Hello my fellow VMwareans. (Yes, I know that makes people sound like their some kind of alien species that have just landed on planet earth). Although this post is public on my blog, it’s actually directed at all the folks who work at VMware. I’m currently on my gap year which officially ends at midnight on the 31st Dec, but will mostly like carry on until such time as I find gainful employment. One of the things I’ll be doing in the mean time is volunteering. I had thought of starting in the New Year, to mark the end of this time. But after attending September’s VMworld in Vegas – I realised that there was no time like the present.
If you are searching for Aquabox in the VMware Foundation – change the filter to be “UK” you can locate it Registered Charity Number which is 1098409. This year the company has allowed you to donate a fixed sum for a good cause, if you donate more this triggers a matching donation from VMware.
What follows below is a description of Aquabox and what we do. I realise many are you time poor, but if you prefer videos. Grab yourself a brew, some M&Ms, and watch this 8 minute YouTube. It will tell you why Aquabox is so important, and how the technology works.
For the rest of you who enjoy reading my excessively verbose blogposts… Hello!
One of my activities is volunteering at local charity to me called Aquabox. I say local to me, because although the technology and concept we developed in the town I now call home, its remit is a global. So what is Aquabox? At the heart of it is a unique and innovative water filter that’s gone through a number of iterations over the years. When a disaster strikes the first thing that goes to pot is the water supply. You can survive for many weeks (if your well nourished) without food, but without clean and non-polluted water you will die in days (and in some cases hours). Historically, the big charities have distributed chlorine tables to kill off water born bugs such as cholera. Have you ever taken a gulp of water in a swimming pool? Think of that, but 100 times worse. So what happens is people in dire straits (and this often includes children who know no better) drink dirty and polluted water – and die not of starvation or thirst, but from the diseases that water contains.
There’s two type of AquaFilter – a Community and Family. As you might imagine the big daddy serves a large number of people, whereas the family is intended for a group of five. As for the Aquabox itself some of the filters have been running for 4 years in Africa. The technology is robust, simple and easy to maintain. As piece of technology its a thing of beauty to any engineer worth their salt, and it’s perfectly fit for its purpose. And of course, it needs to be – given the hostile environment it has to function in. Aquabox has been operating for 20 years – and employs just one part-time manager – the rest of us are volunteers. So you can rest assured that the vast majority of your donation will go to the end-user. Aquabox started its life as part of the Rotary Club Organisation which has a global reach with a good reputation for trustworthiness. So the supply chain of getting the boxes to the family is one that comes with a high integrity.
As for myself. I’ve been packing the boxes which include not just the AquaFilter, but whole host of items a family would need in the first hours, and days of humanitarian crisis. The other thing I’ve been doing is trying to establish other methods of raising funds. As former employee I thought of VMware and you my former colleagues – and the VMware Foundation. I’m exceeding grateful to the folks within the VMware Foundation who have expedited this new beneficiary so swiftly and efficiently. And I’m very grateful to my good friend Hans Bernhardt (who many will know as Chicken Man!) for helping getting the word internally.
By its nature Aquabox goes everywhere and we operate in the most extreme of situations because that is where the greatest need exists. Aquabox has been helping the many tens of thousands of people who remain trapped inside a war zone in the Aleppo. These include incredibly brave team members from our aid distribution partner Hand in Hand for Syria يدا بيد لنبني سوريا . Hand in Hand in Syria is UK registered charity, and the team at Aquabox have been sending shipments to distribute to Syrian refugee camps, and they have 1,000 Aquaboxes ready to give out to families once they have been evacuated from Aleppo. Very few aid organisations are able to operate in Syria because of the nature of the conflict, and the only way to achieve this is with trusted partners who’s only concern is life and limb.
Of course, Syria is not Aquabox’s most recent recipient of aid. In fact, the main focus has been Hatti. We are continuing to send emergency disaster relief to the people of Haiti whose lives have been thrown into chaos following the devastation of Hurricane Matthew. We are sending a further 250 family sized Aquaboxes, to add to our previous shipments of 500 Aquaboxes and 18 Community Aquafilters.
That timeliness even more acute today. As you have seen Aleppo in Syria is about to fall, sparking yet another massive humanitarian crisis – with mass exodus from the city of almost biblical proportions. I want to put aside any political analyse or opinions, to ask you to think of those people this Christmas Time – the vast majority are innocent civilians just caught in the crossfire. People just like you and me, caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. All too often in our modern media saturated world, tragedy spills out on to our screens. The scale of the suffering can lead you feel to be numb at times. It’s so overwhelming it makes you wonder what can be done. Well, something can be done. An Aquabox can be sent. You can make that happen. Today.
Please think of Aquabox if you if you have the opportunity to donate.