Ryan Hreljac heard about the many children in Africa who do not have clean water to drink he decided to do something to help. Ryan, from a small town near Ottawa in Canada, listened as his teacher explained that $70 would provide a well and became determined to raise the money

That night he told his parents that he needed $70. His mother, Susan, said he could do extra chores around the house. Ryan vacuumed, washed windows, and, with amazing determination, patiently worked, saving every dollar in an old cookie tin. It took him from January 1998 to the end of April to collect $70.

Susan took him to Watercan’s office to hand over his donation. Executive Director, Nicole Bosley explained that $70 would only buy a hand pump. It would take $2,000 to drill a well. Undeterred, Ryan replied, “I’ll just do more chores then.”

Nicole told him the Canadian International Development Agency would match Watercan’s contribution 2:1 so Ryan needed to raise $700 for his well. He kept on working and collected donations from school, friends and family. When he had raised the $700, Watercan invited him to meet Gizaw Shibru, director for Uganda at Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief, who actually dug and maintained the wells. Shibru asked Ryan to choose the site for his well. Ryan wanted it to be near a school and they pinpointed Angolo in North Uganda, a village whose closest water was 5 kilometres away. Angolo had also suffered thirteen years of rebel activity, several years of drought and had to contend with AIDS, typhoid and waterborne diseases. One in five children died before the age of five.

Talking with Gizaw Shibru, Ryan discovered that the well would be dug by hand. Wells could be dug much more quickly using mobile drilling equipment costing $25,000, increasing the supply of clean water far faster than at present. Ryan now had a new goal. “I want everyone in Africa to have clean water,” he declared.
Susan set out to help Ryan with this latest challenge. The Ottawa Citizen published an article about Ryan’s Well that generated interest. A TV station took up the story and a number of newspaper articles followed. Cheques began to come in. Ryan’s teacher put a watering can in the classroom for donations and Ryan sold bottled water to raise funds.

Ryan’s teacher arranged for children from his school to be penpals with children in Angolo. Ryan’s penpal Akana Jimmy wrote to him:
Dear Ryan,
My name is Akana Jimmy. I am 8 years old. I like soccer. Our house is made of grass. How is America?
Your friend,
Akana Jimmy.
Ryan wrote back:
Dear Jimmy,
It must be cool to have a house made out of grass. I am 8 now. Do you drink from my well every day? What is your favourite subject in school? I am going to Uganda when I am twelve. My house is made out of bricks.
Write back soon.
Your friend Ryan.

Ryan did not have to wait so long for his visit to Uganda. A neighbour, impressed by Ryan’s dedication, donated some airmiles to the family. The Ottawa Citizen appealed for more airmiles and Watercan also gave some. In July, 2000, Ryan and his parents arrived in Angolo. Ryan looked about in amazement at the 5,000 children lining the route to the school, calling “Ryan, Ryan, Ryan!”

“They know my name!” he cried in astonishment.
“Everybody for a hundred kilometres knows your name, Ryan,” said Shibru.
They arrived at the well next to the school’s vegetable garden. It bore the inscription Ryan’s Well, formed by Ryan Hreljac for Community of Angolo Primary School’. Ryan’s penpal Jimmy led him to cut the ribbon and the celebrations began.

Ryan’s original $70 fundraising has grown to over $750,000 through the Ryan’s Well Foundation, providing clean water and related health services to people in Africa with projects in Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi and Ethiopia as well as Uganda. By its example, the foundation hopes to inspire present and future leaders of the world to seek and realise their own vision for making the world a better place. Ryan continues to work with his family to fulfil this vision. He has been awarded a meritorious service medal by the Governor General of Canada.

At the Summit, Ryan, now aged 11, was one of UNICEF’s panel of expert speakers on Water Health and Poverty. As a result he has been asked to work on children’s initiatives with the World Health Organisation.
FURTHER INFORMATION : P.O.Box 1120, Kemptville, Ontario, Canada, KOG 1JO
WEB SITE : http://www.ryanswell.ca 

No Matter What's Happening In Your Life Right Now, You Must Read This Short Story :)

No Matter What's Happening In Your Life Right Now, You Must Read This Short Story :)

ONE DAY I DECIDED TO QUIT

I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality… I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with god

“God”, I asked,

“Can you give me one good reason not to quit?”.

His answer surprised me…

“Look around”, He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo ?

“Yes”, I replied.

“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.

I gave them light.I gave them water.The fern quickly grew from the earth.

Its brilliant green covered the floor.Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.

And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said.

“In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.But I would not quit.

In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit.” He said.

“Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant…But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.”

He asked me. “Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots”.

“I would not quit on the bamboo.I will never quit on you.”

“Don’t compare yourself to others.” He said.”The bamboo had a different Purpose than the fern.

Yet they both make the forest beautiful.”"Your time will come”, God said to me.

“You will rise high”.

“How high should I rise?” I asked.

“How high will the bamboo rise?” He asked in return.

“As high as it can?” I questioned.”Yes.” He said, “Give Me glory by rising as high as you can.”

I left the forest and brought back this story.I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on

you.Never, Never, Never, Give up.

Don’t tell the Lord how big the problem is, tell the problem how Great the Lord is!

You should Never, Never, Never, Give up....

No matter what’s happening in your life right now, you must read this short story…

The Fern and the Bamboo

One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality...

I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

“God”, I said. “Can you give me one good reason not to quit?”

His answer surprised me. “Look around”, He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo?”

“Yes”, I replied. “When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.

I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth.

Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.

But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.

And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.

But I would not quit. The same in year four.

Then in the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.

Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant.

But just six months later, the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years growing roots.

Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.

I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.

“Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots?

I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you.

“Don’t compare yourself to others.” He said. “The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern.

Yet they both make the forest beautiful. Your time will come”, God said to me.

“You will rise high.” “How high should I rise?” I asked.

“How high will the bamboo rise?” He asked in return.

“As high as it can?” I questioned. “Yes.”

He said, “Give me glory by rising as high as you can.”

I left the forest, realizing that God will never give up on me.

And He will never give up on you.

Never regret a day in your life.

Good days give you happiness; bad days give you experiences; both are essential to life.

Serenity isn’t freedom from the storm, but peace within the storm.

You should Never, Never, Never, Give up.

Life is Beautiful Stay connected

Mother  is  flying  a  kite.
Her son is watching her carefully.

After some time son says "mom.
Because of the string the kite is not able to go any further higher.

"Hearing this, the mother smiles and breaks the string.
The kite goes higher and then shortly after that,
it comes and falls on the ground.

The child is very dejected and sad.

The mother sits next to him and calmly explains:
"Son, in life we reach a certain level and then we feel that there are certain things that are not letting us grow any further like Home, Family, Friends, Culture etc.

We feel we want to be  free from those strings which we believe are stopping us from going higher.

But, remember son."That our home , family, friends and culture are the things that will help us stay stable at the high heights .

If we try to break away from those strings our condition will be similar to the kite."we'll fall down soon..

Moral:
"Never  go  away  from  Home  Culture,  Family, Friends  and  Relationships as they help keep us stable while we are flying high..."

      Life is Beautiful...
      Stay connected.... 

It did not decrease in value – Inspirational

It did not decrease in value – Inspirational

money-bag

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked. “Who would like this $20 bill?”

Hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you – but first, let me do this.”

He proceeded to crumple the 20 dollar note up. He then asked. “Who still wants it?” Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well,” he replied, “what if I do this?” He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. “Now, who still wants it?”

Still the hands went into the air.

“My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you. The worth of our lives comes, not in what we do or who we know, but by …WHO WE ARE.

You are special – don’t ever forget it.