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| Scott Harrison, CEO and founder of the non-profit organization, Charity: water, established his charity after seeking a more worthwhile path in life after working as a nightclub promoter. Courtesy of Charity: water |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Scott Harrison was the life of the party in New York in the late 1990s. As a promoter for the Big Apple's 40-plus nightclubs, he was paid good money for drinking brand vodkas and was always part of good-looking crowds.
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| Scott Harrison/ Courtesy of Charity: water |
Now as CEO and founder of the non-profit organization, Charity: water, he looks back, telling himself and others that his two seemingly contrasting lives come down to the same principle ― sort of.
"The act of promoting didn't stop," Harrison told The Korea Times, Friday. "I just started promoting something wildly different, the idea of humanitarian service."
He founded his charity in 2006, and the organization has now provided clean water to more than 10 million people through 44,000 projects in over 28 countries.
"If you think about your life without water, everything would be different… But we take it for granted," he said. "Yet, that's not the reality for 10 percent of the world."
Recent World Health Organization data estimates about 485,000 diarrheal deaths are caused by drinking dirty water each year, and 785 million people lack even basic drinking-water services.
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| Charity: water has provided clean water to more than 10 million people in over 28 countries. Courtesy of Charity: water |
Growing up as an only child in a religious family in New Jersey, he recalled his childhood as being the main caregiver of his mother, who did not recover from a gas leak at their house. "I played by all the Christian rules," he said.
Then, one day, he decided to flip the page onto the hard-partying nightlife of New York.
"There was something about the music (at the nightclubs), a throng of people, the celebrities... Maybe it was just so opposite to my repressive Christian upbringing that there was something amazing about," he said.
What he referred to as the "classic, cliche rebellion story" turned into a 10-year life as a nightclub promoter.
"I picked up a lot of the vices ― smoking, drinking, gambling, pornography," he said. "I was having a double life; my life would look great on the outside, but I was rotting inside."
He said a mixture of causes ― emotional destruction, death-threats from customers and an unhealthy lifestyle ― kept pushing him to end his dark life.
At the age of 28, he felt the need for another life change but this time, to do some good. He went on a six-month transition, soul-searching and looking for a purpose in life.
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| Children in Rwanda enjoy clean water after a Charity: water project. Courtesy of Charity: water |
Harrison began applying to volunteer at charities, hoping to try a year of dedication to helping others. After being rejected by several organizations, he was accepted by Mercy Ships in 2004 ― a medical aid charity with a non-governmental hospital ship ― to join its mission in Liberia, only if he agreed to pay $500 a month to the charity.
"The idea of changing the environment completely felt like something I needed to do… I had in my mind that I wanted to go to the poorest country in the world," he said.
Harrison spent about two years in Liberia, serving as a photojournalist for the charity's mission. That is when he met former plastic surgeon and the ship's chief medical officer Dr. Garry Parker. The doctor became his mentor and a role model who inspired him to continue pursuing providing humanitarian aid.
On his journeys, he witnessed people drinking dirty river and swamp water and learned that the root cause of people's disease was contaminated water.
"(Dr. Parker) said 'if you really care about global health, then the number one thing you would pursue is clean water,'" he said. And so he did.
After traveling to a few other countries, including Rwanda and Kenya, to learn more about the issue and the solution, he launched his own organization, Charity: water, two years later.
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| A local drilling team that helps carry out Charity: water's projects. The charity has worked with 37 local partners. Courtesy of Charity: water |
Charity: water now has several different ways of bringing clean water to low-income rural areas. It has seen explosive growth in the past couple of years.
"We grew 30 percent this year and 40 percent the year before," Harrison said.
The organization runs on a 100 percent donation model that makes sure every penny donated goes to the clean water projects. Its website offers details of the projects and ensures people know how their money is being spent.
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| A woman in Uganda poses for pictures with a water container on her head. Courtesy of Charity: water |
"They didn't know where their money would go and how much of it would reach the people," Harrison said. "So I had this idea of taking the most common objection people have and eliminating it."
Its visibility, using the power of social media, is another strength of Charity: water. Hundreds of stories, from donors and volunteers to beneficiaries, are shared through its website and Instagram, along with vivid images.
"We were the first charity to use Instagram and get a million followers… we approach the issue a little differently through storytelling and transparency," Harrison said.
Using the "language of today," the organization spreads the act of good deeds by its supporters ― such as children selling lemonade to raise money or sending their allowances ― which leads to more support.
Harrison published an autobiography about a year ago to share his transition to humanitarian service. The book was recently translated into Korean and hit shelves last week. "I hope my search for purpose and finding it will encourage people," he said.
"Maybe for those who feel stuck or have done some bad things that keep them from a positive future, hopefully, they will realize they are not worse than me when they read this," he laughed.
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