For the small cost of your next bottle of water
you can make a difference in the world.

During November of 2007 Karen and I took a 2 week trip to Sierra Leone in support of our church's missionary family who lives there. It changed our lives forever. The poverty we saw was staggering.

Sierra Leone is a small west-African nation that experienced a horrific civil war from 1991 to 2002. It is the country featured in the movie, *Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Sierra Leone is the poorest country in the world with an infant mortality rate of 15.8% and where 27.8% of all children do not survive their 5th birthday. Life expectancy is a little over 40 years. One in 6 women die in childbirth.

The purpose of our trip was simple... share the hope of Jesus Christ with a people for whom there is little hope.

With our missionary's help our small group of 9 people visited 34 schools, distributing Christian booklets called the Book of Hope to over 24,000 students and teachers. Click on the pictures below to see the wonderful faces of the children...

These children are fortunate because they have parents with enough money to send them to school. There is no public education. You have to pay to go to school. Some students actually sneak into the classroom. In one school with an enrollment of 1200 pupils we distributed over 1300 booklets. The hope for Sierra Leone is in these children.

Many more children are not so fortunate. According to recent report by UNICEF, 78% of the children between the ages of 7 and 14 are engaged in child labor. The study, which covered one quarter of the world's population, ranked Sierra Leone last among nations surveyed.

Our Christian faith instructs us that it is not enough to just tell people about Jesus without attempting to provide for their human needs (James 2:14-17). Before leaving Sierra Leone I asked our missionary what he believed to be the greatest need. His answer came quickly... water.

A major factor contributing to the short life expectancy is the lack of clean drinking water. We saw the need wherever we went. We experienced the need ourselves. And, the solution is incredibly simple. A water well can be drilled just about anywhere in the country. Water is found in the range of 150 to 300 feet below the surface.

Assemblies of God missionary, Tom McLane, explains the need
for clean drinking water in Sierra Leone, Africa.

Upon returning to the US we determined to do something about meeting this basic human need. Our church (Assembly of God) raised just over $8100 which purchased a well drilling machine and enough materials to drill one well. As of this writing (March 1, 2008) the machine is on the way to our missionary in Sierra Leone.

Will you help us drill water wells in Sierra Leone? All we ask for is a donation of $1.00 or $2.00... the cost of one bottle of water. It seems like such a small sacrifice and it truly will make a difference in our world.

We appreciate anything you can do to help. Every dollar donated goes directly to help the people of Sierra Leone.

Karen and Don Bridge, owners
Old Time Candy Company

*Did you see the movie Blood Diamond? Karen and I did too. During our trip we asked our driver, James, if he had seen the movie and what he thought of it. Yes, he had seen it but he thought it wasn't violent enough.

James should know because he lived it. He lost 2 sisters in the war and personally walked out of his country as a refugee.