CANA a Wine To Water Publication Vol. 2, Issue 1 Jannuary 2015
CANA Vol. 2, Issue 1 January CANA [KAY-nuh]: A small village in Galilee where Jesus performed the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding. The miraculous but simple gift allowed the community gathered to continue in celebration. We celebrate the gift of clean water by providing for those in need around the world. (John 2:1-11). CANA is Wine to Water s digital monthly publication for you to stay up to date with what we are doing and what we hope to do. Table of Contents Page 3: A Letter from our CEO Page 4: Project Update: Philippines Page 5: Photos from the Philippines Wine to Water is a movement dedicated to providing clean water and sanitation to people in need around the world. We are a 501c3 non-profit aid organization -2-
A Letter from our CEO David Cuthbert, Wine To Water CEO, is the newest addition to the Wine To Water team. David wrote the letter below to thank each supporter who continues to support our clean water work around the world. Please find his words below. My name is David Cuthbert and I have had the honor to be a part of the Wine To Water team for a little over four months. After two and a half years of incredible leadership and service, Allen Peterson stepped down as CEO to take on other projects he is passionate about, and also fill the role as Wine To Water s Chairman of the Board. We are blessed to have him in this capacity and continue to benefit from his wisdom and leadership. Thank you, Allen, for your faithful service! As for me, I am humbled and grateful for the responsibility given to me by the Board to help foster the growth of Wine To Water as its CEO. In this capacity, I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of my observations, perspectives, and thoughts for our future. What was easily observed in a short time of hanging around the office is that Wine To Water has been able to provide clean water and sanitation to over 300,000 people, so far, because the organization is rooted and invested in relationships. These relationships extend in many different directions and include our donors and supporters, our team, our volunteers, our ground partners, and of course, our family of beneficiaries. It is truly an amazing network of people and organizations focused on making the world better one day at a time, one person at a time, through the gift of clean water. With all that has been done, it is easily understood by looking at reported statistics that more than 800 million people in the world still lack access to clean water, and there is much left to do. And, it goes without saying that the community in and around Wine To Water is committed to the task. Even so, nothing can begin without the support of our donors and partners. In this regard, I want to extend a personal thank you for all you have done for supporting our efforts and all you will continue to do. You are truly a blessing to so many. As a result of this continued support, in an effort to provide clean water and sanitation to the next 300,000 we will be focused on expanding and growing the key programs of our organization. This will include an expansion of our volunteer, our church and corporate partnership, our intern, our wine, and our city and student chapter programs. If you are interested in learning more about any of these programs and how you or your organization can participate in supporting them, please contact us. Despite all that is going on though, everything we do will have the singular focus of providing as many people as we can reach with clean water and sanitation. This is our bottom line, and we look forward to growing it. Thank you for your support, prayer, and friendship. God bless, David Cuthbert -3-
Project Update: Philippines Brad Ponack has been working in the Philippines since early December. The need for clean water is very dire as typhoons continue to batter the country. The project update below details Wine To Water s progress through the help of our dedicated ground partners Volunteers of the Visayans and Children of the Coast Foundation. December 31, 2014 In the Philippines, from August 2014 to present, Wine to Water and our ground partners have provided relief to over 7,600 beneficiaries across 32 monitored locations in Cebu and Leyte. Together we have distributed 744 Sawyer water filters, 827 water storage containers, 528 hygiene kits, and successfully constructed four rainwater-harvesting systems. With our ground partner in Leyte, Volunteers for the Visayans, we support ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts for victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda, November 2013. To date we have assisted 2,860 people living within 457 bunkhouses spread across six transitional camps outside of Tacloban. A few of our other distribution sites in Leyte include clinics, elementary schools, and evacuation centers where water filtration, water storage, and rainwater harvesting reaches an additional 1,000 people. With our ground partner in Cebu, Children of the Coast Foundation, we have provided water filtration and clean water storage containers to over 2,500 children within 75 classrooms across eight elementary schools. In addition to assisting elementary schools, our Cebu partner continues to assess and respond to areas affected by storms and typhoons that cause heavy flooding and landslides. Severe weather storms like December s most recent (Queenie, Ruby, and Seniang) often leave many families stranded or displaced and without access to safe drinking water. In response to recent storms, we ve provided water filtration units to 190 far-flung and isolated households in hard to reach communities throughout Cebu, reaching 1,150 people. Currently, in response to Super Typhoon Hagupit/Ruby, December 2014 our Leyte partner is distributing water filtration units and hygiene kits for 180 displaced families in Eastern Samar. Additionally, during January February, 2015 we anticipate assisting an additional 700 Yolanda affected households as they consolidate into yet, another camp. Moving forward into 2015, our plans include continued relief and rehabilitation in Leyte and Cebu. We will also begin our monitoring and evaluation phase as we conduct follow-up activities across all of our 2014 distribution sites. Our project focus will prioritize rainwater-harvesting, well repair, and shallow well protection. We hope to transition from disaster response into a sustainable robust water program with our ground partners in the Philippines. -Brad Brad with Mayor Robburt Librando and Vice Mayor Jerome Librando, at the site of a landslide that blocked the only road leading to the spring which is the main water source for the entire town of Badian. They discussed evacuation plans for the households living around the area affected by the landslide. Typhoon Seniang (most recent) has claimed 53 lives. -4-
Photos from the Philippines Brad Ponack, International Project Coordinator, spent Christmas in the Philippines with CCF. Much of our recent work in the Philippines has been focused on rainwater catchment systems. We also use the Sawyer Filter, a micro-fiber filter, for hard hit areas in immediate need of water. -5-
Our efforts are just a drop in the bucket. But if we hadn t of taken that first step, we wouldn t be anywhere right now. -Doc Hendley @winetowater Follow us on facebook.com/winetowater #winetowater