A Belmont Rotarian's life-changing trip to Ethiopia has led her club to commit to a life-saving project there. The club is donating $5,000 to finance construction of a well that will provide about 250 people in a small Ethiopian village with clean drinking water.

Emily Queen, who served then as International Services Officer for the Belmont Rotary Club, traveled to Ethiopia on mission trips with her Forest Pointe Church for the past two summers. Her group made contact there with a missionary, Joe Harding, who introduced them to his daughter and her husband, Kelly and Ben Taylor, who were working there with a nonprofit organization called "Water Is Life International." That group's mission is providing safe water to impoverished communities throughout Ethiopia.  Among other projects they undertook in Ethiopia, Forest Pointe Church contributed money for a well in that arid, southern part of the country.

Queen noted the urgency of the situation by pointing out that more than 59 million Ethiopians do not have access to safe water. Waterborne diseases such as diarrhea kill more than 2.3 million people annually worldwide, including about 74,000 Ethiopian children under the age of five.

The lack of immediate access to clean water has other consequences as well. Ethiopian women and children spend hours carrying water from distant sources, and children are often absent or drop out of school due to that duty and constant water-related illnesses that can lead to decreased cognitive ability and attention deficit.

Queen was shocked by the situation, and returned from her second trip determined that the Belmont Rotary Club should commit to a well-drilling project. She and Pastor Ray Hardee made a presentation to club members last fall about her trip and the desperate need for clean water in that part of the world. Club president Bill Stetzer and the fundraising committee had initial concerns about the project because the $5,000 price tag was a large amount for a small club. Members also recognized that many worthy projects in the local community deserved the help as much as the one across the ocean.

However, the committee eventually decided to fund the well, and stepped up its fundraising efforts to meet the need for more revenue. A successful downtown beer and wine crawl provided the bulk of the money needed, and general club funds covered the rest.

Queen is sending funds this month to Water Is Life, and construction on a well for the village of Robe should begin shortly. Queen said the village has never received development aid in the past, and she expects the well will be one of the most beneficial gifts imaginable. In addition to hiring local citizens to help with construction, Water Is Life will also teach villagers how to care for the well and the importance of sanitation.

The project has also had a life-changing impact on Queen. She is now on a leave of absence from the club as she returns to school to earn a bachelor's degree in nursing.  She explained, "My descision to leave my previous career and go into the medical profession is in large part due to the life changing experiences that I have had in Ethiopia."

To learn more about the work in Ethiopia of Ben and Kelly Taylor, visit http://benjaminandkelly.com/