I don’t post a lot of the agency PR that comes across my email box anymore but this one caught my eye especially given the holiday (and giving) season.

Shutterstock has funded new water wells in the Amhara region of Northern Ethiopia to provide clean, safe drinking water.  They partnered with charity: water to bring the wells.  The following is an excerpt from the story on this project.  See the whole Press Release here.  Good job Shutterstock!

Clean water pours out of a well and Muche Alemu laughs as he reaches out, gulping down handfuls of the clear water and splashing his face. Hands still under the steady stream, Muche looks up and smiles. His wrinkled face radiates a joy that is reflected on the faces of the women and children who are also at the well to collect water. It is a joy that comes from the realization of a profound hope.

Despite his radiant face, Muche’s life has not always been so joyful.  For years, the people of Casie Chibechiba spent hours each day walking to and from a dirty pond to collect water. The pond, fed by a small spring, is barely suitable for animals, much less for people. The stagnant water is green and murky, the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes in a malaria-plagued area.

Disease was almost a certainty and the only question was how severe it would be when it struck. This was the reality of life for Muche Alemu and all of the other people living in Casie Chibechiba. It was a circumstance that Muche remembers with pain and deep sadness.

As he thinks back on that time, Muche’s wizened face grows somber. He talks about the many men, women, and children that died as a result of the waterborne illnesses that came from that pond. And then he becomes very quiet and drops his eyes. When he looks up again, his saddened face says everything. “My daughter died too,” he murmurs. “She was my oldest child and I loved her very much.” As he pauses to think about it, his eyes, no longer twinkling, well up with tears.

Today, the people of Casie Chibechiba drink clean water from a well funded by charity: water.