Reflecting on Sudan...

I love New York in the fall. Normally I'm here for work to promote a film or a record, but this time, I'm here for a very different reason. I'm in town to talk about my visit to Southern Sudan this past April. That visit changed my life. I remember stepping off the plane into 100-degree weather and being introduced to a woman named Antoinette. Antoinette lived in one of the poorest communities in the region. She'd brought her son Jido with her to meet me and, together, we walked to the Nile to collect their daily drinking water. It was honestly one of the most grueling walks of my life, completely off-path and through some of the most difficult terrain I've ever encountered. When we arrived at the Nile, I was overwhelmed. The river was filled with people bathing, washing clothes and animals -- so many animals, drinking and urinating in the same water Antoinette and Jido would be drinking. This river was Antoinette's tap, shower and bath. She and her son filled their jerry can and we began the long walk back. When we got to back to their village, I worried that she was going to pour me a glass of the dirty water to drink. But instead, she took a package of powder and mixed it with the water and began stirring. The powder -- called PUR -- removed all dirt within a matter of minutes. Within a half hour, the water was safe to drink. This was one of so many stories I recall so clearly.

My visit to Sudan was my first trip as an Ambassador for a child survival program called Five & Alive, which is run by PSI (Population Services International). I'm in New York speaking on their behalf, sharing my experiences with people in town for the Condé Nast World Savers Congress and the Clinton Global Initiative. To be honest, I feel nervous about participating in these meetings. This feels bigger than anything I've done before. I'm just beginning my international humanitarian work, yet here I am, surrounded by the world's leading corporate executives and philanthropists. I know I have something to add to the conversation, but what? I suddenly feel far away from the real reason I'm here and disconnected from the people who moved me so much in Sudan.

All these people gathered in New York are trying to make the lives of the men and women I met in Sudan better. But women like Antoinette and her son Jido already have some of the tools they need to improve their lives. Antoinette used the PUR powder to make her own drinking water safe. But she also talked to the people in her community and showed them how they could clean their drinking water too. Her passion came from years of fighting the illness and disease that drinking dirty water can cause -- diarrhea, dehydration and dysentery.

The walk to the Nile that day has profoundly changed the way I view my role. Antoinette used her knowledge to change the way her families and friends behaved and she made sure that the water they drank was clean. She calls herself a peer educator and that's what I'm going to call myself too. In a way, I'm joining her army, supporting her in the challenges that she faces. The problems that she and so many like her are facing are incredibly complex. But my experience in Sudan has convinced me that solutions do exist, and the people most in need are eager to be part of them. There are simple and cost-effective tools out there that can help people living in the poorest communities in the world, and my role is to talk about those solutions, encouraging support and involvement.

Sudan was not only my first trip with PSI, it was my first trip to Africa. It was challenging, humbling and inspiring. The main goal of the trip was to launch a malaria control program funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and supported by local government. I took pictures and kept a journal on my trip and the Global Fund was kind enough to post them on their website. I hope you check it out and continue to check back here.

 

 

Comments

[Mannock]

Thank you, Mandy. Your profile of PUR is an eye opener. And the following day, I heard more about it from Bill Clinton on David letterman's show.

This is something that can stir hope. And thanks to you and President Clinton, I have decided to donate $10 per month to buy PUR for third world nations. And I urge and challenge everyone to do the same or something similar. Thank you once more, Mandy!

[Water1stMarla]

Mandy - I applaud you for drawing attention to the global water crisis. If we all did what you did, I think we’d all be outraged and truly commit to solving this problem.

But we have to be smart about it. The developing world is littered with the wreckage of past water project failures. There are approaches that work, and I hope you continue your research on this issue.

Because we are lucky to have safe water at our homes here, most people think of the water crisis simply in terms of the safety of drinking water. However, if we want to lift people out of abject poverty, then the walk for water must end.

PUR treats the water that people drink. What about water for cooking or bathing or washing clothes and hands? It’s simply too expensive to use the PUR sachets to treat the domestic water supplies for the 1 billion people on Earth who live on less than $1 per day.

For millions of girls from poor households, there is a straight tradeoff between time spent in school and time spent collecting water. For their mothers, time spent collecting water means they have little time for more productive work or rest.

There is a role for household-level treatment, but I don't think it should be done in the absence of an overall public health approach that includes access to water, toilets and hygiene education.

Marla Smith-Nilson
Water 1st Executive Director

[buddaman71]

I am incredibly saddened by the plight of the Sudanese people and admire Ms. Moore for making the difficult journey. That said, why is it that the African continent has been continually inhabited the longest of all areas on Earth, yet over 95% of the population still lives as their primitive ancestors did? Why has much of the rest of the world evolved to the point where it's inhabitants don't have to drink river water that is full of animal and human waste and these poor people do? Yes, much of the African continent is harsh and desert like, but then so is a vast percentage of the North American continent.

Why is this continent, replete with many natural energy and mineral resources, unable to provide it's inhabitants with even the most basic of necessities and infrastructures? Why are the women attacked and raped at will and treated worse than animals? Why have these people and, to a great extent this continent, failed to evolve?

I am partially of North African decent and have considered these troubling questions all my life. The answers are not politically correct, so I fear they won't ever be addressed.

[pwpg06]

She is awesome!

All One with The ONE! :)))

[Aaira]

It is good to see a talented, young Hollywood star not only being a good role model but helping to educate this generation and the next. You do have an important voice to bring to the conversation; i hope you keep using it in this way.

[Hopeington]

Mandy Moore?!!! I was very impressed with, not only the depth of the service you are undertaking,
but also with the delivery and expression of your personal experience as you moved into a different realm of "performance" for, and with, the people of Sudan.
I have a daughter (she's 22 now) that has been telling me for years that you were different, intelligent and talented. I can see she was correct and I am happy to see you use your talent to shed light on some of the good works that you and others are doing. Thank you.

[meadowgirl]

it's nice to see someone who started out a what some call a "fluffy pop star" growing into her own as a strong, intelligent woman. it's nice to see one that isn't flashing panty, on drugs or worse. good on you, Ms. Mandy Moore. keep on making your way in the world.

[lainey]

Sudan is a country full of people eager to take control of their lives. Story after story, person after person, you soon discover that their goal is to take care of themselves, their families and their communities. In their world full of oppression, genocide and disease, they seem to always manage to find and create the best. Antoinette demonstrated what fighting the good fight looks like and Ms. Moore demonstrates the character to tell about it...not lecture or preach how to do it. Blessings to all who seek solutions wherever injustice exists.

[LMPE]

I always get the feeling that Sudan's population wouldn't have too positive a view of Americans after we destroyed their pharmaceutical factory in 1998.

[Jude Nagurney Camwell]

I've covered the Clinton Global Initiative as a blogger and I think what you're doing is commendable, Mandy. I know you'll do well speaking to the people participating in these meetings. Speak from your heart about your international humanitarian work and I'm certain you'll reach the hearts and minds of those who stand to be able to effect change for those about whom you've come to deeply care. I wish you luck and send you my blessings.

[LesEagle]

Dear Mandy, it looks like we may have been in South Sudan at the same time. Where did you visit. I was in Gambella Ethiopia and the village of Mattaar Ethiopia and my destination was Maker in Eastern Upper Nile. I was there by request of the people of Maker for providing for them (about 250,000) the “Boat of Hope” back in 2003, just before the Peace Treaty in 2005. Yes, I agree there is a tremendous amount of hope for the people of South Sudan and we are working on some of the solutions. We are working directly with the people and acting upon their requests to empower them to accomplish what they believe will bring them the help they need. I applaud your going and would love to connect with you and share the HD Video I shot for my up coming documentary and feature film. Les LaMotte, Executive Director of SudanHope.org.

[GabrielXL]

A woman to be admired for sure. Good for her and bless her for doing something other than catering to vanity.

[sunnydlita]

For those interested in learning more about providing clean water to areas that need it, check out Blood:Water Mission http://www.bloodwatermission.org//).

[Garioch]

Keep listening to the people there instead of telling them and you'll do ok.

[davidricemusic]

I'm familiar with with PUR and the Share Water Project, it's an amazing program. I've been scoring short films for the Clinton Global Initiative for the last few years and did a piece on PUR here: http://davidricemusic.com/Pur.html