I was inspired by a short documentary called Ryan’s Well, about a young Canadian boy whose actions made a huge difference in the lives of some people in Uganda. You see, as a first-grader in the small town o f Kemptville, Ontario, Ryan Hreljac learned that there were people in Africa who didn’t have clean drinking water — yet it would cost just $70 to build a well that could provide pure, potable water for an entire village. This six-year-old boy began a campaign to earn the necessary money, only to discover that the cost was actually several thousand dollars. His reaction was, “I’ll do more chores”. . . and he did.
In the film we see Ryan travel to Africa with his parents a few years later. The villagers greet him with enthusiasm and declare a day of commemoration that they call “Ryan’s Day,” in appreciation of his commitment to helping his fellow human beings on the other side of the world. It turns out that Ryan was instrumental in helping to raise what eventually grew to be more than a million dollars! His inspiration had motivated other schools in Canada to get behind his project; after the national news media picked up on the story, the television networks climbed on board, too.
When I watched the film, I was so moved that I insisted that all of my children see it, and they became inspired as well. In fact, I’m writing these words with the admitted intention of inspiring others to take action, too. Ryan’s Well Foundation has a Website (www.ryanswell.ca), and with some inspired action, everyone reading these words can find their way to it and contribute to making clean drinking water, something most of us take for granted, available for others.
One person’s inspiring actions will ultimately lead to many, many others. In the duality of inspired actions, giving and receiving inspiration is a neverending circle of living more and more in-Spirit.
