Ashley Judd visited Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an Ambassador with Population Services International’s Five and Alive program in late April. She wrote her experiences in a personal journal. Below is an except from her last day.

Day Six:

At a heaving market place I visited a tiny box that is PUR’s point of sale. Having set up in neighborhoods, we found folks at home have no money, but when they go to the market, they obviously have a little in their pockets for the grocery list. So, we set up a kiosk, and today I was doing a public demonstration of PUR for anyone who happened to be passing by. I love this sort of thing, being on the street, hanging out, trading witticisms and having fun, getting people involved.

In front of the kiosk I stood with a wooden stool (which would be a “primitive” collectable in the U.S.) and a big pale of nasty river water, laden with brown muck and filth. Using a fantastic, enormous wooden spoon, I sprinkled in PUR and began to stir. A great crowd was already gathered, and we hollered questions and answers back and forth about water: where do you get your water, do you get diarrhea, wait til you see PUR, sold here for .50, and how it makes even river water safe! The crowd grew.

-Ashley Judd

Read the rest of this entry, on Five & Alive’s website.

Five & Alive, a program of Population Services International (PSI), provides children and their families with the education, products, services and care needed to improve health and save lives in more than 30 countries. www.fiveandalive.org