HUB in Nairobi, Kenya

August, 2008 — Child of Destiny Project:

Fred Mango, Spryte Loriano & Charlie Gay in Nairobi, Kenya, August 2008

Here is Fred Mango from RainCatcher Kenya with HUB (Humanity Unites Brilliance) founders Spryte Loriano and Charlie Gay getting ready to install new RainCatchers at the Jubilee Children’s Center in Nairobi.

Harvesting natural rainwater to quench the world’s thirst

Starbucks is a good model for what we are attempting to do with RainCatcher – 11 stores 20 years ago – today over 16,000. Starbucks generates billions of dollars in sales by selling an ordinary product, coffee, in an extraordinary way.

We are proposing to do the same with drinking water. From Maui to Nairobi to Santa Monica people will be able to enjoy a local product. And every time they do this, someone less fortunate gets a drink as well. After people become familiar with the taste and quality and environmental positives of harvesting and using rainwater they will then be able to turn their houses into RainCatchers and, with the coming of the next rains, go from being a water consumer to a water producer. RainCatcher households will have cases of their own glass bottles to fill from a tap in their kitchen — and keep a full case in the car at all times — and the empties go through the dishwasher and get refilled.

Simply by turning the umbrella upside down we have already begun the water revolution here in California — with plans to bring bottled rainwater to every corner of the earth. Our first RainCatcher Bottling Plants are being designed right now for sites in the Santa Monica Mountains and Kenya. Already, we have people in other states around the country waiting to become franchise partners. People all around the world are waiting to work with us on this project.

Throughout Africa and India and China it’s a matter of life-and-death.

That’s why we are expanding our efforts now. When it comes to rainwater the cup is neither half empty or half full, its overflowing. With a great sense of joy we are catching and sharing this amazing abundant natural resource.

Jack Rose & Mark Armfield, 2008 — the year of gratitude.

Water is Life — Malibu Times article

Malibu Times article, Water is life — published: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 1:40 PM PST

Water is life

Jack Rose’s RainCatcher.org waters the world.

By Ben Marcus / Special to The Malibu Times

An Nov. 10 2006 L.A. Times story cites that dirty water is the second-leading cause of death among children globally.

Malibu resident Jack Rose believes the next worldwide resource battle will be about water. However, if collected properly, there is more than enough water for most of the planet.

Inspired by his travels throughout the world, and for the taste of what he calls a magic elixir, rainwater, Rose is developing systems for capturing and storing rainwater that can be used by future generations of Californians and underdeveloped villages all around the world.

Rose, 58, has been developing what he calls the RainCatcher since the late ’90s, when he was inspired to capture rainwater by trips to two of the wettest places on earth: Kauai and Mendocino.

“In the late ’90s, I arrived on Kauai in the middle of an El Niño winter,” Rose said. “In a rental car wandering around the island, my first response to warm, sparkling tropical rain was to pull the car over, grab a big stainless steel soup pot from our gear and place it on the hood. I continued to catch and drink this elixir all winter. I would stand on the balcony bug-eyed with Einstein hair, raise a glass and toast this bizarre discovery.”

In the winter of 2002, Rose was living in Mendocino, which is green and lush like Kauai.

“I rigged up rain gutters on a cabin in the redwoods and caught many gallons,” Rose said. “This is all I drank for an entire winter–not from necessity, but from curiosity, passion, glee. Aside from the pure fun of catching rain, it is the best tasting substance I’ve ever ingested. Truly a chalice full of delight. One day, while holding up a glass, I realized that over a billion people on the earth can’t enjoy this simple act. What I came to take for granted was not available to many, yet, at times, India and Africa are visited by opulent monsoons, just like Kauai and Mendocino. Right there I decided to design simple ways to catch rain everywhere.”

Knowing that up to five million people around the world die from tainted water every year, Rose became possessed with the idea of capturing and storing water from the skies.

“Like the Richard Dreyfuss character in ‘Close Encounters’ making mashed potato ‘Devil’s Tower’ sculptures,” Rose said. “I began my work.”

A self-taught engineer who worked in construction for many years, Rose found the model for his system in the Golden State.

“I grew up along the coast of California with a mountain range, the Sierra Nevada, in my back yard,” Rose said. “Every year, like clockwork, moisture floats in from the Pacific, hits the Sierra, and drops an abundance of rain and snow. The mountains store precious water in the frozen state for a few months, then release it one drop at a time all throughout the long, dry season. For those billions who are chronically thirsty, all that’s missing is a means to catch and store each season’s rainfall. With the RainCatcher project I aim to bring the mountains to the people, tilting the playing field in their favor. Every possible structure can act as a mini-mountain and catch a lot of water.”

To start his project, Rose went to where the need for water was greatest. In April of 2003, he was invited to join “Water For Children Africa” in a humanitarian journey to set up water storage tanks for schools.

“While traveling through Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, I designed RainCatchers that people could cob together with local materials,” Rose said. “In the hill country, where every home grows their own food, I showed farmers how they could spread plastic up the hill, berm the sides to make a funnel and direct the next rainfall into storage tanks. I worked with a tent manufacturer in Nairobi to create RainCatcher tents that, instead of the middle rising to a peak, it sloped to a waiting tank in the center. Everywhere I visited in Africa I was greeted with, ‘Water is life, thank you for being here.’ Everyone wants clean water. They have the skill and the will, but lack the resources. I came back knowing that my job is to tell the RainCatcher story, to come up with ways to bring water tanks and filters that require no electricity or moving parts to remote villages and crowded townships throughout Africa.”

Closer to home, Rose is applying RainCatcher to Dolphin’s Run, a Malibu home that will get all its power and hot water from the sun, and most of its water from above.

“Malibu averages about 15 inches of rain,” Rose said. “The formula I use is the square footage of the roof area, divided by two, multiplied by annual rainfall equals the gallons you get for every inch of rain. This house has 5,000 square feet so that adds up to 2,500 gallons of storage a year for every inch of rain. That makes 30,000 gallons of water a year. This house will have a 10,000 gallon storage container buried in the backyard, and that will cover the need for landscaping.”

Rose’s next project is for a village called Bosiango in Western Kenya. The whole story began with an email plea from a David N. Ogachi, who told Rose of the water-borne diseases that his community, especially the women and children, were suffering from, to help install safe and clean piped water.

That began a long back and forth with Rose by e-mail, which can be read on the www.raincatcher.org Web site. Rose is hoping to bring a truckload of six RainCatcher tanks to the village, which will allow them to capture and store 8,000 gallons of water.

“Right now they are getting their water from contaminated streams,” Rose said.

Rose is putting his Miata car up for auction to raise funds for the trip as a part of the effort to install rain-catching systems in places where it’s a matter of life and death.

“This is the real ‘Survivor’,” Rose said. “So I’m thinking about the ‘Global Garage Sale’ where people here offer some of the extra stuff laying around America to be transformed into water storage tanks for Africa. A jet ski here, piano there, etc. How many boats are sitting unsailed in America’s marinas? There’s probably enough stuff here to provide clean drinking water for the entire world. The exchange rate is very good, the reward is great. I’m offering my Miata as the first example of this concept.”

More information about the RainCatcher project can be obtained by visiting the Web site, www.raincatcher.org.

Los Angeles Times article: A global clean-water shortage, November 10, 2006.

Bosiango

RainCatcher — Kenya: Harvesting natural rainwater to quench the world’s thirst.

Subject: Help us Have Clean and Safe Water

Moses Nyagaka Okioga, Fred Mango, and David Nyabuto Ogachi in Kenya

On Nov 11, 2006, at 12:15 AM, David Nyabuto Ogachi wrote:

Dear sir/madam,
My community in Bosiango is suffering. Many people in this community suffer from water borne diseases, particularly women and children. After carrying the needs assessment I came up with the idea of starting a project of piped , clean, and safe water. Please could you assist?
Yours Sincerely,
David N Ogachi.

Hi David,
Where is Bosiango? Are you near Nairobi? I helped install rainwater water storage tanks at some of the primary schools in the Mua hills. The tanks were from Kentainers in Nairobi. Do you have buildings that would be suitable for catching rain?
My site is raincatcher.org
yours in friendship,
Jack Rose

On Nov 17, 2006, at 2:33 AM, David Nyabuto Ogachi wrote:

Dear sir,
I do not live near Nairobi, I live in Western Kenya, right on the floor of the Great Rift Valley where water is like gold — the driest area. I became interested in this issue of water because of the situation in which my community finds itself. Rivers in this area are seasonal, full during the rainy season, only to go dry as the rains recede (like the present condition in East Africa today). Every one is affected yes, but women and children are worst hit. Children who go to school do so without doing proper washing — you know the consequence of this. The less water which is available is brown with mud and dirt, therefore quite unsafe for both drink and general use. PLEASE HELP. Yes we have houses that have roofs capable of harvesting a large volume of water yet the people lack the financial capacity to purchase the tanks. We need tanks in schools that number almost 10 and other social gathering points.

Hi David,
We can get tanks from Kampala or Arusha. Which city are you closest too? I’ve included some maps. Can you show your location? You can also email photos if you have a digital camera. I have a filter that you can put the dirtiest river water through and get clean drinking water. It’s called a slow-sand filter and you can read about it by going to raincatcher.org and reading the RainCatcher Peru article. There you can click on the link for Blue Future Filters – bluefuturefilters.com – and find out about this amazing system. It is the highest rated by the UN and W.H.O. Also a good filter can be found at Katadyn.com

Two sources of water — the rain and the river. With tanks set up on school buildings, we collect and store fresh water when it rains. When the supply runs out over long periods of no rain, you can put river water through the filter and get clean water to drink. I can work on fund raising here if you can organize people on your end to help set these up. Is there an NGO established in or around your area that we can work with? Let me know. The goal will be to have systems in place before the arrival of the next rainy season. Can you tell me when the next rainy season begins?
Yours in friendship,
Jack Rose

Dear sir,
Thank you so much for your e-mail.
I live in the southern part of province 6 at the border with province 4 I think the closest city might be Kampala. Electricity is so bad today – it is on and off – my cyber cafes are almost off. Please reply soon.
Yours in friendship,
David N.Ogachi

Dear Sir,
Because of power problems I was forgetting another important thing. As a matter of fact I already have people on the ground who are working to install water system in the schools and social gathering centers I mentioned, however the cost of doing this is skyrocketing. We have an NGO in our area called Dano agency which I think would help. The next rain season is just beginning. I hope to hear from you soon.
Yours in friendship,
David N.Ogachi.

Hi David,
Can you please give me an email contact with someone from Dano?
Or have them contact me. Any photos will be helpful,
Yours in friendship,
Jack Rose

Email to Kentainers in Nairobi

Water Storage Tanks – fredmango@kentainers.com

KENYA
Kentainers Limited
Embakasi Road, Off Airport North Road
P.O Box 42168,GPO Nairobi, Kenya.
Tel: (254)-(20) 823513-5,823442-4
(Hotline) (254)-(20)-6750993,6750984
Fax: 823927,331502

Hi All,
A couple years ago I helped install water storage tanks at schools in the Mua Hills above Nairobi. I worked with a group from California called ‘Water For Children – Africa’. The tanks were supplied by Kentainers. See photos. I am contacting your company now in regards to an upcoming project in Bosiango. Below is the email correspondence that describes what David and I are attempting to do. Can you give me prices for water storage tanks delivered to Bosiango? How long a drive is it from Nairobi to Bosiango? Would it be better to ship from Crestanks in Kampala? I plan to work with an NGO in your region. Do you have a recommendation? Any information and images will be helpful,
Thanks,
Jack Rose

On Nov 20, 2006, at 9:32 AM, fredmango@kentainers.com wrote:
You will be responded to within 12hours . Thank you once again for your Interest and Concern about our products and services. Regards, System Administrator

Hi Fred,
Here’s a copy of the latest email exchange with Moses & David in Bosiango.
Thanks,
Jack

On Nov 21, 2006, at 4:43 AM, Moses Nyagaka wrote:

Dear sir, I am MOSES NYAGAKA OKIOGA , I am a writer. Some of my works are on sale through Amazon.com – just log to site and ask for RELEGATED TO THE WILD. I am 46 years old Kenyan, a father of three. What i am proud of is that I am a friend to people. I am always eager to help — I am told JACK ROSE has got the same trait in his personality…We have an NGO here, D.A.N.O Agencies, which helps people who have WATER problem. David N.Ogachi told me to contact you. At the moment we are making an effort to assist people, few of them to put up containers to catch the on going rain — but we lack funds. Regrettably we have never thought wise to photograph whatever we are doing, sorry, therefore we will dispatch someone to Nairobi to buy a digital camera. No one is selling the thing here. Thank you for offering the containers they will make a big difference. To assist install some of these tanks we have here I humbly request you to send some funds (if they are available) so that these friends of ours would benefit. Should you find yourself in a position of doing it Please use either MONEYGRAM or WESTERN MONEY Transfer cashed in KISII KENYA
Yours sincerely, Moses Nyagaka Okioga.

Hi Moses,
Thanks for writing. I have an email into Kentainers. When I hear back I will get a contact person for you to meet with when you go to Nairobi. You can pick out the water tanks that are right for your use. Have pictures taken of you with the tanks and have Kentainers email them to me. Also I need images of you and David and others with the houses, schools and other buildings that will be getting tanks. You need to take some measurements and let me know how many rain gutters you will need. I will have Kentainers deliver the gutters with the tanks and put the name RainCatcher on all the tanks. After they are set up I will need you to email photos of you and friends standing with the new water tanks. Then I will come to take more pictures and to visit other sites that need RainCatchers. The idea is to use each project to help create the next project, causing a chain-reaction until everyone has clean water to drink. This, of course could never happen without responsible people doing all the ground work on your end.

Thank you for helping. If you get to Kentainers soon, ask for Fred Mango. He is the one who emailed me. You will need to tell him exactly how many tanks and gutters you need so he can set up a business structure with me to get this all going. We will all work together to bring clean water to your families. The rain is freely given in such abundance. All we have to do is receive it. I look forward to doing that with you and David and your whole community.

I am a writer, too. When I come to Kenya we can trade stories.
Until then we will catch rain.
Yours in friendship.
Jack Rose

Hi Fred,
Below is a copy of an email from Moses and my reply

On Nov 22, 2006, at 2:36 AM, Moses Nyagaka wrote:
Hi, jack,
Thank you for writing. We would like to travel to Nairobi on Friday, please get the contact whom we are going to meet. I have made the measurements of the rain gutters and I have come up with the following: 10 schools – 2,400ft; 2 churches – 360ft; 8 families – 480 feet. You may be aware (because you have been to Kenya) that the type of soil we have here is hostile to plastics. Therefore the concrete base could be needed. My organization has run out of funds. It is good to have our pictures but due the fact that we do not have a digital camera we will send them once we buy it from Nairobi. Yes I am responsible, in fact I must be, because of the past experiences.
Yours in friendship,
Moses Nyagaka Okioga.

Hi Moses & David,

Below is the Kentainers contact:

I will pass on the gutter info to Fred and ask him to take pictures of all three of you in front of the tanks you pick out. He can email them to me. I need these for storytelling here. I plan to raise funds in January and come to Kenya in February.

I am a rain catcher. I will tell your story and have people purchase water storage tanks directly from Kentainers for your community. After we have successfully completed your project we will use it as a model for how people can work to catch clean water for drinking, one village at a time. We will want to start a chain reaction. If, starting in January, we could help to create one water project per month — that would be my goal. I think we can do it.

Another way to build a foundation for the water tanks is leveling the ground, placing an iron ring on the level spot and filling the ring with sand. I will ask Fred Mango if his company can supply one ring per tank. The idea is for everything needed (foundation ring, gutters & tank to be delivered at the same time. Set-up in one day. Then we dance when the rains come.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Jack Rose

Chain Reaction

Hi Jack,
What are your plans for X-mas? I’ll be in LA December 24 to the 27th.
D.

Hi D,
Yea, we can possibly get together on the 26th. Call me on x-mas and we’ll set it up.

I’m currently writing a story called ‘Chain Reaction’, about noticing the various directions the dominoes fall with every little, and big, decision we make. Below is an example. See you soon, Jack

On Nov 30, 2006, at 8:56 AM, Humphrey Blackburn wrote:

Hey Jack. I just received a Google alert which referred me to your website. How cool is that! Looks like a good project, I’m looking forward to participating. I am still snowed in here- about 2 feet of snow since saturday. But it is changing today. Talk to you soon. Regards, H

Humphrey Blackburn, President, Blue Future Filters, Inc.
Blackburn & Associates
Sustainable Water Treatment for the World

The future is here, it’s just not widely distributed yet. — William Gibson

Hi Jack,
That’s very great. I would suggest I meet David and Moses first, have the requirements and tanks of their choice. Then, from there, I will be able to furnish you with the costing and the business plan. However, I have to thank you for your kindness and willingness to support this community, and may you be blessed.
Ragards, Fred Mango – Systems Administrator

Hi Jack
Thanks for the story.
Can I forward to a friend in South Africa originally from Kenya?
Happy Thanks giving to you too! See you soon! Many blessings,
lisa

Hi Jack, Wow! What an amazing story! I read the chain of emails and I definitely will keep Bosiango’s water conditions, as well as all the other places lacking water, in prayer. Jack you are an amazing man and if anybody can spearhead this project into a miracle blessing of water abundance for all….it would be you!
All the Best, Molly

Hi J
This is Awesome…Have you been able to make contact with Miguel in Lisbon?
Absolute Abundance is taking such shape, there is still a lot of work involved in setting the foundation, but the soaring of the project is limitless… Once I’ve identified the areas that need the Abundance, the RainCatchers are part of the Absolute… The sustainable… I also have another friend that lives in the Congo, and I would love to introduce the RainCatcher system to him too… Please let me know how things are working with Miguel, as they already have projects happening in Africa…love t (from South Africa)

Hi Jack,
I met David and Moses today. We have taken photos as you requested. They have told me they proposed a 20 tanks project to you, in regards to that they have chosen two 24,000 litres tank and the remaining 18 they need you to choose for them between 10,000 litres and 16,000litres tanks since you are the one who knows the budget you would like to work with.

I would propose a concrete foundation since it’s a long lasting solution. Find below the quotation of their selections.

24,000litres (5217 gal) – $230,000 KSHS $3,200 USD
16,000litres (3478 GAL) – $155,000 KSHS $2,200 USD
10,000litres (2174 Gal) – $95,000 KSHS $1,300 USD

Transportation costs – 2 Tanks per trip @ kshs.45,000 = $640 USD

N/B: Note that the above prices are VAT inclusive apart from the transportation costs.

The transport within Nairobi we usually do for free but since Bosiango is more than 500km (300 miles)away from Nairobi so the cost is involved. For 20 tanks to bosiango this will be 10trips so you can do your calculations right from the above quote depending on how many tanks to be delivered.

Costing of the supply and installation of rain water gutters, it is inclusive of all required fittings, down pipes, unions, rafter brackets, tangit…etc:

Please note, these prices include for supply and fixing in well served districts and locations. If you require them to be sent and fixed to a remote location, you may factor up the prices by 40% to ensure satisfactory supply and installation done to a professional level.

I have also attached some of the photos we took both three of us.Please feel free to ask any query. The tanks will be labeled raincatcher as you requested. Thanking you in advance and looking forward forward for a greater business with you.
Regards, Fred Mango – Systems Administrator

Hi David & Moses & Fred,
I received the pictures from Kentainers. Thank you, they are really helpful. I am now putting the Bosiango story on my site. You can tell others to go to raincatcher.org to read about our project. It The story will be updated as we go along. I am working on some low-cost designs so that you can hopefully begin collecting rainwater soon while we work on raising funds for the larger storage tanks.Go to this link on the Kentainers site: http://www.kentainers.com/kent/downloads/Aquapic.pdf and see pictures of the smaller Aquatanks with the sand + iron ring foundation. I will work with Fred to get some smaller tanks that are easy to move around and don’t need concrete foundations. I will be sending email photos of some simple RainCatchers made with plastic tarps tied to the overhangs of buildings and sloping down into a small tank. The idea is to get some materials to you as soon as possible so you can take advantage of the rainy season that is already under way. The tarps are taken down when it isn’t raining, so they stay clean, then set up again when the next rain starts falling. This is a very clean and inexpensive way to catch rain.

In April of 2002 we purchased a dozen tanks for ‘Water For Children – Africa’. They were the 6000 liter model and we paid $350. US dollars each. Are these still available for this price? Or would the Aquatank be the better way to go. We were able to get five tanks on each truck. At this stage I am just exploring all possibilities to get the best price per gallon. The cost for the 2002 project was .27 US cents per gallon – these quoted above come out to be .55 cents per gallon. I’m open to all suggestions.

I want to set up a RainCatcher account at Kentainers. As I begin fund raising I will have people transfer funds directly to Kentainers. When we have enough for a truck load, then the first shipment is made. In January I will come take pictures and walk and break bread. It is good that Kentainers is in four countries. What we accomplish in Bosiango can then be duplicated in other communities.

If $200 Billion is available worldwide for cosmetics, then there must be plenty for clean drinking water. This is my goal, however long it takes. Water for all.
Yours in friendship,
Jack

African Valentine

Notice of travels in Africa: I’ll be in Kenya for two weeks, from 2/14/07 to 2/28/07.

In Africa my work is to catch rain, elsewhere it is to light fires, to inspire people to help secure reliable sources of clean drinking water for everyone in need, especially children, who are most at risk to waterborne diseases. If you are moved to give a valentine to Kenya, there are three components needed for the successful completion of this project: Water Storage tanks $500-each; Katadyn water filters-$250 each and rain gutters-$250 per structure. We will set up as many RainCatchers as we receive funding for. To participate email jack@raincatcher.org and I’ll give directions for electronic funds transfer to Kentainers in Nairobi.

Remembering my last trip to Africa
I have never met a happier or more alive people. The ones who appear to have little have something we often lack — a sparkle, a smile, an openness, an ease, a faith, a way, all connected to some deeper well. To be there, to live there, in friendship, is like coming home. I went to Africa thinking I had something they needed. I returned with the knowledge that it is us who need Africa. My new pastime, therefore, is simply to encourage everyone I know and love, and the new friends I meet, to somehow get to Africa. It’s impossible to visit Africa and not be changed for the better. I will do what I can to help people have a safe and fulfilling journey to Africa, Africa will do the rest. Consider this the first installment of your invitation to Africa.

Average annual rainfall

March/April/May: Kenya/Tanzania/Uganda – long rain = 19 inches

Nov/Dec/Jan : Kenya/Tanzania/Uganda – short rain = 8 inches

Nov through March: Johannesburg/South Africa – rainy season = 17 inches

The East African equatorial highlands include Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the three countries that surround Lake Victoria, headwaters of the Nile. This region enjoys two rainy seasons: the long rain is March/April/May; the short rain occurs in Nov/Dec/Jan.

Johannesburg’s rainy season is summer, from Nov to March.

Average rainfall:

Kenya: long rain – March-140mm…April-191mm…May-155mm
short rain – November-86mm…December-102mm

Johannesburg: summer – Nov-117mm…Dec-105mm…Jan-125mm…Feb-125mm…Mar-91mm

RainCatcher — water for California and beyond

Water for California

I have a solution to California’s, and the world’s, water woes. It’s called the RainCatcher.

In California, and throughout the Western U.S., the demand for water is rapidly outpacing supply. Current and future water needs for home and business owners, as well as for agriculture and industry, is so great that state government is desperately searching for new sources to tap, including adding six feet to the height of Shasta Dam. Massive, centralized infrastructure projects, paid for by increasing taxes and water bills, will not come close to meeting the relentless thirst of an ever expanding population. It is clear that for the next many decades, water will be the defining issue for California and the neighboring western states. What if every house in California caught and stored 10,000 gallons of water each season? That would add up to billions of gallons that wouldn’t have to be imported and purchased.

The California RainCatcher project will demonstrate how easy it is for homes; commercial and industrial buildings; municipal and public structures (office buildings, parking structures, etc) to be converted into rainwater collection centers. In this way each new and existing building can become a valuable source of water for landscaping. This would save billions of gallons each year. The water is free. Catching rain is easy. And plants love it, finding it preferable to chlorinated municipal water. Woodie Guthrie sang, “California is the Garden of Eden”. RainCatcher aims to nourish that garden by developing a new relationship with an old resource: rain. As with the installations we are doing in Africa, once a RainCatcher is in place, when the rains come no one is complaining, everyone is grateful. One at a time, as people get the concept of catching and using rainwater, the first question posed is, “I wonder why we waited so long to do this?” The wait is over, Raincatcher is here.

Where To Start

I am producing the first RainCatcher prototype for use along the coast of Northern California. My rainwater harvesting system will benefit both Californians and people in developing nations. Here’s how people in America can help their counterparts in Africa: Convert your house, garage or new building into a RainCatcher structure and 10% of the cost will go into the World RainCatcher Capital Pool. For every $1,000 spent on collecting rain here, $100 will go to setting up RainCatchers in Africa, where millions of people lack a consistent, clean source of water for drinking and irrigation. Each RainCatcher in America can help create a beneficiary RainCatcher house, school or medical clinic in Africa. This abundant resource will not only be enjoyed by millions here, but also shared with millions in developing countries. We have the capability of providing ample clean water for our own families and for others worldwide.

Manufacturers in Nairobi are making the tents and tanks needed for catching and storing rainwater for drinking and irrigation: Kentainers makes water storage tanks; Tarpo makes the RainCatcher tents.

Let it rain!

Water For Africa

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.

RainCatcher Kenya

Greetings from Germany. Our Africa adventure was a complete success. A manufacturing company in Nairobi is making RainCatchers to be available with 6000liter water tanks for all of Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda next, and South Africa. Everyone wants one. First focus is getting clean water for children via schools and medical clinics. Next to set up community RainCatchers all around poor townships, villages and settlements. Millions are in immediate need of clean drinking water. No time to waste. Upon my return I will be doing fundraising for the next trip (Sept/Oct.)

In Machakos, about an hour out of Nairobi, we set up nine water tanks at primary schools scattered throughout the beautiful Mua Hills. There are dozens more schools just in one district, but this was all we could afford on this trip. Hundreds of children sang for us, in gratitude of clean water. School is beloved by all. More details and stories to come. I am happy, healthy and working on my most inspired designs to date.

Invitation to Africa

On May 10 I return to California to continue fundraising for the next trip to Africa. Many more schools need rain collection and storage systems. I plan to travel with Water For Children Africa on their next big adventure. My host in Nairobi, Florence Makau, and her building partner, are the ones continuing rainwater collection work in Kenya. I can raise funds in Europe and America and send to them and they can get the systems set up immediately at the remaining schools that still need water. We don’t have to wait another day. In Africa my work is to catch rain, in America it is to light fires, to inspire people to help secure reliable sources of clean drinking water, especially for the children who are more at risk to waterborne diseases.

I have never met a more happier or alive people. The ones who appear to have little have something we lack, a sparkle, a smile, an openness, an ease, a faith, a way, all connected to some deeper well. To be there, to live there, in friendship, is a blessing. I went to Africa thinking I had something they needed. I am returning with the knowledge that it is us who need Africa. My new pastime, therefore, is simply to encourage everyone I know and love, and the new friends I meet, to somehow get to Africa. Return to the garden, where we are not the gardner, but the flower. I will do what I can to help people have a safe and fulfilling journey to Africa, Africa will do the rest. Consider this the first installment of your invitation to Africa.