
Former street kid John DeYoung, who developed easy-to-handle water purification filters, now delivers "water for life" to Ukraine as well as to developing countries. He explains his mission.
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Direct Talk
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The Russian invasion of Ukraine
began in February 2022. -
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Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine
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Early in the invasion,
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Russia destroyed essential
life-line infrastructures, -
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including water supplies.
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Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine
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Lives have been driven into a tailspin
by the ongoing attacks. -
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There's a man who delivers innovative
water purification filters to conflict zones -
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and impoverished areas of the world.
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He's John DeYoung,
who we are featuring today. -
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John DeYoung
Founder and CEO of Vivoblu -
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John has developed and
manufactures magical filters -
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which can easily purify dirty water
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and deliver clean water to those who need it.
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How the Lord has impacted
and transformed my heart. -
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Took a young boy
from the streets of South Korea -
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to all over the streets around the world,
serving children just like me. -
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We will hear about John's turbulent life
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and his efforts to bring
the water of life to people in need. -
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Water Is Life
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Denver, Colorado.
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John founded a water filtration company
called Vivoblu in 2019. -
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My personal office in here.
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This is our logo.
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Coming into my office.
You'll see -
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this world map is sort of
where our filters are. -
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More than 24,000 of
John's water purification filters -
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are being used in over 46 countries.
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This is the filter unit John developed.
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50X speed
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Clean drinking water can be produced
simply by connecting contaminated water -
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and an empty bucket with a filter.
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50X speed
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In the U.S.,
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the easy-to-carry units are also
attracting attention as survival gear -
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for outdoor activities and disasters.
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This picture is very unique.
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These are three children
in the village of Pratappur, India. -
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John was exposed to extreme poverty
for the first time in 2008, -
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when he was invited by a friend
to visit an Indian slum. -
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He then began supporting aid
and education activities in Calcutta. -
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It was there he learned
the real importance of water. -
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Pastor Mahadad was like, we need clean water.
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That's when I start buying filters
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and I bought them from,
you know, the local stores -
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and local sports stores, camping,
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And you'd start thinking
wow, such a thing. -
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I mean we just take clean water
for granted in America -
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like you just open your tap
and you get clean water -
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and you never have to
worry about getting sick -
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or getting diarrhea
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or even dying.
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Over 3 million children and,
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people die from water a year.
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That's, that's what?
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That's unbelievable that and
we need to do something about that. -
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See, the problem is the
first filters that I bought -
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were made for campers, hikers of Colorado,
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right, or Montana.
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And so you got first world products
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and you trying to force third World people
or developing world people -
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to understand that product.
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2019
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John hired engineers to develop a filter
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that would be easy to use
in developing countries. -
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But it took much longer than expected
to produce an ideal form. -
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When we look at that,
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trying to eliminate the complexity
of the First World filters -
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was very difficult.
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You know, you thought you had something
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and you know, we thought
we had something really cool in 2019. -
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Well, like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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And we sent a bunch of them over to India.
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They didn't work.
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You know, as well as we thought.
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Ready-made products were not suitable
for environments without clean water. -
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This was because
they required "backwash" care. -
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They have to push that water through
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the fibers to get that dirty water out.
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Then they have to get more water and do this.
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They have to do this 6 to 10 times
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every time they use the filter.
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And what happens is they get frustrated
because they can't clean it. -
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They now don't trust the water
coming out of it. -
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So they stop using it.
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So what do they have left to do?
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They just go back to their old water.
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So they get back sick again.
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The filter developed by John
solved such problems. -
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To clean it. All you have to do is rinse it.
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You can even rinse it in the dirty water
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as long as it is being rinsed
and agitated well, -
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now you have a clean filter again,
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and then you put the top back up on
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and then you drop it in.
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And what that does
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is that really allows anyone
in Africa, South America, India -
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to be able to just clean the filter
with no education, no training. -
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Usable for up to three years,
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the filters are offered at
a price of $67 dollars in the U.S. -
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or from 45 dollars for use in aid work.
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They remove all life-threatening pathogens,
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such as parasites, E. coli, and cholera.
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Within 30 minutes
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you'll have this whole bucket
full of clean water. -
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5 gallons for the whole day,
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and that's just really amazing.
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So the way that we're going,
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I mean... And look at this.
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This dirty water
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and here.
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Look how fast that is.
No one has to wait for water. -
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It's just it's clean,
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perfectly clean.
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See that? Look how beautiful that is.
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And it's drinkable.
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Clean water. Living water, right, Jamie?
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After two years of development,
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John started manufacture of the
ideal water purification filter in July 2021. -
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And in May 2022,
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he delivered over 250 filters
to a slum in Calcutta. -
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The families came in and to receive it,
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you have women crying,
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you have women thanking you,
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you have children clapping and laughing
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because clean water means life.
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Water is life.
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And so when water is hurting you
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and then you get a chance
to grab a Vivoblu filter, -
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and now it's giving you a life.
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That's a life changing experience.
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John's mission is to serve people
living tough lives. -
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It was his own background
that made him feel that way. -
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I was an orphan
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right, on the streets.
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I didn't have clean water.
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I probably didn't have good nutrition.
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I was probably sleeping somewhere
pretty dirty by the garbage can -
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or in the slums or wherever I was.
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It's easier for me to look at an
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orphan child or a slum child and go
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and have compassion.
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Taken into protective custody
as a young street kid in South Korea, -
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John never knew his parents
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or even his actual age.
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This is actually the picture
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that my parents saw and
this is what they adopted me from. -
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This is the first picture of me and so.
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John was adopted by an American family
and moved to the United States. -
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But despite being warmly welcomed,
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he had to face a major conflict.
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I think because of my life on the streets
as a child in South Korea, -
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not having a father or a mother
or knowing my father or mother. -
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Made it probably very difficult for me
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to sort of receive the love
that was being given to me so freely. -
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I didn't know much about my story,
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you know, which probably played into,
I didn't even know my identity, -
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which probably played into
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what is my purpose of living,
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what is the purpose of my life.
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And so when I was in college,
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I just fell into the dark world of
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just self-loathing
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and drinking
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and
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lashing out.
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When I was around 27 years old,
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when I attempted to commit suicide
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with a gun and a bottle of Jack Daniels.
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And then my roommate walked in
when I was about to pull the trigger. -
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He said, God loves you.
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You're the jerk.
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You are being the jerk
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that you, your choices,
the things you're doing. -
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I know I just asked Jesus
into my heart and I was just like, -
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I want to be different.
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Just I repented and
that just changed everything. -
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The "Water of Life" project,
which began in India, -
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has now spread worldwide.
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In cooperation with NGO groups,
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the company has begun collecting donations
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and delivering filters free of charge,
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as well as providing emergency assistance
in the event of natural disasters. -
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In the wake of major hurricane Ida,
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which caused great damage
in Louisiana in August 2021, -
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250 filters were delivered to affected areas.
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Then, as Vivoblu's activities
began to expand, -
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Russia invaded Ukraine.
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Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine
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When Russia decided to
attack Ukraine in February, -
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the world was in shock like,
what is Russia doing? -
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It's Europe.
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What do they need...
Why do they need my filter? Right? -
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Like if they just turn on their faucet
and just get clean water. -
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What I had not realized is
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Russia's first attempt in attack
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one of the first things they did
is they destroyed infrastructure, -
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electricity, gas and water.
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There's nothing on the planet
that creates more widows and more orphans, -
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faster than war.
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All the boys go and fight
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and they die,
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leaving widows and orphans.
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I just thought to myself,
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Oh my gosh,
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this is what the Word of God says.
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I'm an orphan.
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My mom might be widow, right.
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In cooperation with
humanitarian aid organizations, -
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John began collecting donations,
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and embarked on a
support program for Ukraine. -
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He developed a new type of Water Bladder.
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Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine
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It's in the form of a mobile backpack
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so that displaced people
heading for the border -
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can obtain clean water while on the move.
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Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine
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As the war continues,
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John has been delivering
these backpacks to Ukraine himself. -
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His only concern
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is leaving behind his wife
and one-year-old son. -
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Of course he has to go
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to help people to bring water.
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But then at the same time,
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we have a family and I was nervous.
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So, yeah, that's how I felt
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when you first told me I was like,
you're crazy. -
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But I said yes
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because I know that
the mission is bigger than us. -
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John traveled to Ukraine
in May and August 2022 -
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carrying water purification filters.
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Courtesy of Seeds of Exchange
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While visiting Mykolaiv,
a town in southern Ukraine, -
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he met a couple.
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Courtesy of Seeds of Exchange
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His wife was pregnant
when we were there in August -
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and they chose to stay in Mykolaiv.
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And that was the house
we were in when the bombs hit. -
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And they're serving and saving the children
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through young life in Ukraine.
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And I'm just, like,
blown away by that choice. -
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You're pregnant
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and you chose because you heard God say,
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stay here in Mykolaiv.
The children need you. -
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Here is a group of people in Ukraine
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who are willing to give up their life
for something way bigger than them, -
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their country, their freedom.
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Part of the reason why
that I am compelled to go serve people -
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and save their life is because
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I was willing to throw it away so easily
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and God saved me
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and my friend saved me.
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Courtesy of Vivoblu
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John has so far delivered over 6,500 filters
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and 3,500 backpacks to Ukraine.
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Very good friend.
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He has pledged to
stand by the Ukrainian people -
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until the war is over.
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So, what is John's motto?
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My motto is this.
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Be love, be the change, be the impact.
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Be love
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because we need to love
all the people of the world. -
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Be the change.
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Because when you enter
a community or into a family -
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and bring positive change, be that.
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And when you do that,
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you impact the family, the community
through clean water. -
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Water is life yo.
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Water is life.