by Fern Shaw | Jul 22, 2015 | aquaid tyne wear, Charity, Christian Aid, Water Coolers
The Swimming Scuba Diver
One of the aspects of working in the marketing and social media sphere that I really enjoy is getting to ‘know’ some of the many people that work at AquAid. To date, I’ve ‘met’ a serious traveller – Josh; a carer of animals and Tough Man competitor – Scott; a stand-up comedian – Martin; a Super Dad – Ross; and a Ninja – Dennis.
Last week, I spoke to Emir Dobson, franchisee at AquAid Middlesborough and asked her if she would be kind enough to put pen to paper and despite being rather busy, she graciously took the time out to answer my questions.
I was so tickled with her replies as I again realised that the individuals that work at AquAid really are quite a mixed bag and full of surprises – who knew that AquAid Middlesborough boast their very own scuba diver? So, without further ado, here’s what Emir had to share, pretty much verbatim:
Name: Emir Dobson
Role at AquAid: Manager – AquAid Tyne & Wear
Years at AquAid: Too long.
What do you enjoy about your job? The people we meet!
Tell us something interesting about yourself: Achievements: Working alongside my husband in all these years without a major incident!!!
How did you get involved with AquAid? I became involved in AquAid due to my connection with Christian Aid – I am passionate about the work that they do – my contribution is through donations.
Hobbies: Keeping with the water theme – I enjoy swimming and scuba diving.
What is it about swimming and scuba diving that you enjoy so much? I enjoy water… swimming and scuba diving keep you fit, they’re good for you…
When do you do the above? Enjoy diving as often as I can.
Why do you do it? It’s good fun and the people are great criag.
I enjoy diving anywhere there is water. In the North Sea, the wrecks are good and the sea fish.
In warmer climates – every dive is different; you see different fish, coral, wrecks – its good fun.
How long have you been involved with this? About 10 years.
Claim to fame – Just being alive!
What are you hoping to achieve or to do in the future? As soon as the family have moved out of the family home – my husband and I are going to travel – Thailand; Africa; USA.
Notes: No matter what happens – we are all the same – we eat, sleep, and breathe … the same. x
Thank you Emir, so interesting how water plays such a huge part in your life, from both a business and personal perspective. I wish you many good dives and lots of criag!
by Fern Shaw | May 20, 2015 | Charity
These are the opening lines that I read after receiving an e-mail from Ian Thorpe of The Africa Trust. I had asked for an update on the progress of the work that the charity carries out throughout countries in Africa. I thought it was high time that we had a more personal perspective on the impact that this life saving and changing work has. I thought it best to leave Cynthia’s narrative in her own words. You’ll see why when you read her story:
‘I am Cynthia M. Brown, a former child soldier. While barely surviving as a refugee at Buduburam camp in Ghana, I had great fear that I would never be accepted again in my home country of Liberia. I thought that reintegration would be a nightmare for me considering all the atrocities committed during the civil war in Liberia.
I met the Chief Executive of the Africa Trust at Buduburam and again in Liberia and after working hard and showing my potential during training, I was given my present job.
Working on Africa Trust funded projects has changed me from living a ghetto life as a drug addict and hopeless person, child prostitute and alcoholic to a responsible life changer, passionate aid worker and instrument of hope and change for poor people in Liberia.
As Program Officer for logistics and procurement for the Liberia Trust, a local charity implementing projects for the Africa Trust in Liberia, I am responsible to draw up logistical plans, do purchases, deliver materials in the field and keep track of all the possessions of the organisation. I make regular monthly reports to the Country Manager. The Liberia Trust is building Elephant Pumps and Elephant Toilets for poor communities with funding from the Africa Trust.
I help with construction of pumps and toilets as I am now a qualified builder. I also help with monitoring and evaluation, maintenance and facilitating maintenance workshops.
My passion is to help poor community dwellers improve their lives and it helps so much that a beneficiary family named their new born baby girl after me because, according to them, they wanted the child to be like me to grow in my life style. This was my greatest moment of pride, to become a role model instead of a useless person.
Working on the Africa Trust funded projects earned me respect, integrity and trust. My physical and mental capacities have developed greatly as a result of my work. This helped me identify my potentials to change the lives of others.
My family is living a happy life. My two little girls are enjoying my support for them to go to school.’
by Fern Shaw | May 19, 2015 | Charity, water cooler, Water Coolers
‘A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the idea that water housed deities or had been placed there as a gift from the gods, since water was a source of life and often a scarce commodity.’ ~ Wiki
Here at AquAid, we’ve adapted the concept of the wishing well slightly by ensuring that through the provision of water coolers to our valued customers that this translates into building actual water wells for those less fortunate in Africa.
How it works is that AquAid, who long have a history of supporting sustainable charities, formed a charity called The Africa Trust. This organisation is responsible for building said water wells or, as they are affectionately known, Elephant Pumps. Using donations from a portion of the revenue raised from the sales of water coolers, The Africa Trust have built more than 5 0000 Elephant Pumps throughout Africa, which provide more than 2 million people with safe drinking water. The pump is built (see photograph online in the article) using a modified design based on an ancient Chinese rope pulley system that uses materials that are easy to repair and maintain locally. An Elephant Pump can last for more than 15 years and its design is such that 95% of built pumps continue to operate throughout the continent.
We recently invited York CVS, a Leeds based AquAid customer, to participate in a well building campaign and were delighted when they graciously accepted.
York CVS themselves are all about help and support. Since 1939, York CVS has supported thousands of local charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises to focus on what they do best – making a difference.
They provide a range of support, training and advice to help organisations set up, flourish and even finish if they feel their work is done.
Ruth Stockdale, Communications and Marketing Adviser at York CVS expressed enthusiasm about the well building campaign, “York CVS is proud to be working with AquAid and is delighted that by providing clean, fresh water here in York, we are able to support others to receive the same benefits in Africa.”
York CVS’ decision to participate in this water pump building campaign means that a rural community in Africa will now have access to safe, clean drinking water.
If you currently have an AquAid water cooler and would like to find out how you can go about sponsoring your very own water well, at no extra cost, please contact us.
Via our website: https://www.aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk/contact
Via e-mail: marie@aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk
Via telephone: 0800 772 3003
If you would like to enquire about purchasing a water cooler, drop us a line or give us a shout at any of the above. We’d love to be able to assist. And you can, of course, be very well (ha) on your way to sponsoring your very own water well.
by Fern Shaw | Mar 10, 2015 | aquaid surrey, Charity
Regional Manager – AquAid Surrey
To date, meeting some of the AquAid team has taken us all over the U.K., as far as San Francisco in the USA, and even Tanzania, Africa with Ian Thorpe of The Africa Trust for Christmas with the Maasai.
Today we learn a bit more about Ross Dowsett, Regional Manager at AquAid Surrey.
Ross has been with AquAid Surrey since January 2004. His position keeps him on his toes working a 10 hour day. When he’s not at work, much of his time is spent being a Dad, ferrying his children to various after school activities.
His 10 year old daughter does judo and plays various instruments on the school team and his 6 year old boy participates in football and swimming. Seems like busy runs in the family!
When he can find the time, Ross realises his grand passion for cooking. He watches practically every cooking programme on TV and often tries out and recreates the dishes, with, as he says, ‘varied results’.
From what Ross told us, his results now are a far cry from the days when he started on this taste adventure. Apparently, his first attempt at making his favourite dish from scratch – a Chicken & Apricot Curry from a Rick Stein recipe – didn’t go quite as planned.
He confused tablespoon (Tbs.) with teaspoon (tsp.) measurements, and ended up having to glug a tub of natural yoghurt to stop the burn. Thankfully, the days of confusing measurements are long past and diners chez Ross are in for a treat.
He’s also been told that his Spaghetti Bolognaise is the best around, perfected from his mum’s recipe. I have to agree – there’s nothing quite like a good Bolognaise – tops on the comfort food list.
Another activity that keeps Ross on his toes is, as he says, ‘trying to keep fit by taking long walks as often as is possible’ as each year he tries to ensure that he enters a 13+ mile walk for charity. It’s this inspiration that gets him to go out on cold winter nights in all weathers to get a bit of training in.
On the 22nd of this month, Ross is doing the Marsden March. It is a 14 mile walk from the Royal Marsden Hospital Fulham to The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton. The Marsden Hospital specialises in the treatment of cancer.
This means a lot to Ross as he lost his mother to cancer 12 years ago and other people in his family are now battling the illness.
If any of you would like to sponsor Ross you can do so at Just Giving. All sponsorships, irrespective of the amount, will be for a most worthwhile cause!
So, there you have another of the ‘Meet the AquAid Team:’ – Ross Dowsett – super pretty much everything! Thanks for a slice of your valuable time, Ross!
by Fern Shaw | Feb 14, 2015 | Charity, Health and Hydration, Water
In this month of love (being February) I can hear the howls of protest from many an individual as they scarper to warmer climes, (or just anywhere else) to avoid participating in Valentine’s Day.
I have my own personal rules regarding the day in question – I call it Anti-Valentine’s – but that’s for another story and those of you with a stronger constitution than most.
To change perspective a little, I skipped along the web looking for romantic tales/rituals involving water, splashing merrily as I do. I found some truly lovely practices and rituals, but the nicest, by far, was sent to me by our co-ordinator extraordinaire, Michelle. As we‘re very invested in charities, as with The Africa Trust, which provides safe drinking water to people throughout Africa, I thought that this was quite fitting:-
It’s a folk tale from Kenya called The Fire on the Hill:
Long, long ago, there was a lake of cold water in Kenya. Many animals came at night to the lake to drink some water. But people never came to the lake at night. The animals could kill and eat them. Now, a rich man who had a beautiful daughter once said, “The young man, who will go to the lake in the evening and stay in the cold water till morning, will have my daughter for his wife.”
There lived a poor young man who loved the rich man’s daughter very much. He said to his mother, “I shall try to stay all night in the lake and then marry my dear girl.”
“No, No,” the mother said, “you are my only son! The water in the lake is very cold and the animals will eat you up. Don’t go there!”
She cried and cried. But her son said, “Mother, don’t cry. I must try. I love her so much!” So the young man went to the girl’s father. He told him that he wanted to go to the lake and stay in the cold water all night. The rich man sent his servants to a place where they could watch the young man.
When night came, the young man went to the lake and his mother followed him. But he did not see her. There was a hill forty paces away from the place where the young man went into the water. The woman climbed up the hill and made a fire there. The wild animals saw the fire and were afraid to go near that place.
The young man saw the fire, too. He understood that his mother was there. He thought of his mother’s love and it was easier for him to stay all night in the very cold water. Morning came. The young man went to the rich man’s house. The rich man saw him and said, “My servants say that there was a fire on a hill forty paces from the lake. It warmed you and that is why you could stay all night in the water. So you cannot marry my daughter. Good-bye.”
The young man was very angry. He went to the judge. “Well,” the judge said, “this is a very simple case.”
The next morning the young man with his mother and the rich man with his servants came before the Judge. There were many people there who wanted to hear the case. The judge asked for a pot of cold water. Then he walked forty paces from the pot and made a fire.
“Now,” he said, “we shall wait a little until the water is warm.”
The people cried, “But the fire is so far away, it cannot warm the water in the pot.”
Then the judge said, “And how could that young man warm himself at a fire forty paces away?”
So the case was over and the young man married the rich man’s daughter. They lived happily for many years.
Now I’m sure your swain is not expecting you to take a dip in an icy pond at the common to prove their worth this February, but as far as grand romantic gestures go, this is pretty impressive. Think about it before you go off and spend your hard earned dosh on some screaming pink, polyester-haired teddy.
by Fern Shaw | Jan 28, 2015 | Charity
Here at the end of January 2015 AquAid has reached a fantastic milestone. With the help of our customers, we have reached total charitable donations in excess of £10 million since the company was founded in 1998, enough to supply more than 2 million people with clean drinking water.
These donations could not have been achieved without the help of our loyal customers. Every one of you has helped contribute towards the fantastic achievement and we, as well as the beneficiaries of the donations, are truly grateful for your support.
I hope that all of you will take a brief moment out of your day to pat yourself on the back for the difference your purchasing decision has made. I have been fortunate enough myself to see first-hand the difference when I visited Burkina Faso a few years ago. The transformation to a child’s life when they no longer have to walk three miles every day for water cannot be exaggerated. It is two hours more every day to study, be with his or her family or simply be a child, able to play and enjoy life.
On behalf of AquAid and all of the children and adults who have benefited,
Thank You.
Peter Hansen
Group Manager
