The Founder's Story

I have spent a lot of time over the semester following charity:water.  I have learned about the charity itself, and all the amazing things it is doing for impoverished people around the world.  What I didn't take the time to learn about, until now, is the man behind the charity.  I had seen his picture and watched his trailers on the charity:water website, but I had never really thought about who Scott Harrison really is, and what brought him to create charity:water.

That being said, here is a recap of the life of the man who started it all :

Born and Raised...

Scott Harrison was born on September 7th, 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He was the first, and only child of Charles and Joan Harrison.  When Scott was young, his family moved to Hunterdon County, New Jersey.  

When Scott was at the young age of 4, his mother became ill.  His parents, trying to be more eco-friendly, had a new furnace installed in their home.  Unfortunately, the new furnace was cracked, and Joan Harrison was exposed to carbon monoxide.  

SIDE NOTE:  For those of you who may not know, carbon monoxide is essentially poison to humans.  It is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas.  Large quantities of carbon monoxide are toxic to humans and animals.  The most common symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are: headache, nausea, vommitting, dizziness, fatigue, and an overall feeling of weakness.  Carbon monoxide poisoning can also lead to more serious health issues, such as: confusion, disorientation, visual disturbance, seizures, coma, and even death.  One simple way to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning is to place carbon monoxide detectors (which are similar to smoke detectors) throughout your home.

Joan Harrison's immune system was destroyed do to her exposure to carbon monoxide.  She became debilitated, suffering from various serious chronic health issues.  Due to his mother's poor health, Scott grew up taking care of her and their home.

Life in the Big Apple...

When Scott was 18 years old, he left his home in New Jersey and headed to the big city: New York.  There, he enrolled in New York University.  Scott has said that he was not a diligent student NYU.  Nevertheless, in 1998, he graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in communications.

Scott spent the next few years rebelling from his Christian upbringing.  He began working as a party promoter in Manhattan.  He made his living promoting New York City's top nightclubs and fahion events.  He threw lavish parties for many companies, including MTV, VH1, Bacardi, Elle Magazine, and the like.  He spent his time chasing after models, mingling with New York City's elite crowd, and indulging in drugs (including cocaine and ecstasy).  

Scott has described this period of his life with great distaste.  He claims that he was in a state of "spiritual bankruptcy... living selfishly and arrogantly."  He was "desperate, unhappy, and needed change." 

Scott decided that he needed to start a new life for himself.  He wanted to lead a life that was the exact opposite of the way he had been living in New York City.  In 2004, he did just that.

The Big Change...

In 2004, Scott Harrison left New York City, crossed the Atlantic, and headed to the shores of West Africa, where he would stay for the next 8 months.

Scott had signed up to volunteer for Mercy Ships, a Christian humanitarian organization.  Mercy Ships offered free medical care to people living in the world's poorest countries.  Top surgeons and doctors from around the world gave up their practices and extravagant lives to lend a hand to those in need.  These doctors performed free medical exams and operations for thousands of people who had no access to medical care of any kind.  

Scott took the position of photojournalist on the ship.  He traded in a fancy loft in Manhattan for a bunk bed in a small cabin on a ship.  He shared this cabin with roommates, and cockroaches.  He gave up VIP tables at all the top restaurants in the city for an "army-style" mess hall, which fed roughly 400 people.

Scott has said that he was "utterly astonished by the poverty" he saw in Africa.  He documented the life and human suffering, "often through tears."  The lives that these people lead were worse than anything he had ever imagined.  

Thousands of people would stand in line and wait to be seen by one of the doctors on the ships.  Many of these people were affected by abnormalities that people in the United States were not accustomed to seeing.  Scott met  and photographed people with huge tumors, cleft lips, bacteria-eaten faces.  He also met many people who were blind.  Many of these health issues were, in fact, seen in the United States. 

The difference was: they were treated in the United States.  They were, treatable, if not preventable.  Tumors could be caught early and removed.  Cleft lips could be corrected during infancy.  Clean water could prevent bacteria from eating away flesh.  And cataract surgery could help people to see. 

While volunteering for Mercy Ships, Scott fell in love with Liberia, a nation on the west coast of Africa that is home to roughly 3.5 million people.  The country had no public electricity, no running water, and no sewage system.  The people there lived on less than 365 dollars a year.  That's less than one dollar a day.  Liberia is where Scott put a face to the 1.2 billion people living in poverty around the world.  

Back in the States...

After spending 8 months volunteering for Mercy Ships, Scott Harrison left West Africa and returned to the United States.  He came back a changed man, however.  While on his trip, Scott had decided that he wanted to commit to a life of service.  He wanted to affect the lives of those in need for the better.  

While in Liberia, Scott learned that 80% of the diseases he encountered were caused by a lack of unsafe water and basic sanitation.  That is how he came to the conclusion that the world's lack of clean water was the biggest obstacle for the impoverished.  

Scott decided to start his own charity.  A charity that would help bring clean water to the people who really needed it.  A charity that gave 100% of people's donations directly to the cause.

And so, charity:water was born.

A Little More on Scott...

• While volunteering for Mercy Ships, Scott heard news that his mother, Joan, had suddenly recovered from her numerous health issues.  The Harrison family credits their undoubted Christian faith for her "miraculous" recovery.
• On September 26, 2009, Scott Harrison married Viktoria Alexeeva.
• Viktoria Harrison is from St. Petersburg, Russia and is now the Director of Design and Branding for charity:water.

Information courtesy of: 

• charity:water
• The New York Times
• Planet Green
• CBS
• webMD

Photos courtesy of:

• Contribute Media
• vikandscottgetmarried.com
• sva.edu
• travelagencyinsurance.com
• radaid.org

Vanity Fair #2

In my first blog about Vanity Fair, I talked about the difference between a short article and a feature-length article.  I had stated that the longer the article, the more substance.  To test this theory, I compared two articles in the October 2010 issue.  The first article I read was very short.  It consisted on less than half of a page.  The second article I read was nine and a half pages long, including photos.  (If the article had been text only, it would have been closer to 4 pages long.)

These two articles deny my previous claim more than they support it.  Sure, there are definitely differences between the delivery and style of the articles.  But when it comes right down to it, the articles manage to get out a similar range of information.  The shorter article is simply more to the point.  The longer article seems to drag the issue out much further.  The biggest difference seems to be that the longer article explains the background of the story pretty thoroughly.  The shorter article throws a lot of information at you without explaining it in depth.  The shorter article seems to assume that you already know about what is being covered.

The short article is titled "Once Upon a Time, at Harvard."  The main point of the article is that Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, went to Harvard University.  But there are also many subtopics in the article.  In a very small amount of words, the author is able to cover a lot of information.  The many topics that the author covers are:

1. Mark Zuckerberg is the creator of Facebook.
2. Mark Zuckerberg attended Harvard University.

                                Those are the main points.

1. Jesse Eisenberg is the actor who plays Zuckerberg in the film The Social Network.
2. Jesse Eisenberg is wearing designer clothing in the picture for the article.
3. Zuckerberg and 3 others came up with the idea behind Facebook while attending Harvard University.  
4. The original site was the "Harvard Connection."  It was a site that aimed to merge the personal data of students in ways that Facebook later would.
5. Two of the three people that Zuckerberg worked with rowed crew in the Olympics, yet you never hear their names around town.
6. Zuckerberg won a lawsuit against the 3 others for the rights of Facebook.
7. Jesse Eisenberg relates to the role of Zuckerberg.  Both are kind and quiet, and pretty anti-social.
8. Zuckerberg is worth roughly 4 million dollars.

                         Those are the other points covered in the article.

It is crazy to think that all of that information can fit into such a short article.  It is possible simply because that is all that is included in the article.  The author assumes that the reader knows about Facebook, the movie, and everything else.  

Let's compare this to a feature-length article....

The longer article is titled "Adrift..."  It is the cover story.  On the cover, it says " From It Girl to Jailbird: Lindsay Lohan.  What went so wrong... and how she can right herself."  The description on the front cover is accurate of the main point in the article.  The article is about how a young actress who was once hailed by respected senior actresses (Jane Fonda, Tina Fey, and Meryl Streep) became a tabloid sensation and jailbird.  It is about how a respected young actress became the laughing stock of the industry.  The article is relatively long and very wordy.  Like the shorter article, it brings up many subtopics, including:

1. Lohan's distinct voice.
2. Lohan's physical appearance (hair, clothing, jewelry, spray tan).
3. Her recent altercation with a waitress.
4. The president's knowledge of her situation.
5. Allegations that Lohan stole another lady's man.
6. When she became a household name back in 2004.
7. Her childhood and early acting career.
8. The court-ordered alcohol classes that she failed to attend.
9. Her 90-day jail sentence for violating the terms of her parole.
10. Her two DUI's.  

This article covers a huge range of information about Lindsay Lohan.  It spans all the way from her childhood to the present.  It covers the good, as well as the bad. It does do in a seemingly random way.  It jumps all over the place.  What really separates it from the other article is the depth of the information.  The article briefly explains who Lindsay Lohan is.  It explains what she did to get in trouble.  It explains for past success.  It explains a whole lot.  If there is any reader who was unsure of who Lindsay Lohan was before reading the article, they sure have an idea now.

I do still believe that in most cases, the longer the article in Vanity Fair, the more importance there is to it.  In this case, however, that is not the case.  The biggest difference between these two articles, and possibly others, is the depth in which the author explains what he or she is writing about.  The magazine must assume that everyone who reads it knows what Facebook is.  (And they are probably correct with that assumption.)  The magazine probably assumes that pretty much everyone knows who Lindsay Lohan is, but that many may not know exactly what brought her to this stage of her life.  

Different articles require different amount of background information.  It seems that the shorter the article, the less background information is needed.  Maybe the magazine assumes that people know more about the topics of the shorter articles.

Photos courtesy of Vanity Fair.