I met the founder of the Samburu project some years back. She had recently given up her day job to found the organisation and I was deeply inspired by her vision.

This year, I received a mailing from the organisation to say that it had now created 52 wells in East Africa (deeply impressed!). It mentioned that for $16 (£10) you can give the gift of clean drinking water for life to one person. It was a no-brainer, I was going to donate. And then I saw the donation option listed alongside it: cost of providing an entire village with clean drinking water for life: $16,000 (£10,000).

For no rational reason, I knew that this is what I wanted to do! Am I a millionaire? No. Have I ever raised $16,000 (£10,000) in my life before? No. How was I going to do this? No clue. But I felt passionately commited to doing this and raising the money.

In the region where the well will be built, the local Samburu villagers are walking an average of 12 miles per day to fetch water. This is the same water that the animals drink from and defecate in, so is often contaminated. Diarrhoea, not AIDS, malaria or measles, is the leading cause of death among children under the age of 5 in Samburu.

The shocking statistics are that 4,500 children die each day worldwide due to the lack of clean, safe drinking water. That is one child every 20 seconds.

We can make a difference.

As mentioned previously, every $16 (£10) donated provides one person with clean drinking water for life. How many villagers are you able to help right now?

A Samburu Project fundraiser said on a recent visit to the wells: “The impact on local communities is immense. Because women and children no longer are burdened with the daily 10+ mile walks they must make to find and haul contaminated water back home, these wells have allowed children to have the time to go to school and get an education. In addition, many vegetable gardens have sprung up around the wells, providing job opportunities for women and healthy food to sustain the communities.”

Together we can improve the quality of life and health for an entire community which is an amazing thing. Thank you so much for playing your part in this.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for whatever contribution you can make.

Sam xox

PS – I will send all supporters a photo of the well when it’s built.