Hello everyone! For anyone reading this who may not know me, my name is Ben Willows and I am a student at the University of Colorado Boulder studying Environmental Engineering. This summer, I will be traveling to the rural Northern Region of Ghana for three weeks as a part of the Saha Global Leadership Program! It is truly an honor to be accepted into this program, and I am thrilled to be a part of something much larger than myself. Saha Global is a nonprofit organization that implements clean water and solar power systems in rural villages across the world. Saha is responsible for 110 clean water businesses and 28 solar power businesses worldwide, most of which are lifelines for these communities. Saha is unique in their efforts in that the clean drinking water business in Ghana that I will help build and implement will be operated by local female entrepreneurs from the village! Chances are if you're reading this you have been fortunate enough, as I have, to always have a clean glass of water to drink, whenever you'd like. However, for billions of people worldwide, this is not the case. In the Northern Region of Ghana, 40% of the population does not have access to clean water. For lack of any other option, they are forced to drink fecally contaminated water to survive. This is why I was compelled to apply for this opportunity to help, something as fundamental to life as drinking water is something that no one should live without. I am seeking funding for this project to be able to provide water treatment materials, training, and support for these female entrepreneurs to implement these businesses and maintain them for decades, to ensure that everyone in their village will never drink contaminated water again. For more information about Saha, and where I will fit in as a Water Field Representative in Ghana this May, I invite you to please visit their website at sahaglobal.org. Thank you for your time in reading this! This has been a dream of mine for a very long time to help those who need it most, and I will not be able to fulfill it without your help. Any donation amount will help tremendously, and every last cent will go toward getting these good people the clean water that they need so badly. Please contact me at any time for any more information that I can provide at willows.benjamin@gmail.com Thank you! - Ben
