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Fraser Kershaw

Back Talk with Fraser Kershaw

by Fraser Kershaw | September 29, 2014

Fraser Kershaw is the founder of Water Works, a charitable organization with the goal to provide clean, safe drinking water to people in third-world nations. He is also the host of the new film, Behind the Water, and works alongside medical teams, as well as on-air with international film crews. In order to maintain their own health, Kershaw and his team eat right and supplement their diet regularly with probiotics.

Fraser Kershaw "Behind the Water"
Fraser Kershaw “Behind the Water”

Question: What is Water Works and how was it started?

Answer: Water Works guides multiple parties together as one to provide clean water to people in need. We work with international government leaders, city leaders and non-profits as well as NGOs (non-governmental organizations). We combine medical personnel to work with independent professionals from around the globe.

Water Works is all about action. The people struggling for clean water know there is a solution, and they are a fed up and ready for a revolution. We don’t mind sidestepping and dancing around anyone blocking this basic human right. Water Works started the day we saw people weeping over water-related deaths.

Question: What are the health risks to yourself and your crew?

Answer: You would think traveling with a team of doctors and professionals would reduce our own health risks. You would be surprised how fast a director or doctor’s ego can be tossed out the window after a night of sweating, vomiting and diarrhea. It really doesn’t matter how many PhDs or television shows they have produced. All their published work, awards, degrees and accolades are on time out; if I didn’t know them personally I would be mistaken by their character. Some doctors come down to treat patients and end up just like the patients they are treating. It’s usually because they broke the rules of nature or neglected proper preparation within the gut flora. There is always a cinematographer or medical personnel down and out. Some either quit and fly home early, some never come back at all.

Where we travel medical teams are far and few. Doctors are modern-day walking gods in some villages. The locals know how rare it is to see one nevermind to be seen by one to treat their current sicknesses. It’s a beautiful thing to provide this assistance and then top their glass off with clean water. We are beating the majority of the illnesses at the root.

Question: Do you build up your immune system with dietary supplements/ organic foods?

Answer: Yes, if you want to avoid the international bug and save yourself from a heaping dose of antibiotics, you must prepare your stomach lining with probiotics. Taking probiotics 90 days out before you step off the plane is the key to success. I send bottles of probiotics to the film crew and medical personnel 30 to 90 days out.

I believe the “good” bacteria in your gastrointestinal system can only provide you with optimum health if the proper balance of different types of bacteria is maintained in your gut. I’m convinced Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1 is one of the important and necessary strains in an effective probiotic supplement when traveling overseas.

This is where probiotics can have a profound effect. Not just on your GI (gastrointestinal) health, but on your overall health as well. Keep in mind, 80 percent of your immune system actually lives in your gut. This helps us keep a healthy balance of intestinal micro flora while traveling. Taking probiotics months ahead of time is the difference in playing or “sitting on the bench.” The first thing in the morning, one must roll out of bed, take a probiotic, and drink a glass of filtered water.

Fraser Kershaw "Behind the Water"
Fraser Kershaw “Behind the Water”

Question: What is the most difficult challenge you and your team face?

How can people/companies help serve this cause?

Answer: The most difficult challenge we face is our egos and ourselves. I can buy a $300 dinner for my friends or I can make a $30 healthier organic homemade dinner and pocket the $270 and buy someone a ticket to come help. When we travel potential sickness is always in the shadows and when it hits our film director or doctor we can’t move and the carnival stops. One infection limits action. It seems we’re the only ones filming and bringing medical aid to some of these very rural areas. It’s imperative everybody is 100 percent fit to perform at their best ability to concede maximum impact.

Antibiotics, medical equipment, medical staff, flights, hotels, food, and transportation can get pretty expensive. Everyone knows if each family had direct access to filtered water we wouldn’t have to hustle resources to set up makeshift medial clinics. We have never accepted a dime for our efforts; we are self-funded.

Finally, people are depending on us to return with help. We must maintain ourselves, as it’s our moral responsibility to stay healthy.

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