When you read this book, you will find inspiration from Harrison’s path from an achieved New York City party organizer having a high-end lifestyle with an empty and shallow feel to a cognitive arouse, meeting God, and discovering a willingness to work for people who live in rural areas of Arica. Scott discovered and administered a highly achieved charity: Water which, throughout the years, has provided safe, clean water to hundreds of people in countries that are developing. His charity has gathered more than $300 million to provide fresh drinking water to over 8.2 million people worldwide.
Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks
Chapter 1 – Scott Harrison lived a dissimilar childhood with his mom under the impact of an illness.
Scott Harrison came to life in New Jersey in 1975, and from the time he knows himself he has had a non-stop intention to complete unfinished things. This energetic making of him might have even rescued his life earlier on at the time his childhood house encountered a carbon monoxide leak that was almost causing his mother to die.
Harrison’s tale starts with hardships that he faced during his early years, involving his struggles to find assistance for his mom who had fought sickness because of environmental impacts.
Scott was not always at home because of playing outside and his father was going to work, and this is why only his mother hurt from the impact of the scentless, airborne toxin – and it would require a year to repeat such symptoms like nausea, dizziness and passing out which would expose the illness of his mother and being diagnosed. And because of the leak from the house’s heating system, Scott’s childhood just became more extraordinary.
The carbon monoxide leak required Harrisons to change places, however, the place they went did not matter, his mother would be ill even because of the thinnest scents. Heavy smalls such as onions, hairspray, and cigarette smoke were not the only irritators – even other people’s makeup was presenting a problem for her. From time to time, his family would get out in the middle of the night to search for a place in the countryside where she could have her drugs. One night, the fume of car pits from a highway close to where they are was too heavy, therefore, they needed to spend their night in a barn and sleep on hay.
As a little kid, uncommon trips such as this were pretty enjoyable for Scott, similar to camping outside. However, as he grew up, his mom’s illness felt like more of a hurdle for a child who only desired ordinary teenage years.
Scott’s mother also developed issues with any aerial electromagnetic radiation, therefore, they could not use TV or radio at home, in addition to the gas oven. Furthermore, a regional doctor found that she was allergic to the majority of the foods as well.
Afterward, there was the issue of his education. Following the birth of Scott, the Harrisons turned out to be an overly religious family, therefore Scott has attended a small-scale Christian school with five classes that had nine pupils each. The name of the school was New Life Christian School, and Scott did not like it that much that he vaguely expressed to his family that he was going to change his school to a public school instead of this one.
Thus, in 1991, Scott, who was sixteen years old, appeared to be the new kid at a very bigger-scale high school. Lucky for him that he possessed the one skill that assisted him to make friends: the ability of him to play the piano.
Chapter 2 – His appeal to market music dragged him to the NYC nightlife spot where he advanced his abilities in organizing and marketing.
Since the time he was nearly at the age of six, Scott was playing piano, beginning with an old school musical instrument of his grandparents. Searching for ways to acquire new friends in his new school, Scott applied to a brochure announcement from a band searching for a keyboard player, and not long after, he attended as a constituent of Sunday River.
In the early 1990s, Sunday River’s music was feeling like between Pearl Jam and Counting Crows, and they at the beginning to make concerts and they even recorded a demo tape. Scott instantly turned out to be pretty useful in supporting the group further, making connections with clubs to make reservations with influencers, and marketing the band – this is why he skipped a lot of lecture hours during his senior year and hardly graduated.
Instinctively, Scott’s parents were thinking of an academic way for him to attend a college. Best, they thought of him attending a good Christian school such as Wheaton College, however, Scott was during his unruly young years and opposed with the idea. He thought, what was the meaning of attending a college while his band was near the edge of being extremely famous and successful?
Immediately following graduation, Scott relocated to New York City and had a job at a music store that sells keyboards. One evening, he even assisted Stevie Wonder to purchase gear valued at $50,000. Approximately around these times, in 1995, the band’s manager presented Scott to one of New York City’s greatest nightclubs: Club USA in Times Square. Although Scott had been a neat and solemn Christian child with his raise, he somehow sensed right at home with the shining lights, high music sounds, and a lot of people o dancing on the dance floor.
However, not long after, the band had scattered, everybody went their way, and Scott was left with his thoughts about the next thing. Fortunately, he was presented to Patrick Allen, who created an orderly exhibit for promising talents. Willing to start the business in any way he can found, Scott told Allen that he desired to work for no money in return to obtain experience.
Finally, Scott understood the ways to administer guest lists and make an event continue well, and Allen started giving Scott some of the night’s revenues. One orderly event was a blues genre open-mic night at a place named Nell’s, and because Allen had another thing to do with a musical that was having a tour, he gave the duty of creating “Voices at Nell’s” to Scott.
Chapter 3 – He turned out successful in organizing and marketing, and on his path, he acquainted with some colossal of the entertainment field.
On the work at Nell’s, Scott made friends with the club’s administrator Tex Axile, a cheerful Scottish man with an adorably bad mouth. along with learning a lot of new swear words, Scott also learned the facets of nightclub administration from Tex.
Afterward, one day, Tex mentioned Scott about a new 10,000 feet square dining place named Lotus which was commencing in Manhattan’s fashionable Meatpacking District that was searching for marketers. Scott did not have a lot of achieved experience, however, he intelligibly had a drive, willingness, and passion, therefore, the administration at Lotus gave it a try and, with low hope, he was put to the most leisurely night of the week to market: Mondays.
Given a chance like this, Scott rapidly demonstrated himself as one of the best nightclub marketers in the city.
The standard routine was to begin approximately at 10 pm by dealing with some customers to a meal at a fashionable restaurant that was hit at that time. In general, restaurants would wine and dine a marketer’s customer free of charge because their existence would draw more customers who would like to be perceived as trendy. Afterward, near midnight, the party would be carried to Lotus, where they would be guided through the velvet ropes to an exclusive booth where would be sitting next to models with exotic names and drink champagne that is $600 for each bottle which could be found at $60 elsewhere.
Frequently, after the nightclub is shut down, the party would be carried to an after-party area where more drink – in addition to more restricted substances – would be got.
But in 2003, Scott was getting very tired from this daily hustle and bustle. At this time, he and a previous doorman at Lotus called Brantly Martin had launched their business, Brantly & Scott Inc., and they were operating a mean of three events each week while blending business with enjoyment on travels to Milan and other trendy, chic cities. Most of the prolonged nights were finished with cocaine and alcohol, with days spent under a gray cover of disgrace. Furthermore, Scott began to sense bad things from the lethargy in his arms and legs.
Afterward, following a New Year’s Eve event in Uruguay, he started reading a book his father had given him named The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer, which explained that lethargy is a symptom caused by spiritual imperfection. Abruptly, it turned out obvious that his lifestyle was not going to fulfillment, but just to have more and more and more. He needed to alter things in his life.
Chapter 4 – Searching for meaning in life, Scott reattached with his faith and applied to the Mercy Ships program.
The following perfect step in the career path of a marketer such as Scott would have been to open his club, however, Scott was going to a contrary path, away from New York City nights in total. He was listening to suggestions from the businessman who were changed their career to be a Bible teacher, Chuck Missler, on his iPod and working to quit smoking and taking alcohol – which was not simple to do when Budweiser and Bacardi were each giving you $2,000 every month to be viewed having their drinks.
However, when Scott was starting to reattach to his faith, there occurred an incident that would transform his life once and forever.
It began when Scott complained about a bodyguard at a nightclub who offensively tried to shake his business associate down for getting a tip. This resulted in having the bodyguard losing his job, and after some time, Scott had a call from a friend alerting him not to go home. The bodyguard had a gun and was waiting for him to appear at the front door.
Scott called the mad and armed man with the phone and suggested assistance for finding another job to him, which looked to relax him, however, Scott was already internally influenced. He determined to get in a car and move away from the city for some time, passing through Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, at the same time hearing an audiotape of the Bible in the car with the sense that the feeling of numbness goes away.
Something that suddenly intriguing with Scott was the idea of paying a tithe, something his parents were always doing, namely, devoting some of your time or income to help other people. This looked like specifically the type of significant thing he was looking for to begin doing. Therefore, he instantly applied to some charities, involving UNICEF, Oxfam, and the World Food Program. However, the sole response Scott had was from the Mercy Ships program.
This program included a big ocean vessel that had been transformed into a swimming hospital that would dock at shores in Africa and provide aid and medical assistance to the nearby places. They were searching for a new person to assist in the communications department, taking photographs, and marketing their effort.
Because he had spent some of his last years living in the VIP segment, the individuals in work were not certain if Scott was completely ready for the hardship of months aboard on an aged vessel, although what he specifically wanted was this.
Chapter 5 – During his time in Mercy Ships, he opened his mind to the importance of the charity effort.
The Mercy Ship’s 522 feet passenger vessel arrived at the Canary Islands in October 2004, for Cotonou, a harbor in Benin, Africa. Scott had got rid of almost anything in his New York City home, getting into the vessel with nothing else but a vintage Louis Vuitton suitcase filled with garments and some boxes of Nicorette.
Scott was within more than 300 employees who retained the vessel and the onboard hospital to function easily. On the path to their point of destination, Scott had some mind-widening knowledge about Benin’s eight million citizens, like their mean life expectancy being 51 years and the reality that they just owned four medical specialists for every 100,000 individuals. In contrast, the United States owned seven medical specialists for every 325 individuals and a mean life expectancy of 79 years.
Scott still was not fully aware of the things to wait for and observe, however, he was willing and excited about showing his worth. He was given the duty of picturing the situation of people before the service and after the service, as well as the employees during the effort and author up tales to present with those photographs, which would then be utilized for hiring, training, obtaining funds, and promotions. From the top to the bottom, he was completely ready.
At the time he observed the queue for patient control in Cotonou was very extended that it was surrounding the auditorium where the controls were occurring, he took his way onto the top of a closer hotel form which he could have a good photograph in one shot. Of course, individuals had visited from distant areas, and some other people were walking for a long time and giving their last coins to reach Cotonou.
A Mercy Ship had the expertise in maxillofacial surgery, which involved the elimination of tumors in the neck and face areas. One of the initial patients Scott observed was a child that was 14 years old, Alfred, with a tumor that began in his mouth and within four years, developed to the dimension of a volleyball, causing challenges for him to inhale and eat.
Scott had observed no such a thing similar to it, and luckily, Alfred’s tumor was not malignant and could be eliminated, however, some other individuals were not that fortunate. A teenage boy called Serafin had a tumor that was not benign and at the time Scott grasped that he tends not to survive and die not long after, he was crying. He learned to concentrate on individuals like Alfred, that they could assist, and grasp that not every illness could be cured.
Shortly, Scott was writing the tales for the photographs he had taken and published the tales of his Mercy Ships experiences in such a way that would ultimately lead to a new opening in his life.
Chapter 6 – Scott, with his marketing abilities, put effort to assist with his initial fundraising for the charity and discovered the significance of fresh, bright water.
Scott did not just begin a blog to publish his Mercy Ships experiences but also utilized the rewarding mailing list of 15,000 people he had begun at his time as a marketer to blow his publications out to his previous customers. Some of those people unsubscribed from the mailing list after his posts, disturbed by suddenly seeing a big tumor in their mailbox, however, at the end of the initial trip of Scott, the number of his audience increased.
Scott had observed people lost their sight because of cataracts to obtain their view back, in addition to the kids who would lose their mouths, noses, or cheeks because of unclean drinking water that involved the fatal noma virus. This is a horrible flesh-eating illness that could easily be refrained from with good sanitation. He prayed for all of those subjects and was lead to come to terms with a lot of things he took lightly throughout his life, such as reach to a clean home, medical service, and safe, clean drinking water.
Therefore, when he turned back to his home in June 2005, he was decided to do some things, and he considered that he could utilize his abilities and brain as a marketer to put effort for a good meaning.
Possessing his precious mailing list, involving individuals with a lot of disposable money, he created an exhibition just named “mercy”, presenting a carefully ordered screen of pictures and videos from Africa, everything in the nice Soho gallery area. Scott worked like never he had done, marketing the opening night like it was the hit occasion of the year. However, something he could not think of was Hurricane Katrina that occurred on the gala day. It instantly turned out weird and challenging to want participants to give money overseas at the time people in New Orleans required help. However, he managed to raise $96,000 for Mercy Ships.
It demonstrated to Scott that he could utilize his skills, abilities, and mind for a good meaning. He grasped the way he could concentrate his skills in his second trip with Mercy Ships.
At those times, in late 2005, the ship has stopped at Liberia, a country ruined by years of civil war. At a point in his time at that place, he spoke with some medical specialists working at a hospital in the capital city, Monrovia, who explained to Scott that one of the greatest ways to assist was to provide clean water because one second of the people who were staying at the hospital had illnesses because of water sanitation like cholera, polio, dysentery, and noma.
Chapter 7 – After his initial big funding, Scott began a charity job for water and encountered his future wife in that charity.
In spring 2006, Scott encountered a woman called Mama Vic who operated an orphanage approximately one hour away from Monrovia, Liberia. Some days, she took care of 150 children, and the closest place to have water was one and a half miles away, and the kids did not like getting water because they were frequently bullied by regional children since they were orphans.
Seeing the incredible flexibility in assisting that many kids against horrible states and frequently offensive actions in Liberia, Scott spoke with his aunt and uncle to get the $2500 required to drill a well the orphanage needed.
Scott was sharply informed that the well would give more than only safe water. Because the work of drilling the well also opened occupation and salaries for people in the area, it made a greater view of the orphanage in the eyes of people. Generally, it advanced people’s lives in more than one aspect.
After observing the water coming up into the air when the well was constructed, it was everything Scott was thinking of. Following, at the time he turned back to the United States in the middle of 2006, he was aware that he desired to raise more funds for wells, utilizing his skills to have people give more funding.
This is the way the charity: water was initiated on September 8, 2006. It all began in the apartment of his previous business associate, Brantly, who was still having the alcoholic late-night way of living. Early funding for the charity: water was obtained from Brantly’s weed-trader friend.
Owing to Scott’s skills in throwing occasions and developing a reliable and attractive brand, charity: water obtained an excellent beginning. Initial occasions were backed by the people such as the actors Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo, and the charity’s $20 bottles of water – which made providing money as easy as buying a bottle of water – were a great blow at luxurious occasions all over the city.
One of the initial occasions was also attended by the young woman called Viktoria Alexeeba, who called for saying that she desired not just backing the charity: water but also to be a volunteer graphic designer and help with her past work on campaigns for some big names such as Nike and American Express. Scott was not thinking of denying the free expertise assistance, and Viktoria was soon afterward, dealing with video designs and website editing too.
What turned out in the following is that Scott and Viktoria ultimately became more than just coworkers but they got married in 2009.
Chapter 8 – The birthday promotion obtained an excellent output and made one of the most humble tales of the charity: water.
When Scott began the charity: water, he was not only thinking of developing another charity for people to give money, feel nice for some moment, and then fail to remember it. Rather, he desired to develop a reforming charity with “high-level transparency” that made it certain that every money given was utilized to allow people to obtain clean water and making donors always knowledgeable about the way their money was being utilized.
To boost donor’s engagement in enthusiastic new directions, Scott found out the idea of birthday promotions. This enabled people to set up a promotion page on the charity: water webpage, on which they could want their peers and family to give money as a donation instead of buying presents for him/ her.
Each September, the month of both Scott and charity: water came to the world, a promotion incentive is opened to reach a specific aim, and it is frequently the year’s greatest fundraising occasion. In the first year of this, $159,000 was collected in only four weeks. However, in 2011, a birthday promotion turned out to a very painful, humble, and bittersweet affair.
Rachel Beckwith has heard about the charity: water first time when she was at the age of eight. Scott then placed as the second person she likes the most in the world with Lady Gaga. Rachel always enjoyed assisting people in requirements, therefore, she determined that she would like to begin her promotion for her ninth birthday and could collect $220. It was not enough for her $300 aim, however, she would like to try again on her following birthday.
Painfully, however, Rachel closed her eyes to the world when the car that she and her mother, Samantha, were in became a piece of a 15-car crash including a semi-truck and a jackknifed logging truck. However, her tale is not finishing at that point. Rachel’s promotion page opened again and the news of her bountiful soul was heard around the world. Just after a week, her $220 turned out to be $750,000, passing all former birthday promotions. And at the time it eventually shut down, Rachel had raised an astonishing amount of $1,265,823.
It was sufficient to provide money for 142 water plans and provide safe water to 37,770 individuals. When Scott had Rachel’s mother to a rural settlement of Ethiopia, she could observe just the extend of the distinction her daughter had caused.
Chapter 9 – A legal issue had occurred and went well. There were a lot of chances for Scott to demonstrate his reliability with transparency.
Rachel’s tale was bitter, painful, and stimulating, as with every donor fund, Scott perceived a big liability to utilize each penny she collected at the best he could for transparency efforts. This is why, every association charity: water ended up with the companies digging the wells in Africa is subjected to a hard investigation process, and elaborated reports are given to each donor, no matter the amount they had donated, be it $1 or $1,000, therefore, they could observe what was done with the plan they assisted raising money.
Therefore, it was discouraging, to tell the minimum, when Scott heard that a funding company was very dissatisfied with the charity: water that they had filed a lawsuit.
In the beginning, Scott was anxious about the bad media articles, however, then he grasped it as a chance. Charity: water had made all decisions considering the way they could spend the donor funding in the best way. They could not make anything if an assault came out in the area where a plan had been timed, or if employees were damaged in an accident Still, a donor was very disappointed that a well in Kenya was suspended and some materials were assigned to assist schools rather than medical centers, that they sensed the requirement to have a lawsuit about the issue.
In return, Scott authored an open letter to his committee members and open to all the people, reasserting his devotion to “radical transparency” and the charity’s investigation method. Eventually, there was no bad news or lost money. In return, Scott got backing from other CEOs that maintained their souls up until the lawsuit was finally over by directing the donor’s fund to another charity.
Another bad case happened in 2010 that proved to be silver-lined. At that year, charity: water was providing money to a plan of a well in Moale in the jungle of the Central African Republic (CAR).
Jim Hocking, a creator of the Water of Good institution, was organizing the digging. This was Jim’s third case working on drilling a well in Moale to assist the Bayaka tribe, however, unfortunately, the third time was not a success because the well’s muddy walls were always collapsing.
Scott had a word about providing a video of the well being launched, which he could not fulfill. However, he did not want to hide the truth too. They did provide a video, as they gave word, telling the reasons they could not provide the Bayaka safe water at this time. And similar to the previous time, this did not cause offensive donors; it created a lot of compliments from individuals telling that they rely on the charity: water now more than they did before.
Chapter 10 – An extremely bitter suicide made Scott recall the significance and inevitability of his effort.
In 2012, at a time Scott was in a hotel bar in Ethiopia, the owner of the hotel came to him and expressed his gratitude to him for the job done in that place. The owner explained to him that he came from a village that people had a lot of difficulties in reaching safe water. It was such suffering that one woman got so miserable when she slipped down and broke her pot of water that she committed suicide by hanging herself to a tree outside the village.
The tale had beaten Scott a lot, and when he turned back his house, he desired to learn more about the issue. With some assistance, he followed the tale back to a lonely Ethiopian rural settlement named Meda. Therefore, in November 2013, Scott would like to discover more about it and had a challenging nine-hour walk to Meda.
The day following his coming to the area, Scott was taken to the mom of the girl who had hanged herself, Letikiros Hailu, and understood that she was only 13 years old when she did this to herself. She had newly married to a polite, teenage man who was just a few years bigger than her. However, rather than leaving school as others do after marriage, she desired to follow her education.
This was not simple when she was required to have the water. It might be even ten hours to have only a few gallons. Therefore, she worked for going to school three days a week while getting water on the other days, however, it was causing her to stay behind the other fellows.
Scott had the walk the hazardous way to the creek that ran along a sharp cliff, with a 100-foot drop that had caused losses of a lot of lives. The creek was a little bit more than dripping, sufficient to bit by bit fill three pots in an hour.
Therefore, it was approximately twilight when Letikiros could have turned back to the settlement with the hefty clay pot banded to her back. It might have been too black, or she might even fall weak from heat or lack of food, she stumbled and fell, causing fracturing of the pot and missing the water her mom was waiting for. Nobody knew the specific reason why, however, it tended to be a disgrace that made Leitikiros hang herself instead of going back home without any water with her.
Letikiros is not the sole girl that was 13 years old in this condition, and it is especially why Scott proceeds to drive for charity: water to proceed to advance and provide more safe water to individuals.
Chapter 11 – Scott considered that somebody else could be greater as the CEO, and he has strengthened his view on the way he can assist charity: water advance.
As the tale of Letikiros demonstrates, safe water not only prohibits ailments and sicknesses, it also provides strength to individuals, specifically teenage women, by enabling them to have an education and refrain from having to make a selection between clean people and tidy clothes.
Scott’s pledge to make the charity water’s advancement continue made him think about giving up the role as the CEO in 2015. That year was the initial time they did not obtain more funding than the previous year. And the reality was, Scott understood that he was not the best CEO. Somebody else could function better. To start with, he did not appreciate meetings and having workers liable.
But when he raised the idea of resigning, it did not function well, with a worker instantly saying to him that “I will not work for another CEO; I participated because I wanted to work with you.”.
Not long after, other perspectives were demonstrating to Scott the reality in the correct aspect. Scott was concerned with the number of people reached to safe water, which dropped from one million to 800,000 between 2014 and 2015. However, owing to his backing team, he could change his perspective further from the 200,000 he could not assist to the 800,000 individuals whose world has changed and rescued by charity: water.
Furthermore, why not concentrating on the fields in that advancements were observed in 2015, such as innovation and sustainability? In 2015, charity: water drafted and manufactured their novel state-of-the-art sensors to instantly alert them that a well is not working. What is more, they constructed groups of educated repair staff over Africa, having GPS-aided motorcycles, who could rapidly fix a well and make it function again.
With these improvements, they achieved 90 percent of the wells in Ethiopia functioning, very exceeding the 60 percent working rate that was existed before.
In 2016, at the charity: water’s tenth anniversary, the business found a solution to one of its sustainability issues named “The Spring”.
It has always been hard to manage overhead costs like employee healthcare financing when 100 percent of funding was utilized to projects. And The Spring aims to solve the problem by presenting donors with a monthly donation plan that directly gives money to the administration aspect of the business. And for assisting the functioning of the business to continue at charity: water, the participants of The Spring obtain exclusive information, videos, and other motivational properties.
Luckily, The Spring was an instant achievement, which has enabled Scott to have a breath more comfortably and project for the future.
Book Review
Scott’s tale is highly suggested as a “must-read” for the people who look for motivation about these two inherently individualistic inquiries: “What can I do in this life?” and “May I assist you in some way?”. Scott Harrison gives answers to these questions clearly and simply by talking about water. It has been an incredible path for Scott Harrison, beginning from the nightlife of New York City to the very distant rural settlements of Ethiopia. In publishing his novel tale, Harrison had some wish to motivate people all over the world to provide those who cannot obtain safe water that easily.
Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks
Download Pdf
Download Epub
https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/goodbooksummary/Thirst+A+Story+of+Redemption%2C+C.epub
