It doesn’t happen often, but it happened today. The two worlds I live in collided into one, thanks to an 11 year old boy named Bekele†. As I live in Seattle yet also travel to our field offices, it often makes me feel like I’m living in two distinct worlds. On the surface, there are few similarities between these worlds – especially when you just pay attention to the sights, sounds and smells. It can be easy to forget how interconnected the two worlds are. And even easier to forget that we can be striving for the same quality of life and values in each world.
I met Bekele while visiting one of the orphanages where we had previously installed a water purification system. He has been living in this orphanage as long as he can remember. He also attends the school next to the orphanage, where a child’s right is planning to install a new water project in December.
In perfect English, and a friendly voice, Bekele asked where I was from. His eyes lit up when I said I lived in Seattle. He quickly told me that, in just a few weeks, he would be moving to Seattle to live with his newly adoptive family. So, there it was – not profound – but two worlds collided. Bekele and I would soon be living in the same city, and surely he will experience what it’s like to have a reliable source of clean water to drink at home and at school.
Fortunately, starting two years ago, Bekele has had clean water to drink at his orphanage home in Addis Ababa. But he still doesn’t have that at his school. All of this struck home to me again the core value and primary motivator of all of us at a child's right (including our generous donor community) – that we believe that every child has a right to clean drinking water. We seek to assure the same quality of water to children in Ethiopia (or any other country) that we provide to our own children. Thank you Bekele for reminding me of that. I hope to see you in Seattle soon. Who knows, maybe we’ll even share a glass of water together again.
- Aaron Walling, Water Program Manager, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 2011
†Name changed for privacy
I met Bekele while visiting one of the orphanages where we had previously installed a water purification system. He has been living in this orphanage as long as he can remember. He also attends the school next to the orphanage, where a child’s right is planning to install a new water project in December.
In perfect English, and a friendly voice, Bekele asked where I was from. His eyes lit up when I said I lived in Seattle. He quickly told me that, in just a few weeks, he would be moving to Seattle to live with his newly adoptive family. So, there it was – not profound – but two worlds collided. Bekele and I would soon be living in the same city, and surely he will experience what it’s like to have a reliable source of clean water to drink at home and at school.
Fortunately, starting two years ago, Bekele has had clean water to drink at his orphanage home in Addis Ababa. But he still doesn’t have that at his school. All of this struck home to me again the core value and primary motivator of all of us at a child's right (including our generous donor community) – that we believe that every child has a right to clean drinking water. We seek to assure the same quality of water to children in Ethiopia (or any other country) that we provide to our own children. Thank you Bekele for reminding me of that. I hope to see you in Seattle soon. Who knows, maybe we’ll even share a glass of water together again.
- Aaron Walling, Water Program Manager, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 2011
†Name changed for privacy
