Recently, the World Health Organization estimated that 5 million people die annually from water-borne diseases. The Big Question: How can we help to bring safe, clean drinking water to the billions of people around the world who are chronically thirsty? In many places, once the rain hits the ground it becomes too contaminated to use. The challenge, therefore, is to catch the water before it touches the ground and store enough of it to last throughout the long dry season.

The rainwater that falls from the sky is unlimited — why should our capacity to catch, store and use it be limited? We are preparing for a second trip to Africa to catch rain. My first trip took me to South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania in April of 2004.  I traveled through Africa with a group headed by Vickie Butcher, called Water for Children Africa. Starting in San Diego, California, our first stop was Johannesburg, South Africa where we spent a week visiting settlements and hospitals delivering supplies for mothers and children with HIV/Aids. Most of these sites will be receiving RainCatchers on future trips. Then we visited Kenya and Tanzania, setting up water storage tanks to provide clean drinking water for schools in the Mua Hills north of Nairobi.

Many people, back in the States and in Africa, contributed time, creativity and resources  to make this work possible. Every step along the way we were received with open arms and high hopes. Securing a reliable source of clean water is the first order of business. Everywhere we went I was invited to travel out to rural schools, orphanages, farms and clinics to design RainCatchers. As I toured a wide variety of locations and situations another need  became obvious: Shade! After the rain comes the hot sun, then the big RainCatcher tent  becomes a giant parasol, providing shaded gathering places. In most poor areas there are no trees, no shelter from the sun. People will be able to have a clean drink of water and a little bit of shade. While  in Africa I  worked with  suppliers to carry the necessary tanks and tents for rainwater harvesting so that from  America we can raise funds and, through email, purchase more RainCatchers and have them transported to new locations. These will be set up by the truck drivers who deliver the tanks. The networks are already well established. An eager workforce awaits our green light.

The beauty, color and texture of Africa is indescribable, the people as friendly and open as I have ever met. Each country is very distinct from the others. South Africa is a perfect home base , reminds me of California, but more European. Very cosmopolitan, diverse, and hopeful in the face of extreme adversity. Remember, this ancient place is home to a ten year old democracy. The window for change is right now. Progressive ideas have a chance to bloom here. It is exciting to be a part of a story so historically rich and also open to advancement.

I wrote this story from an Internet cafe in Arusha, Tanzania, on the high plains near Kilimanjaro. After traveling to the edge of the earth I found myself in the middle of the world, meeting a novel’s worth of interesting characters from everywhere. The equatorial highlands of East Africa are tropical at 6000ft elevation, blending the best of mountains and jungle. It is truly a world crossroads, a wild west with Marco Polos and Maasai and every imaginable color and culture, all blended together.

The purpose of upcoming travel to Africa, along with actually setting up RainCatchers, is to document the installation process and display it on the Internet so  people in need of safe drinking water all around the world can learn how to make their own. Built in a day, using local materials, the RainCatcher will become an immediate source of drinking water. Overnight, with the first rains, a remedy for the age old problem of inadequate and dangerous water supplies can be implemented. While it may take years and decades, if ever, for new dams and delivery infrastructure to arrive on the scene, people can begin today to develop their own pure water supply, at very little expense, with no bureaucratic or logistical road blocks.

Let it rain.