El Porvenir, Clean Water and Bike Commuting

OK, I’ll get right to the point. El Porvenir is a small, grassroots organization that helps local communities build clean water and sanitation facilities for themselves in the rural areas of Nicaragua. Here's how they get water before El Porvenir gets involved - the women carry it from wherever a source is...

Photo by Patrick Xavier Bresnan

Clean water for people who deserve it - it’s a fundamentally important thing. (They also build washing/shower facilities, healthy cook-stoves and have begun reforestation projects - but it all starts with the water.)

Here's a picture of my Mom and Step-dad about 15 years ago when we went on one of their work trips. My folks were on the board of El Porvenir for many years.


(My folks also dabbled in helping kids over the border into the States to reunite them with their families trapped by INS laws, and protesting things like the School of the Americas - with the arrest record to show for it. They look so innocent, don't they?)

Anyway, if you ever wanted to see your charitable (and tax-deductible) dollar have a direct, tangible, deeply satisfying effect on the lives of others - this is it. Bringing clean water and sanitation facilities to these communities has a life-saving effect on their health, and a profound effect on the lives of the women that are the core of family life. Clean, accessible water and sanitation is a BIG DEAL that we take for granted.

I’ll provide more info below, but here's my brother-can-you-spare-a-dime/bike-related pitch...

We’re having an event at our house on November 6th to provide information about what El Porvenir does (and of course eat and drink and tell stories and goof off). Doors will open at 7, and we'll have a speaker from Nicaragua at about 8:30. We want people who work late (like me) to be able to attend. So there’s that, you are invited to come on the 6th.

If you can’t make it or if you just like additional reasons to part with a little cash, we will be doing our transportation bike riding in November as a fundraiser as well. We ride as a family about 10 miles a day to get to school and work. We are looking for pledges based on our commuting miles in November - probably about 200 miles - rain or shine! You can set a limit to your contribution or do it any way that works for you. Email me with your pledge and I’ll follow up with any more info you need. We’ll love you for it.

Please RSVP to me at bikedate(at)me(dot)com if you plan on coming so we can be ready, and we'll send you the specifics. Also, please come even if you can’t give right now. We mean that, we want to see/meet you and share what El Porvenir does more than anything. You can even just stop by for a drink and then head off to that exclusive Hollywood party that you didn't invite us to!

The bottom line is, this is a great organization. Very low overhead, and your hard-earned dollar will make life better for men, women & kids. It’s that simple. (We set up Quicken to send a small monthly check - that works for us.)

OK, here's a short video about El Porvenir:




Here’s the link to El Porvenir's site.

Friend them on Facebook here!

That's it. We hope to see you on the 6th! RSVP! RSVP! bikedate(at)me(dot)com