Meet Demeku, age 10. Demeku lives in the “Aveda Village” of Doha Ager in the Kalu District. When we met up with Demeku, this is what she had to say about her water situation –

Where do you currently fetch water from? We collected from a spring. Like my older sisters I fetch the water and it does not take too much time. But the spring has washed away in heavy floods.

Have you or your family ever gotten sick because of the water? No. The water from the spring has been quite clean, but now that it has washed away I am very much worried for my young brother and sister for their future. It is hard moment when there is no clean water here.

How will access to clean drinking water help you? I know the advantages of access to safe water. With clean water we have seen less diarrhoea in our village and I, and my younger brother and sister, were healthier. It also helped me to attend my school rather than queuing for water.

Demeku’s greatest dream is to see their water source work once again and access to clean water in her village.

Donate today, everyone deserves clean water.

Storm Hair Group is a true pack of Water Warriors. On April 6th they held a fabulous event, Storm Walks for Water, in support of WaterCan/ViveEau – and boy was it a good time! They raised an amazing $5000 with 175 people in attendance.

For $15 you got to enjoy good food, wine, and entertainment. They offered services for makeup in addition to hand, neck AND shoulder massages. The first 100 guests received a great swag bag that included our delicious Earth Month Candle. They sold tickets for $25 for a chance to win one of their 30 great raffle prizes. They did a silent auction too!

Great Job Storm Hair Group – can’t wait to be back next year!!

Zinet, age 23, is from the “Aveda Village” Adem Ager in the Kalu District. We had a chance to meet Zinet. Below she talks about how water affects her life:

Where do you currently fetch water from? I have been carrying water for as long as I can remember, just like my mother before me. I have a small business preparing and selling tea. Tea preparation requires more water, in addition to regular domestic activities. I take about 4 trips to collect water each day. Each trip takes 1 hour.

Have you or your family ever gotten sick because of the water? Yes. My child is sick quite often. There is no hospital in our area; we have to travel about 50 kms to Kombolcha town to get treatment. She tries to prevent diseases by boiling the water for her little girl.

How will access to clean drinking water help you? With clean water supply, we do not waste much time by travelling back and forth and queuing.

Zinet’s greatest dream is access to clean water. Zinet’s dream is achievable, donate today.

We first met Rosie when she was 5 years old. 3.5 years later we caught up with her again … see the difference clean water makes –

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Aveda Canada Salons will have the opportunity to showcase their creativity on the runway, help raise money for Earth Month AND compete to win some great prizes. Each team must creative a ReduceReusedRecycled Head to toe look and use only Aveda styling products.

Who Can Enter? Hair Stylists, Colourists, Makeup Artists from any Aveda Network Salon will have the chance to show their creative sides!! Keep in mind, in order to participate, that individual’s salon must meet their Hero/Shero goal or raise a minimum of $200 for Earth Month by May 10!

When Can You Enter? Registration is open now! http://www.iwalkforwater.ca/catwalk/

Why Should You Enter? Aside from embodying the Aveda mission and raising money for an amazing cause, being able to show everyone just how creative you can be, there are some pretty awesome prizes!

Our top prize includes 2 tickets for Aveda congress 2013 + 4 Advanced Academy Look & Learn Tickets + 4 Fixx Pro Flat Irons & Blow dryers. This prize alone is worth $3500.

Second place wines 4 Advance Academy Look and Learn Tickets + 4 Fixx Pro Blow dryers and Flat Irons – a $2600 value!

And our third place winner gets 4 Fixx Pro Blow dryers and Flat Irons valued at $1500

For more information, rules and guidelines for the event visit http://www.iwalkforwater.ca/catwalk/

Check out some of the creative hair and wardrobe from previous Aveda Catwalks for water:

We can’t wait to see what you come up with! See you on the Catwalk.

Fundraising efforts are still in full swing, but Au Premier has already raised more money than ever before!
Au Premier has set a goal of raising $5000, and we believe they will no doubt pass this goal.

One of their salon campaigns includes donating 100% of revenues from children’s haircuts for the ENTIRE month of April. A child’s cut for a child’s life – what a great message.

They have also done their own take on the popular Harlem Shake Video. Take a look!!

We LOVE the enthusiasm of our Au Premier Water Warriors – Keep up the amazing work!

WALK START LOCATION: Check out your individual walk location

WALK START TIME: the Walk will begin promptly at 9am

ARRIVAL TIME: Please arrive early to ensure that you are ready for 9 am (arrive at 8:15 am if you have donations to drop off; arrive at 8:30 am if you have already submitted your cash/cheques)

CARPOOL: If you are driving, please help us reduce our environmental footprint by carpooling from your home.

WHAT TO WEAR: We encourage you to dress in comfy walking clothing in our theme colours if you choose! (Turquoise, blue, white). Please wear weather-appropriate clothing, comfortable walking shoes and bring a rain jacket or umbrella incase need be.  We walk rain or shine!

WATER BOTTLES: Please do not bring any plastic water bottles.  Bring your re-usable water bottle to keep hydrated during the walk.

At most locations there will be post walk snacks… So stay, enjoy your time, and let’s make a difference!

Aveda salons around the world will be attempting to beat the Guinness World record for the most money raised for a charity by haircuts in 24 hours!

When?? The 24-Hour Appointments for Clean Water Global Cut-A-Thon will be held on Earth Day, Monday, April 22, 2013. It will be taking place from 12:00pm to 8:00pm in your local time zone.

Where?? Aveda Salons across the world!

How?? We will kick off in Asia on April 22, and Cut-A-Thon events will continue in a “relay” fashion across Asia, Europe, and then North America.

Participating salons require TWO volunteer witnesses to attend the event. However, Guinness World Records has guidelines on who can be a witness –

– The Witnesses must be independent of the salon, they can’t be employees
– They can’t be relatives or friends of the employees
– They need to stay for the whole event to verify and confirm the event (they need to sign a sheet saying they witnessed each cut)

If you are having trouble finding Witnesses some people to consider could be…
… Past employees
… Neighbouring businesses
… Retired person volunteers or students

Or even your best friend’s older sister’s friends would work … get creative! Remember all money raised during the Cut-a-Thon goes to WaterCan/EauVive. Let’s get in the record books while helping others at the same time.

Cindy Chang, our wonderful National Student Recruiter here at Collega Aveda, is a true Water Warrior. She has raised an impressive $2110, $1000 of that this weekend alone, and is one of our top 4 fundraisers at this point in time.

Cindy told us what raising funds for WaterCan/ViveEau means to her, and shared a few of her fundraising secrets! Take a peak below:

What does raising money for WaterCan mean to you?

WaterCan is an organization that I truly believe in, ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to make a difference in some capacity and it’s an organization that really speaks to my heart. I believe in WaterCan because the money raised goes to the communities in Africa, and we have many witnesses in the Aveda network that have personally seen the funds in action.

Cindy, How did you raise $1000 this weekend?

100% of my fundraising efforts are purely from the power of social media.  I engage people personally and that’s really the trick.  People want to know what you are raising money for, they want to help you reach a goal and what it means to you.  I get ideas all the time chatting with my friends on Facebook, I also ask them directly to donate to me, in fact that’s how I start the conversation!  It was one family this weekend that donated $750 to me and it just started with a Facebook chat, she says she sponsors 5 children from Africa and it’s something that really speaks to her, so I told her about Water Can and it was magic!
How have you incorporated Social Media into your fundraising?

I do 100% of my fundraising through social media, and primarily on Facebook.  The trick is to make it personal and give genuine shout outs to people that have made a contribution.  People are so willing to help if you are passionate about what you are talking about.

Are you ready to Walk for Water this Monday, the 22^nd?

Yes!  And I’ve got a few special surprises to give my kind friends and families to shout them out on the day of the walk, people should feel special for donating to a very special cause!

Thank you so much for letting everyone know a few of your fundraising secrets and being a Water Warrior!

Cindy’s Top 5 Fundraising Tips:

Tip #1: People are visual, so pictures and screenshots really help people visualize your goal with you.  I take screen shots of my goals reached and I’ve drawn pictures so people can help me visually reach my goal!

Tip #2: A common misconception is $25 saves a life, it’s a great tagline but it’s limiting to what people donate to you.  I found that I’ve received bigger donations by just saying, my goal is _______, please help me get there!  And then giving them a shout out saying how many lives they’ve saved.  I never quote $25 saves one life.

Tip #3: Personalizing messages on friend’s and family Facebook walls. The goal of the message: say hello, add something personal (great seeing you last week), please help me raise money for this amazing organization, here is the link to donate, and then I’ll attached something visual (photo or video from iwalkforwater.ca).
Tip #4: Always, always, always attach the link to donate, most people get distracted very easily on social media so they need to have the donate link right there, sometimes, I put it in my shout outs.  People like to hear stories too, so attach a story to how you connected and what the organization means to them!

Tip #5: Bonus thanks, I always text them, personal message them, email them or call them to say thanks, it adds a nice and personal touch.