Downington Man's Poem Earns Him Trip To Africa

A Downingtown man will enjoy an all-expense paid trip to the Kingdom of Swaziland and South Africa, thanks to a winning poem and photograph he submitted to a contest aimed at drawing attention to water scarcity in the Sub-Saharan region of the continent.

Matthew Kistler, 31, entered an original photo and a poem into the “One Well at a Time” program, sponsored by Norwegian bottled water company Voss. The Voss Foundation, a nonprofit established by the company to address the availability of clean water, sanitation and hygiene in Sub-Saharan Africa, created the contest to encourage its customers to express their thoughts on the issue.

“Kistler submitted an original photo with a passionate poem and won an adventure where he and his guest will meet members of the Ematfoleni and Hlobane communities, and learn about the local culture, rich traditions and history while also attending the dedication ceremony for the new project,” read a statement from the company.

They will also participate in the dedication of a Voss Foundation water sanitation and hygiene project in Swaziland.

“My three years working in Kenya gave me incredible insight into the relational nature of poverty,” said Kistler in a statement.

According to Voss, water scarcity is an issue to approximately 325 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Judges in the contest included American singer-songwriter Jewl, who heads the Project Clean Water charity, as well as Voss Foundation Executive Director Kara Gerson, Cause Marketing Forum President and Founder David Hessekiel and Saran Kaba Jones, founder and executive director of FACE Africa.

Below is Kistler’s winning poem, entitled “When Water Came from the Ground.”

My Father always taught me how to look to the sky for rain.

You see, during “olameyu” the drought, a heaviness covers our life like a blanket.

The cows come home skinny, you can count their ribs, my rather has to lift them

My mother is gone from dark till dark, looking for a place to fill her jerrycans with water.

My sisters stop laughing. They have left school to care for the house while my mother is

gone. They have become women too soon, and hope leaves their eyes.

when they’re too weak to stand.

They say the pipe will not run dry and I know life will never be the same.

So we look to the sky for rain to bring us life from heaven.

Today, I saw a new thing! Water from the ground.

My mother will scarcely have so much time to dream and hope.

My sisters will dance in the water, little girls once again.

We had been looking to the sky for the rains. Now we see water flow, from the ground.

(PHOTO: Matthew Kistler. Courtesy of the Voss Foundation.)