Wine to Water: A Bartender's Quest to Bring Clean Water to the World [Hardcover]

Doc Hendley (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 5, 2012

The captivating story of an ordinary bartender who's changing the world through clean water.

Doc Hendley never set out to be a hero. In 2004, Hendley-a small- town bartender- launched a series of wine-tasting events to raise funds for clean-water projects and to bring awareness to the world's freshwater crisis. He planned to donate the proceeds through traditional channels, but instead found himself traveling to one of the world's most dangerous hot spots: Darfur, Sudan.

There, Doc witnessed a government-sponsored genocide where the number-one weapon wasn't bullets-it was water. The Janjaweed terrorists had figured out that shooting up a bladder containing 10,000 liters of water, or dumping rotting corpses into a primary water source is remarkably efficient for the purposes of mass extermination. With limited funds, Doc realized that he couldn't build new wells costing $10,000 a pop, but he could hire local workers to restore a damaged well for a mere $50 each. He'd found his mission. Today, Doc and Wine to Water continue to help stricken peoples repair and maintain water- containment systems in places like Darfur, Cambodia, Uganda, and Haiti.

Doc is a regular, rough-and-tumble guy who loves booze, music, and his Harley- but he also wanted to help. Wine to Water is a gripping story about braving tribal warfare and natural disasters and encountering fascinating characters in far-flung regions of the world. It is also an authoritative account of a global crisis and an inspirational tale that proves how ordinary people can improve the world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Doc Hendley is the founder and president of Wine to Water, a nonprofit organization focused on providing clean water to people in need around the world. When he isn't traveling to underdeveloped nations or raising awareness for the world's water crisis, Hendley spends his time in Boone, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Avery (January 5, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583334629
• ISBN-13: 978-1583334621
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #473,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Puts a Face to the Worldwide Water Crisis While Also Telling a Darn Good Story January 8, 2012

By Laura's Reviews

Format:Hardcover

Wine to Water is the uplifting and heart-breaking personal journey of a young man finding his calling in life. Dickson "Doc" Hendley is the son of a preacher who spent many years trying to discover his true passion in life. He knew he loved Harley motorcycles, playing his guitar, and being a bartender in North Carolina. But it wasn't until he met a woman who told him about her husband's work at an aid organization called Samaritan's Purse that Doc felt his interest truly perked. Doing research on his own, he discovered that there is a vast worldwide water crisis. Disturbed by this knowledge, Doc put together a "wine to water" event at a local bar to raise awareness of the crisis and raise money.

After trying to donate the money to Samaritan's Purse, Doc was roped in by the organization to see for himself the crisis first hand. Asked to be sent to the worse place in the world, Doc was sent to Darfur in 2004. Once there, Doc went to the UN "no-go" hot spots to help the people that other aid organizations didn't assist. First hand he discovered the atrocities of a government sponsored genocide. Although he found himself mostly against the Janjaweed terrorists, he also helped them out to have clean drinking water. He also realized that while he sided with the SLA rebels, they were not saints.

On the ground in Darfur, Doc learned that he was good working with people and solving problems. Instead of putting in expensive new wells, he and his crew soon became experts at fixing the wells as a much cheaper alternative. He also learned that to truly achieve clean water, he had to educate the people on how to maintain and fix their own wells.

Doc faced many death defying experiences and also came face to face with pure evil. From it, he was able to find himself, his faith, and a future where he could continue to help those most at need. As Doc stated in the book, he realized that he didn't have to be a perfect do-gooder, to do good in this world.

I found Doc to be a truly admirable person. His story was like himself, straightforward with no embellishments. His story was very interesting and also at times action packed. It starts with him and his convoy getting shot at and fleeing for their lives. To put your own life on the line to help those most in need is commendable, but Doc is never seeking the commendation. His story really gives the details of what was going on in Darfur, which I admit; I only had the slightest knowledge. Certain aspects of the story, such as when he meets young boy soldiers that show him where their teachers and fellow students were executed, brought me to tears.

Overall, Wine to Water puts a face to the worldwide water crisis while also telling a darn good story. It is a very fast book to read. In fact my only complaint about the book is that I wanted to know more details about the last five years of Doc's life, it was glossed over. Book 2 - Wine to Water in Haiti?

I received this book as an advance review copy from the publisher. This review was first published on my blog, Laura's Reviews.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary and Incredibly significant January 10, 2012

By Trudie Barreras VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

It is an exhilarating experience to read a story that is totally contemporary, incredibly significant, and involves situations that are of immediate interest and concern. This book was purchased by my husband Ray Barreras because, during recent trips to visit friends and participate in various mission-type activities in the Dominican Republic, he became aware of the work of FilterPure, which produces ceramic water filters. He had already purchased a number of these filters from the FilterPure factory in that country to distribute to the people he was working with when the Haiti earthquake occurred. Expanding efforts to raise money in our local church and various quilt groups he was involved with kept Ray tuned in to the efforts of FilterPure to establish a second factory in Haiti, so the efforts of Doc Hendley to facilitate this were of great interest.

As this splendid narrative makes clear, Doc Hendley's efforts with Wine to Water go far beyond the specific work in Haiti which first sparked our interest. The book is a gripping, scary and honest story of the incredible challenges facing our world as seen through the eyes of one individual trying to make a difference. Most of the book deals with Doc's efforts to bring water to the refugee camps and villages in the most dangerous regions of war-torn Darfur. The year he spent in this endeavor, his miraculous survival after his team was attacked, his obvious struggles with PTSD (though he doesn't use that term) make this an adventure story of the highest order.

One thing that was focused in my awareness by Doc's book is the incredible complexity of the water crisis facing our world. He makes it emphatically clear that the loss of life due to the lack of potable water far exceeds that from any other cause. It is also clear from his story that water availability is far more critical than, for example, the availability of oil. The "developed nations" may indeed fight wars to secure their petroleum supplies, but in other areas the simple need for water dominates everyone's survival. His description of children in the refugee camps of Darfur having to walk for four hours every day to bring jerricans of water back to their families is one of the most vivid vignettes I've ever encountered.

Most important, of course, is the clarity with which the book not only defines the problems, but also focuses the solutions. People in the local areas are the ones who will have to deal with the crisis "on the ground". Outside aid workers can provide expertise and education, but they can never actually do the job. The efforts of the Wine to Water organization to train people to dig and maintain wells, develop appropriate purification procedures for local conditions, and most emphatically to understand the necessary sanitation precautions is the only way in which the water crisis can even begin to be solved.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable! January 5, 2012

By Chelsea

Format:Hardcover

In his first book, Doc has proven the rare ability to be easy to relate to, while staying completely open about a not-so-smooth past. It's an extremely refreshing read for those of us who know we're not perfect but recognize that we have it in us to make a difference. I'll continue to read it over and over...until he releases another. Well done, Doc!