Speaking of Twitter…the power of social media was channeled toward a social cause last Thursday via the Twestival–185 cities across the globe all holding a tweetup to raise money for charity:water.

charity: water for Twestival from charity: water on Vimeo.

I actually worked on the launch of a new mutual fund a few months back, the Calvert Global Water Fund, which invests in companies and technologies that are enabling access to clean water around the globe in a responsible way (there are a number of human rights and environmental issues that can come into play). So I was quite familiar with shocking statistics such as:

• One in six people around the world don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water
• On average, women in Africa and Asia walk 3.7 miles a day to collect water
• 80% or all sickness in the developing world is due to water-related disease

And that’s also why I felt I had to attend. charity:water focuses on drilling wells in places where water exists underground but access doesn’t.  100% of Twestival tickets went to charity:water, and 100% of their donations go directly to building wells.

The Raleigh Twestival was well-attended and raised more than $2,600–which can provide 130 people in a developing nation clean water for 20 years. Global totals for the event are still being counted.

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