Becky Underwater.

So, I love water.  Shouldn't be a surprise to most people who know me. I think my affection started sometime around 18 months old, when my parents took me sailing.  Either it was my love for water that caused me to fall overboard, or it explains my nickname, "bowling ball head."

Becky on a boat

Thankfully, I learned to swim. Probably a wise idea for parents who have kids who like take off their lifevest so they can lean over the sides of boats. The next twenty years of my life could then be categorized as, "Becky's underwater."

(About to share some embarrassing pics. If you're someone who makes fun of me - please stop reading here. Thanks. If you're my sisters, I apologize in advance.)

 

These were the ADIDAS years.  All Day I Dreamed About Swimming. My whole family did, actually.  Here's our "portrait" ... for the CHURCH DIRECTORY!

 

 

I was so obsessed, in high school I began swimming 4 hours per day. I was lucky enough to swim in college, where (if you add it up) me, along with the rest of the team, basically spent an entire semester underwater.

 

Age 15 - 25: I spent my summers coaching my alma mater, the "mighty" seahorses.

To be perfectly honest - there was not one point during my swimming "career" where I knew anything about the water crisis.  It wasn't until I was working on my grad degree that I began to understand what 1 in 8 people live without.  I had earned a coveted internship at UNICEF, but the only spot available was in the Division of Water and Sanitation. I remember my mom saying, "I read somewhere that women have to walk really far for water."

"Oh," I thought. "Well, I've certainly spent a lot of time in the water, I guess it's only fitting that I now work for people without it." I thought I'd spend a year there, and then move on.

But from UNICEF, to charity: water, I was once again thrown in the pool. My new workout became pouring over spreadsheets and research papers, trying to find the solutions that were most-effective. I couldn't believe the stats. The people, all over the world, who need something so simple. Something I spent my childhood playing in.

Some believe that your name can be prophesy.  If so, I'm glad I'm no longer, "bowling ball head."  But whenever I'm traveling, and someone cannot pronounce or understand, "Becky".  I can usually always say, "You know the Old Testament?"

"My name's Rebecca. The woman at the well."

.......

I'm incredibly proud of this campaign today, in celebration of World Water Day. I'm proud because I didn't launch it.  It was volunteers and champions around the world.  My personal goal is to raise $200 today for clean water in India. If so, The Prem Rawat Foundation agreed to match it.  If you donate, I promise I will not post any embarrassing photos of you on my blog.  Well, I'll try not to.

donate here: http://www.theadventureproject.causevox.com/beckystraw

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ram rati and me