Thankyou Blog

I had visited Cambodia a few times, and was well prepared for what I may experience. Or so I had thought.  This trip took me completely by surprise. I have learnt that the people of Cambodia are very shy and extremely reluctant to open up and share their stories with foreigners, until I met Mech Sarin.

I walked across a very unstable bridge, hoping not to lose my footing and stumble into a ditch of dirty water, and came to a beautiful house. I was greeted by most of her family and noticed that Mech Sarin was so beautiful.

A little embarrassed that her house was “messy”, (which, I must say, was quite tidy!) she invited me in, we sat down and got to talk openly. I could tell she was busting to share, the look in her eyes said it all. I told our interpreter if she starts to share, let her go for it so she was not interrupted.  Despite the fact I could not understand a word she spoke, the pain she had gone through radiated out of her story. Trying to lend a comforting smile and show my compassion and support, as soon as she began to cry, I could not hold back my tears. Typical girls huh? I have had many girly moments with close girlfriends where we would both just sit and cry, but this moment was with a stranger, speaking a different language, but smiling and crying in the same voice.

  “I had my first daughter and when she was five and a half months old my husband got injured by a land mine and he lost his leg.  We took him to Kampong Chhnang hospital.  When he came back it was the rice-planting season. I had to plow and turn over the soil all by myself even though I had given birth. This is the reason the situation in the family was terrible. It was difficult as it was only me who use the plow and equipment”

 “My mother helped me with planting and with carrying water really far distances. If we dug our only well the soil kept falling back into the hole and we didn’t have the money to fix it which was the reason for collecting water from other wells which was very far and difficult, very difficult when pregnant and having to get water far from the house”

Every person, no matter what country we live in, goes through hard times. We lose those close to us, we encounter sickness, we battle financial turmoil, natural disasters and so on. We need to remember that we are all human. We might have different languages but we all laugh and cry the same. Those born into poverty or places of war and conflict have an even harder time overcoming these hardships by not having the bare essentials such as water. As long as I live in a free nation, with everything I need to live at my access, I will do whatever I can to make people like Mech Sarin’s lives a little easier to live.

Justine Flynn – Thankyou Water Marketing & People

Savage traffic and thick air were slowly replaced by expansive and rugged terrain as we neared our remote destination – Boyani village in Mazola country, Kenya. We were there to visit a Thankyou Water funded water tank, and the scene that unfolded before us as we drove into the village is something I will never ever grow weary of. Children running along side the car, waving, tapping on the windows and crowding around the doors. A vast sea of little faces, some shy but still inquisitive, beaming smiles and lots of jumping in excitement.

Amidst the squealing and delight of our enthusiastic welcome, we were guided into the small community building and what ensued was a moving and colourful celebration. Absolutely beautiful singing and dancing which the whole community took part in, from the little toddlers up to the mothers who had especially prepared for our visit, laughing and smiling. The energy and rhythm of African song resonates deep within you and is such an enlivening experience, I suspect it is the essence and soul of pure joy. The celebration continued outside where these exuberant women danced their way around the water tank with the greatest delight and expressed their thanks and gratefulness through melody.

This village was incredibly welcoming and we were also lucky enough to meet the man who donated the land for the community building and subsequently, the Thankyou Water tank. He sat in his chair, surrounded by family, and communicated to me how pleased he was that his village had the blessing of receiving the new water tank. He was very endearing and when I handed him a small polaroid picture of himself and his family which I had taken, he could barely believe his eyes!

What a delight it is to visit a village like this one. Where basic health and sanitation training together with improved water quality can develop a tangible and transformative foundation for an entire community. Thanks to all the thankyou water drinkers, this is the practical reality of what you are supporting when you make the simple choice to buy Thankyou Water.

“There is no greater joy, nor greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone’s life.” ~ M.R.McGeady

Shelley Morris – Thankyou Water Photographer

Today we say goodbye and thank you to two of our founding team members; Morgan and Nicolette, who have been a part of the Thankyou Water story since the beginning. Morgan and Nicolette have been a phenomenal part of the journey to date and we are excited about where they are heading in the future.

 Morgan has been our sales manager from day one. Early on he somehow managed to set up a meeting with the largest private beverage distributor in the country, and after what was meant to be a 10-minute pitch, we came out an hour and a half later with our first order of 50,000 bottles. Nothing was ever too hard for Morgan and he wasn’t afraid of putting in the hard yards to make it happen.  He has laid an amazing foundation for our sales team to build on.

Nicolette Beets has been head of water projects and utilized her passion and experience in development to shape the way we do projects. She has ensured that our projects are sustainable and work within a community development framework. The processes and strategies she has implemented have enabled us to carry out our vision.

So on behalf of the team I want to say a massive thank you to you both for the countless hours that you have sown into the vision and have made Thankyou Water what it is today. We will miss you around the office but your input has been invaluable and the legacy you leave will last forever.

 Dan Flynn – Thankyou Water Managing Director

At thankyouWATER we love to share people’s stories about their connection to thankyouWATER. From those who make their first thankyouWATER purchase right through to our regular supporters. We are inspired by other people’s passion for our brand.. 

Within our organisation we really value the contributions of our team. No job is viewed as insignificant because we know that our team are the most important ‘resource’.  Their countless hours of time and energy spent on thankyouWATER is the reason why we are the organisation that we are today.

Over the coming months would love to celebrate our team members by introducing a few of them to you all. We hope their stories inspire you, because they definitely inspire us!

Meet Tosari, who does an amazing job as a Promo Rep for us!

Whilst growing up, her family’s Christmas tradition was to share their Christmas feast with refugees. Now in her early twenties, her incredible generosity and love for others still remains. She works full-time as a youth social worker helping to build and encourage the next generation. On top of this, Tosari still makes time to hit up various events for thankyouWATER! Whether it be handing out water bottles or meeting new people, we are extremely appreciative of all the time, effort and energy she puts in for thankyouWATER.

When she isn’t out saving the world (which isn’t that often), she loves dressing up. We hear that she has a special preference for ABBA-themed and other vibrant outfits. This love started off at a young age when she discovered her Mum’s dress-up box. While we can’t guarantee that Tosari will be dressed up at the next thankyouWATER event she Promo Reps at, look out for her friendly smile rocking a thankyouWATER t-shirt! 

If you are inspired by Tosari’s story and would like to be part of our Promo Rep Team and meet other amazing people, we are looking for enthusiastic, passionate and hard-working people in metro VIC, QLD & NSW to jump onboard. Please apply here:(http://www.thankyouwater.org/get-involved/opportunities/) 

Whilst in Kenya visiting some of the Thankyou water funded projects last year, I happened to have the opportunity to see a ‘hand-dug well’ under construction. When we arrived at the site, it was the sound of song resonating from deep within the well that first caught our attention. Unbeknownst to Charo Kathengi, the man who had been chiselling away at the well for weeks, we sat at the top of the well and enjoyed his beautiful singing and humming for quite some time.  After asking one of the locals, we found out the mesmerising melody we were listening to was a traditional Swahili song about a village that was getting clean water for the first time.. bless

 I was really excited at the thought of going down into the well for a better look, but all confidence quickly abandoned me once I was sitting on the edge and had a chance to survey my belaying apparatus. Thankfully my rope handlers were in full control, and as I was lowered into the well I had to admire the craftsmanship of it. It was simply beautiful, almost like a hand carved piece of art.

 The work is tough and excavating in this area is not easy as the ground is so hard and rocky. The steady rhythm of the steel pick striking rock was piercing, the sound was amplified and echoed in the confined workspace. The walls are secured and reinforced, preventing collapse and making this type of well very sustainable and easy to maintain. Typically a well like this can vary in depth from anywhere between 27m and 42m, which is the level of the water table in the area.

The community watches eagerly as the well slowly goes deeper, inch by inch, day by day, in anticipation of the change it wall make not only to this particular village, but also to the surrounding villages. This is the first well of its kind in the Kinago district, but there are just so many more villages that could benefit from a well like this.

 It was somewhat of a novelty having me go down the well and as you can imagine there were a lot of laughs shared between the locals, especially when it came time for Charo, who was incredibly shy (unlike my helpers at the top) to place the hook and rope back around my hips for the haul back up. Fortunately I did not have to rely on my own strength, as there were three strong men to pull me up and then help me out of the well, which was actually a lot more challenging than one would think!

It was amazing to see the incredible labour and skill that goes into constructing a well of this type. I cannot wait for the next trip so we can see the well in action and the impact it has on the community.

Shelley Morris – Thankyou Water Photographer

Some of the highlights from 2011 included:

• Selling the millionth bottle
• 3 features on The 7pm project as well as features on Sunrise, Nova Breakfast, The MX, BRW, Out There Magazine and many online blogs
• The launch of Thankyou Water in 7-Eleven and Australia Post stores throughout Australia
• Gaining over 2000 stockists throughout Australia
• An expansion of Thankyou Water into more vending machines through ProVender
• Over 22,000 people being a part of the online community, and
• Our team growing to 13 people.

On the ground, we saw funding into almost 3 times the amount of projects compared to the previous year. This went to projects in Kenya and Cambodia, which brings the total of water solutions Thankyou Water has funded to 277 Bio Sand Filters, 26 wells and 2 rainwater tanks. Members of the team visited all the projects we funded to supervise and to share the story with fellow Australians.

Hopefully you remember the ‘Facebook Trip’ where we took all 19,000 fans to the field via Facebook. Thanks to Shelley Morris Photography & Kintaro Studios we were able to document the trip with incredible photos and video footage. Both parties have been such a great support and we are all extremely grateful they are apart of our team.

Now to 2012, which has started with a bang. We already have more funds for projects in the first quarter than we did for all of 2011! Sales are at an all time high and we have more projects lined up than ever before. At this point we will be funding projects in Cambodia, Kenya & India – details coming soon. We have a new office, new website under construction and new team members who will be announced in the coming weeks.

We also have some very exciting developments coming soon with new bottle sizes, and for those people who want to support Thankyou Water but don’t want to buy a bottle of water, we have a sneaky new addition to the Thankyou Water family – you’re going to flip out when you see it!

As always, there are some large retailers looking at the product as we speak, and the moment the deals come through you’ll be the first to get the update. With Thankyou Water it’s all about turning that everyday purchase into a life changing moment for someone in the developing world. 2012 is going to be massive and we look forward to seeing what’s in store for the future.

Dan

I recently spent some time in Cambodia with the thankyou water and Samaritains Purse crew.

The schedule was hectic and the sun blazing hot, but it was really an amazing trip. We spent time in villages, met many beautiful people and heard their stories, visited lots of water projects, and I happened to get a considerable amount of water splashed on my camera by these mischievous boys..

Here are some of the images I captured at Chrei Koang Lech village..

- Shelley Morris , Thankyou Water Photographer

Collective Espresso – 3 Cookson Street, Camberwell, Melbourne (03) 9882 8995 

Collective, a tiny hole in the wall of a café situated in leafy Camberwell, opened up shop about 2 years ago. 

We are on a mission to check out some of our thankyou water stockists,  so we popped into Collective recently for a feed and a coffee.

Duncan’s the food man, when he isn’t out the back cooking up a storm he’s happy to help you with your order.  The Collective philosophy is to use produce that is in season, so as the season changes so does the menu. Now whilst waiting for your food a coffee is a must. Mark is the man who can answer all your questions about blends, beans & grinds etc., these are also changing every few days. The day we visited a single origin blend  ‘sumatran lintong’ was being used, so yummy!

The food is always fresh and delish, and the eggs are the finest – coming from chickens that are given the best environment to lay & you can even buy a dozen to take home yourself.

We love the guys at collective, they have been stocking TW for almost a year  now – next time you drop in for a coffee, make sure you grab a Thankyou Water on the way out!

If you would like to join the hundreds of cafes around Australia stocking Thankyou Water please head here http://www.thankyouwater.org/wp-content/themes/thankyou/retailer.html  to register your interest.  

The Thankyou water team getting ready to depart, this is Dan our film guy – as you can see he is super excited! 

More updates soon!

I recently visited Kenya and had the opportunity to visit many of the remote villages and communities who now have access to a safe water source through projects that we have been able to fund.

What an amazing experience it was to visit these communities. I was told by local staff from our partner organisation Samaritans purse, that their philosophy in Kenya is to 

“find the most remote location, where no one has ever been or helped, and that is where we begin work…” 

What an inspirational philosophy! 

Villages that have previously had no access to a safe water source, now do! It was amazing to visit these projects and see the extraordinary difference that safe water (such as a bio-sand filter or rain water tank) can make not only to individuals, but also families and entire communities.

Driving into a village and being welcomed with exuberant song and dance, or a beautiful thanksgiving ceremony is spectacular, and the joy and gratitude that these people expressed was tangible. The time spent meeting people and listening to mothers share their story was very moving, and it impressed on me the importance and significance that clean water makes on life.

When you buy a bottle of Thankyou Water it is hard to imagine that it would really make that much difference. I have now seen first hand the impact that Thankyou Water drinkers have made in Kenya, and every single bottle of Thankyou Water really does make such a difference!

“My name is Hen Nhen, I am 48 years old, and live in Kbal Tnol village, Seb commune, Kampong Tralach district, Kampong Chhang province. I have two children. I am a farmer. I have had a Bio Sand Filter (BSF) for 8 months now and I now have enough clean water to use every day from this BSF. 

“Before, my family and I drank unclean water from a well or river directly without boiling. We had many sicknesses. My children often couldn’t got to school because of diarrhea, stomach aches, typhoid and worms. We spent a lot of money for medicines and going to the clinic. We couldn’t save any money. 

“We treasure this BSF, because it eliminates all pathogens from unclean water. It produces a lot of clean water for drinking, hand washing, cooking and cleaning vegetables. We have less sickness. Our health is improved. The BSF is very important because it gives us clean water for our living in rural community. We will use this BSF forever. 

“I would like to thank Thankyou Water and CGA-CHE staff for training us on health provision, clean water, hygiene sanitation and BSF.”

Dong Nheb is 30 years old, living in Kbal Thnal village, Seb commune Kampong Tralach district, Kampong Chhang province. He has 3 children. He is a farmer. He has had a  Bio-Sand Filter (BSF)for 8 months now.  Everyday he gets three big bottles of filtered water to use. 

He said: “Before, my family always used clean water for drinking, cooking and cleaning vegetables. We took the unclean water from a ring well without boiling it, and there was no water filter in our village. 

“My children often got sick such as diarrhea, stomach ache, typhoid, liver infections and worms. We didn’t know about water borne diseases. Life was difficult for us. We spent a lot of money for medicines for treatment and lost time for working because of getting sick. 

“After getting to know about a BSF and using it, we really love it, because this BSF gives us clean water to drink and our health is better. BSF is very important for people living in rural areas like us. Now we spend less money for buying medicines because of less sickness. We can use the saved money for our food and we are able to pay school fees for our children. 

“On behalf of the villages living in Kbal Tnal Village, I would like to express our appreciation to Thankyou Water, SP-Australia, Australian people and all CGA staff in helping us to improve our lives by providing us with access to clean water. We hope the BSF project will spread to other communities all over Cambodia.

Thank you.”

We are all pretty familiar with the idea of Charity. It’s a very important part of our society. You sign up to a direct debit; ask your friends not to buy you gifts for your birthday and instead donate to a cause; raise funds for a cause by shaving your head, jumping from an airplane, riding halfway around the world on a bike and so on. The basic concept behind charity is that you donate your money to a charity to carry out charitable work and there is often a small admin fee associated with this. It’s safe to say, we all understand Charity.

Now intro Social Enterprise. It sits in the middle of charity and business. The question I get asked more often than not is, “If I buy a bottle of Thankyou water for $2, does my whole $2 go to funding water projects?” The reason people ask that question is because they understand charity, not social enterprise. The answer is simple, no.  I then explain the following:

When you purchase a bottle of Thankyou Water you are not giving Thankyou Water $2; you are purchasing a product. For that product to get to your hand it first started out as raw materials, was then produced, transported to warehouses, sent to distributors and finally retailers. Eventually, it got to the fridge or shelf near you at which point, you reached in and purchased it. Every link in the chain has serious costs involved. On top of this, like any organisation, Thankyou Water has operating costs that ensure that our vision is reached. What’s left after these costs is our profit. It's our profit that funds water projects and we make enough profit to fund at least 1 month's worth of drinking water to someone in need.

It’s at this point I start to lose most people as they wonder if it’s really worth going to all the effort, with all the costs involved to do what we are doing.

To put it into context, let's take a deep breath and look at a business that you're familiar with. Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA), who own the brands of bottled water; Mt Franklin and Pump in Australia, definitely think it's worth going to all the effort! These guys currently hold 48.5%* of the $570 million Australian bottled water industry. I think it’s safe to say that both Coca-cola Amatil and their shareholders definitely see the point in running a bottled water company, even though there may be lots of costs involved.

I hope this is where Social Enterprise starts to get a little clearer. See, we are running a business that aims to make as much profit as possible, just like Mt Franklin. The only difference is that all of our profit funds water projects in areas of need in developing nations, instead of just making shareholders wealthier.

There is room for both Charity and Social Enterprise. If you had $2 in your hand and wanted to make the biggest impact with your money, I would tell you right now to give it directly to a charity that builds water projects. But if you had $2 and were about to purchase a bottle of water…well, let's just say I would definitely recommend Thankyou Water.

More thoughts on social enterprise to come…

Dan

*IBIS World Industry report C2186

To celebrate the launch of the new Thankyou Blog we want to show you a quick feature from Cambodia:

It was as we walked up a rough path to Mrs. Orn’s small, wooden stilted home that we first noticed the shy, timid shadows of children hiding behind their parents’ legs. The village children were surprised to see these strangers who were stepping onto their turf. But that’s okay, because not long after, it was their turn to surprise us.

The kids of Chrey Kong Lech live with no fuss and no frills. They are the children of subsistence rice farmers and live in wooden stilted homes most without even a basic toilet. They’re likely to only have a single change of clothes, a very staple diet of rice with vegetables and sometimes meat and, if lucky, a very basic education. To add to this, their village is in serious need of safe and reliable water.

On this particular (did I mention stifling hot?) day we were visiting Mrs. Orn, who had only three months beforehand received a well to meet this water need. Our plan was that Mrs. Orn, her children and the five neighbouring families could easily access safe water all year-round. What we didn’t realise was that Mrs. Orn would welcome up to twelve other families from surrounding areas who now also come to use the water from her tube well when their water jars, ponds or hand-dug wells have dried up.

What is an open and tube well you ask? Well… (pun most definitely intended) an open well is dug into the ground to collect rainwater and if deep enough underground water too. It has nothing protecting it from the dirt, bacteria and even animals getting into it though and often dries up during Cambodia’s dry season. The tube well, however, is dug deep and is completely sealed off protecting it from all the elements.

It was when Mrs. Orn was showing us the difference between these two wells that we got to witness something very unexpected, very special. Those once shy, little shadows started to become much more bold. With their parents cheering them on they began to show us, despite the language barrier, how they use their new water supply. The scene transformed into a loud game of charades and giggles as they demonstrated splashing water across their faces, scooping up a handful to their mouths and pretending to wash their hair.  Mrs. Orns’ and her neighbours’ kids transformed before our eyes. It was beautiful and I am confident just the beginning. As they are burdened less by unsafe water, and equipped with education on health and hygiene we can hope that their lives will continue to transform and be lifted out of the cycle of poverty.

Now, sitting here at my laptop in Melbourne, trying to capture this moment in writing I have nothing else to say but…what fun!

What fun is it knowing that it is because a café, a retailer, a pharmacy, a franchise or an event (and trust me the list goes on) here in Australia made the bold decision to choose Thankyou Water that now children in Chrey Kong Lech have a bolder, brighter future.

What fun it is to be in a village that seems part of another world and to share a moment in time that captures how Thankyou Water drinkers are putting smiles on children’s faces.

What fun it is to know this is only the beginning?

Above: Mrs. Orn's kids.

Above: Mr and Mrs. Orn demonstrating the strain of pulling up buckets full of water from the old open well.

Above: The communities new tube well.

Above: While we’re talking about these kids, how gorgeous is this shot?  This little girl’s imitation pearl necklace starkly stood out in her surroundings.

A few of our favourite things about this Samaritans Purse Project…

It focuses on long-term development.

It is holistic.

It focuses on sustainable change.

It is participatory and encourages ownership.

It is simple but effective technology.

Here's how they work-

So simple – but so effective!

It is locally sourced and made.

All the materials are found locally which means it is easy to maintain. It is made with local skilled workers and the families themselves. The BSF has been designed to be simple to construct- in fact it is so simple the Thankyou Team were even able to make one! Check out the process below:

A team of young Australians have broken the stereotype of the selfish “Generation Y” stigma by presenting the nation an opportunity to make a change simply by drinking a bottle of water.

Thankyou Water is a new brand of bottled water using 100% of its profits to fund water projects in developing nations across Africa and South East Asia. The Melbourne based team behind Thankyou Water are all between 18-22yrs old and have balanced their uni studies and part-time jobs to get the concept off the ground over the past eighteen months.

“Thankyou Water exists to bring a collision between two extremes, the world water crisis and Australia’s $600 million bottled water industry.” Dan Flynn, 20, Founder. The purchase of one bottle of Thankyou Water is enough to provide clean drinking water to one person for at least one month in the developing world.

“We’re not asking people to spend more money; we’re simply giving them a choice as to which brand they choose when they next buy a bottle of water.” Dan Flynn, 20, Founder.

The concept evolved after Thankyou Water founder Dan Flynn was impacted profoundly by watching a film clip of a boy exactly the same age in Africa and the lengths he had to go to just to obtain drinking water for his family. The first project that Thankyou Water is partnering with is through Australia for UNHCR in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda Africa. The Nakivale project aims to provide water to 5,000 refugees within the camp. Thankyou Water sources and supports projects through established charities, such as Australia for UNHCR (United Nations Refugee Agency), providing funding for a diverse range of water-based projects. Thankyou Water is stocked in participating cafes and universities throughout VIC, WA, SA and QLD.