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.

Contact: Sharon Ross

“Thank you for the two water tanks that you gave us. Last year people were suffering from typhoid because of bad water from rivers, but now we are drinking clean water because of you …” Kamuthanga Primary School, Machakos, Kenya 11/6/03

Students taking shoebox kits and quilts to African HIV moms; also building “RainCatchers” — a pilot born from the San Diego wildfires.

“The challenges facing children in Africa are devastating,” said San Diego World Affairs Council President Vickie Butcher, executive director of Water for Children Africa. “A growing number of children there have been orphaned by the AIDS pandemic or are themselves HIV positive; 30,000 die daily from lack of water and simple sanitation; and extended drought means millions more are starving.”

To help battle two major problems facing Africa — the water shortage and AIDS — Butcher is leading a team of San Diegans to Africa April 1–18. They will stay with families in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Botswana. This is Butcher’s seventh trip to provide interactions that promote cultural awareness and reduce cultural misunderstanding. “It’s important for people to experience worlds they’ve only heard about,” she said.

Team members include Encanto residents Janice Groves-Todd, Soroptimist South Bay President, and school counselor Keashonna Christopher; Rev. Alyce Smith-Cooper of Golden Hill; and University City resident Michael McCraw, President & CEO of the California Southern Small Business Loan Agency.

In addition, students will participate in the trip to help form a cultural bridge linking America’s youth with Africa’s youth, Butcher said. Students selected for the team are: Heather Elkins of La Mesa, Grossmont College Rotaract VP; Golden Hill residents Diona Johnson, Futures High School Interact President; and her brother James Cunningham, a San Diego High School freshman; La Jollan Carlos McCraw, a High Tech High School sophomore; and Kelly Ross of North Park, Grossmont College Rotaract President.

Butcher, a member of the California State Water Authority Board, also will be joined by self-described “rain farmer” Jack Rose in a first-ever RainCatcher (www.raincatcher.org) project for Africa. In an ironic twist, the team learned about the water expert while he was in Julian to help a friend rebuild following the October wildfires.

“Every eight seconds someone dies of contaminated water — that’s five million deaths a year according to the World Health Organization,” Rose said. “A recent meeting of 10 countries in Africa identified improved collection of rainwater as an important effort to ease this terrible problem.” The team will be piloting Rose’s RainCatcher invention — a harvesting structure that can be set up in a day, at minimal cost, using materials at hand. “There are many ways to catch the rain. Any existing structure or freestanding tent can be converted to become a rainwater factory, ready to provide thousands of gallons of clean drinking water,” Rose said.

With generous support from across the nation, the team also will fund water tanks for schools in the Machakos region of Kenya. Each tank ensures a safe, sustainable water supply and improve health conditions for 300-500 children.

“In South Africa, we are participating in an international AIDS effort called Hope Through Knowledge,” Butcher added. “We are taking hundreds of shoeboxes filled with important supplies for HIV positive mothers learning how to care for themselves and their children.” The shoe boxes have been assembled by local churches including Bethel AME, Cathedral of St. Paul’s, Faith Chapel Church of God and Christ, Christian Fellowship, Women of Vision Outreach Ministry and Bethel Baptist Church. Kit contents include bacterial handwash, bandaids, gauze, hospital gloves, a pain reliever, lotion, shampoo, toothpaste & brushes, handwipes, baby quilt, clothing and toy. Beautiful handmade quilts for the babies were made by the Quilt Ministry at Bethel AME Church.

Supporters of the team’s efforts include: the El Cajon Breakfast Rotary Club; Water for Children Africa, Alliance for African Assistance; Rotary Club of Machakos, Kenya; Rotary Club of Johannesburg N Central, South Africa; Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa; Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa; El Cajon Valley School District and Grossmont Community College.

Additional support is still needed and will help extend the outreach efforts of the team. Water tanks, for instance, cost $500 each; 10 kits cost $50. Tax-deductible donations are welcome to Neighborhood Fundraising Network, Inc., 5941 Cozzens, San Diego, CA 92122.

For more information, call the “It is Written Community Bookstore” at 619-286-5952.