My (actually "your") $8591.69 will pay for a fence, a 120-meter borehole that will pump water to a nearby tank, and a small (1.5m²) storage shed where the gardeners can safely store their tools. The project will be completed over a period of eight weeks, and from the time of its completion the support group members will be able to plant, grow and eat vegetables. (And maybe more people will join the support group because they see the benefits! But they have to help with the garden and have regular attendance at meetings before they get any vegetables.) Since most families in the area gather their water from a river or an unreliable water pump, everyone conserves the water they gather for bathing, cooking and washing clothes. Considering the amount of water vegetables drink, it’s impossible for most families to grow them on their homesteads. Thus, though it’s very expensive, providing water to the support group’s garden is essential. But wait, there’s more! Since we’ll be digging a borehole in a part of the community that currently doesn’t have water, we’ll be giving hundreds of people, who previously hauled their water out of a dirty river, clean water for drinking, bathing and cooking. (Or even for planting their own gardens on their homesteads!)

The way I see it, I only need 859 people to donate $10 each. And, seriously, what else would you have spent that $10 on? A grande cinnamon latte and a brownie at Starbucks? A movie ticket? A couple of packs of cigarettes? A Double Whopper Meal? (I actually have no idea how much cigarettes or Whoppers cost. Or anything, for that matter, because I live in Swaziland.)

In Swaziland, that $10 could buy 5 of the 274 fencing posts we’ll need for the project. Or one of the 10 bags of cement we’ll need for the storage shed. Or 1/35 of a 4000L water tank. Every little bit helps!

Even if you want to donate less…$1 buys a cement block, and we need 175 of those.