GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Everyone's got stuff in their garage. Bicycles and baseballs. Tools. An old, rusty fridge that barely keeps the pop cold.
At the Grant household in Grand Rapids, the garage is fit with these sorts of things. There's also a simple, live-saving assembly line.
"Wonderfully simple," says Rich Grant.
On Tuesday, Grant cut and stripped wires, fastened pieces of metal and soldered battery clips in the process of assembling chlorine production units — CPUs for short — as part of his work with Safe Water International Ministries (SWIM), a nonprofit that has helped provide clean drinking water to millions around the globe.
"We're helpful. We have empathy. We're present," Grant, who is SWIM's chairman, said.
When the CPUs are connected to a power source such as a car or motorcycle battery and added to a mixture of water and table salt, they create chlorine. Then, drops of this chlorine can be added to contaminated water as to it make it safe to drink.
"It's a called electrochemistry," Grant said. "It's easy to teach."
With SWIM, Grant has traveled to several countries to distribute CPUs and teach others how they can be used. In a month, he'll visit Nepal to deliver aid to those affected by a deadly, devastating flood.
"We were horrified," said Grant, describing his emotions from when he viewed videos of the damage. As SWIM has long had a presence in the country, he knew a number of those whose lives were lost in one of the deadliest natural disasters of the century.
"It just, it crushed us," he said. "It was just terrifying footage, frankly."
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When Grant departs, he'll take with him three, 50-pound bags filled with CPUs and other technology. After two weeks in Nepal, he'll spend another two weeks in India.
I asked Grant why he does this work.
"That's what people ask when we show up," he said. "I just say my boss sent me."
"My boss is Jesus, and we were commanded to love the people."
Safe Water International Ministries, according to Grant, is always looking for "time, treasure and talent." Those looking to get involved with the nonprofit, including schools, can visit its website.
