Global Water Challenge was one of the lead NGO’s at this year’s Bonnaroo, the largest music festival in the United States. Thousands of concertgoers stopped by our tent exhibit to learn about water and sanitation issues. In three days, 1,500 people signed a petition to support the human right to water as mandated by the United Nations and 600 people wrote personal, hand-written letters to their representatives to call for support on critical water issues.

It’s no joke that women and children around the world have to carry 40-pound jerrycans an average of 6km every day to get water – that may or may not even be clean. We drove the point home with our jerrycan races, which educated people about the burden in a fun, but effective way.

I was amazed to see how willing people were to help—once they realized the scale of the problem.
Many just said: We had no idea. But now that we know, how can we help, what can we do?

Inspired by the energy and passion we saw at Bonnaroo, GWC is launching a new grassroots team called Water Warriors. A wa•ter war•rior is: a person who has committed to tackling the global water and sanitation crisis by going out into their community and:

1. Educating friends, family and neighbors about the magnitude of the problem and proven solutions.
2. Raising funds for simple, proven solutions, such as water filtration systems, soap and toilets.
3. Encouraging elected officials to increase water and sanitation funding.
4. Turning friends and family into Water Warriors to create a ripple effect.

To celebrate, we are hosting a launch party on July 27th, in Washington D.C. If you can’t make it or don’t live in DC, we’re hosting a conference call on July 28th. If you’re interested in becoming a Water Warrior, or learning more, we’d love for you to join us! For more information click, go to: http://globalwaterchallenge.org/warriors/warriors-home.php.

-Sweta Daga, Director of Communications, Global Water Challenge