help us assure clean water for children in orphanages, schools, children’s hospitals, rescue homes and shelters.
Much more than a marketing and community-building presence, this website will house a platform for accountability and transparency unlike anything I have ever seen before. Indeed, professional peers in children’s services, global health, water relief and fundraising have said clearly: We have never seen anything like this before!
The platform of which I speak is called ProvingIt, and I expect it to go live on October 17th. When it does, you will have at your finger tips exactly what I have at mine: a way to monitor the work of a child's right, on the ground, including both successes and failures, both challenges and opportunities. Developed initially for our own quality assurance and project management purposes, we decided to make this an open database – rather than a private one – so you can hold us accountable for everything we promise to do.
There is a great deal to discover on this site – stories from the field, discussions of our strategy in each country, this new blog, photos and videos, just to name a few – and I would ask you to take time to look it over. Then come back. We would love to have you spend enough time on our website that you will be able to advise us on content that would make it more useful and engaging for you and your friends.
There is a lot of talk about our innovation in durable water solutions, as well as the new ProvingIt platform, but there is a third area I would like to shine a light on: our culture. The a child's right culture is one of honesty, rigor, teamwork, happiness, play, strategy, accountability, balance, respect and grace. It is not enough for us to simply do our work. Neither is it enough to simply do our work well. We will do our work with excellence and fun – for the kids and for us – and we will endeavor to be brutally honest at all times. As I say to our team members in the field, when they travel to schools, orphanages and hospitals to do the work of a child’s right: “Never have a forgettable experience!” They shall conduct their work in such a way that, when they return later, they are greeted with smiles and joy. We do this work specifically for children, and children deserve far more from us than expertise. They deserve love, dignity, humor and encouragement to strive for the very best.
Will you please let me know what you think of our new website? The comment box below is waiting for you. We will read every comment, and we would love to know how we can be of increasingly excellent service.
Thank you for accompanying a child's right on our journey thus far. We have a tremendous road ahead, and we would love for you to join us!
Eric Stowe
Founder & Executive Director
October 3, 2011
