WAPIs Save Lives

I am a doubter. One who listens to “world-saving” ideas with a half-closed mind and a pinch of salt. I want to believe, but I have too often been caught in multilevel scams with diamond-studded promises. I’ve learned to trust what my father used to say: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!”

So you can imagine my response when my good friend Bob said, “Dick, did you know that for $10 we can save the lives of 100 children in a poor village on the other side of the world?”

“Really?” I said, listening but wanting to walk away.

Instead, I stood still and listened with one ear as Bob’s rapid-fire, auctioneer’s voice described a WAPI (Water Purification Indicator) to me. His description made so little sense I almost laughed.

“This little polycarbonate tube shows when water is safe to drink. It’s cheap, it’s always right, and it lasts and lasts and lasts!”

Bob smiled as he said it, as if he really thought I should believe him.

“Come with me next week to Friends of the Carpenter in Vancouver, Washington,” he said. “I’ll show you what we are doing.”

Friends of the Carpenter is a nonprofit, faith-based organization that empowers the homeless through community volunteer projects. It is here that Bob and his volunteer groups assemble many of the devices.

Then Bob added, “By the way, I just helped a Rotary Club at the University of California send 1,000 of our WAPIs to help kids who are living in refugee camps in Chad, Africa.”

That stopped me in my tracks.

I turned around and motioned to a table. We sat down, and for the next 20 minutes Bob told me about WAPIs—what they are, how they work, why they work, who uses them, who ought to be using them, and how cheap they are to make. Then he challenged me to join him and save the lives of some kids.

A WAPI indicates when water is safe to drink.

You need to know that a fair chunk of Bob’s life was spent on drugs and in prison. Then he met Karen, his “angel,” and together they met Jesus, who is the driving force of everything Bob and Karen do. Simply put, what they do is love others. So when Bob talks, I listen.

“Here are four facts for you to remember,” Bob challenged me:

• About 436 million children live in areas with high or very high water vulnerability. And every day, more than 1,000 children under the age of 5 die from water-related diseases and inadequate sanitation.

• In developing countries, about 80 percent of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions.

• Water becomes safe when pasteurized, heated to 149°F (65°C), not boiled at 212°F (100°C). It takes a kilogram of wood to boil a gallon of water. With a WAPI, there is no need to boil, which saves both time and wood.

• The WAPI’s wax core turns to liquid at 149°F, showing the cook that the water is now safe.

Bob gave me a list of names with email addresses and phone numbers, and I went home and began sending messages and leaving voicemails. Pretty soon my phone rang.

Students on a Mission

“Hello, this is Zack in San Diego. You want to know about WAPIs? I can tell you what I know. Yesterday I delivered 950 WAPIs to Roger so he could get them to the people he’s helping in Chad right away.”

Zack is the vice president of Rotary’s Rotaract Club at the University of California (UC) in San Diego. He didn’t want to talk about the weather or his classes, just WAPIs.

“You know,” Zack powered on, “we had 170 students making WAPIs! Clubs from several different UC campuses got together to assemble WAPIs. We made more than 1,000 of them this year—950 special ones for Roger to send to Chad this month. He sends them to ADES [Agence de Développement Economique et Social], an organization that distributes them to people in the refugee camps in Chad.

“By the way, our 950 this year are in addition to the 1,000 we sent last year! Just think of how many kids can now have water that is safe to drink!”

I was busily scribbling semi-legible notes.

“This is the eleventh year our clubs have assembled WAPIs, and we love doing it!”

Loree is the founder and director of the Health and Hope Foundation in Tanzania.

“The WAPI is being very well received in the Maasai communities we serve,” Loree writes. “We’re using it in community classes and have added it to our curriculum. It’s helping prevent cholera, dysentery, and other waterborne diseases. It holds up well and is also helping families save on fuel expenses.”

Bob gave me more information: “WAPIs are saving lives in the Philippines, India, Zambia, Kenya, and high in the Himalayas. I mean, they’re just all over the place. Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Chad, Sierra Leon, Ecuador, and more!”

‘Thank you! Thank you! My children don’t get sick from the water anymore.’

Bob began producing WAPIs in 2010 after he saw the need while on a mission trip to Zambia.

“In our early days of making WAPIs, we used propane torches and pliers. We started with our Adventist church youth group; then other youth groups joined us. They loved it, but back then the assembly line was tough work, and it took too long to make each WAPI.”

“Did that change when you started working with Friends of the Carpenter?” I asked.

“Wow, did it ever! A couple of the creative old dudes there designed a much better assembly process, one we’ve used to assemble more than 200,000 WAPIs. In fact, now we’re providing WAPI kits with everything you need to produce 200 WAPIs. Each kit has the wax, the washers, wires, and envelopes.”[*]

“Couldn’t you just send the kits to the orphanages?” I wondered aloud.

“Sure enough. But when Jesus reached out to help people, He always got as close to them as possible. He was involved in their lives. We think the WAPIs mean more when a group of people is involved on the production end, and then the moms overseas receive the lifesaving WAPIs without having to assemble them in their spare time.”

Taking WAPIs to Haiti

I tried out a WAPI on our kitchen stove, did more research, and then called Bob. I told him what I was learning and asked if there was a country where I might never expect he would be sending WAPIs.

“One,” he replied. “Haiti.”

Bob heard my pause and sensed my concern.

“I know,” he said. “It’s not a safe place, but I have a dentist friend who does missionary dentistry on the back side of Haiti. It’s safer there, and the people really love him. Every time he goes, he carries several cases of WAPIs with him. Remember, they’re very light, and they fit nicely in between T-shirts!”

I laughed and asked who receives the WAPIs in Haiti.

“An organization called the House of Hope,” Bob answered. “I’ll talk to Aline and have her call you.”

Before long I was on the phone with Aline. She and her husband, Eli, operate the House of Hope, a safe place for orphans beneath Haiti’s tropical sky.

“How do you use the WAPIs?” I asked her.

“I teach people how to hang the WAPI on the edge of the pot and then watch until the wax melts,” Aline explained. “They are very surprised and like the way the WAPI shows when water is safe, even before it boils.”

We talked about her work with the people in nearby villages, and then she told me another WAPI story.

“Last month I visited a church and demonstrated the use of the WAPIs to 600 members. Then I went to their school, where at least 1,000 children are studying. The people all wanted to know if they could use the WAPI more than once. I explained that when you take the WAPI out of the kettle and let it cool for about three minutes, it’s ready to use again. They were amazed,” Aline said. “Now I need many, many more!”

Why It Matters

“I’ve learned that the simplest ideas are often the best ideas,” Bob said, smiling. “And sometimes crazy works. What really keeps us going is what we hear from the moms.”

Bob wiped his eyes before sharing the punch line. “Here’s what they say: ‘Thank you! Thank you! My children don’t get sick from the water anymore.’ ”

[*] To see how your family, church, or youth group can receive a kit or get involved, please contact Bob Tait at wapisfortheworld@gmail.com.