Petra's Countdown

My dearest family and friends!!

As you all know, it has been little over 9 months since Jeff left for his first deployment to Iraq. For me, it has been nine slow months, but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!! He should be coming back sometime in early January and if we are really lucky, maybe even for the holidays [fingers crossed:-)].

So, while I patiently await for his return, I decided to start my little countdown and do something good for the world at the same time.

Most of us don't spend too much time thinking about water because it's everywhere we go. But for a billion people on the planet, it's not. Millions of women and children have to walk hours each day to get water from muddy ponds and rivers. And much of that water is infested with parasites and leeches. In fact, 80% of all diseases in the world are caused by unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation.

When I learned that only $20 can give someone clean, safe water for two decades, I decided to "launch" this campaign. My goal is to raise $5,000 to build a water well in a village in Ethiopia and I really, really hope that, with your help, I can do it by this holiday season!

I've never actually been dying of thirst. And if you're like me, you'd like to see a world where no one does.

Any donation will help! In return, I pledge to organize a BIG Welcome Home party for Jeff so you can all join me in celebrating his return and hopefully OUR new water well that will transform the lives of over 200 people in rural Ethiopia.