TAMPA, Fla. — A small group of Bay area residents are giving their time to bring clean water to impoverished countries.

They started a soccer themed organization called One Ball One Village after participating in a short-term missionary trip.

Jody Johnston said the group decided to provide water purification systems in places including Haiti and the Dominican Republic after visiting villages that had contaminated drinking water supplies. Things like e coli, cholera, dysentery, giardia. Things that can even cause death.

The purification systems are basic. They include four cylinders with filters inside. The filters get progressively finer in each cylinder.

One Ball One Village volunteers install them, and the local representatives make sure they are working properly. That includes replacing the filters as needed.

Jody Johnston runs much of the operation from his garage in Hillsborough County.

The retired commercial real estate broker has learned some basic plumbing skills over the past decade. “Well, over the years, we have done about 250 of these in 12 or 13 countries. And I’m not a plumber by trade, so this is something I have learned from others.”

Johnston has lots of parts for the filters in his garage, along with large blue plastic barrels.

One Ball One Village uses the barrels to ship replacement parts and hard to get food items to its representatives.

“So, you can put a lot of weight in one of these, like pumps, water systems replacement filters,” he said.

Johnston also has boxes filled with glasses in his garage. They are sent to an eye clinic the group supports. Staff members have equipment there that allows them to figure out the prescription of the glasses so they can be given to patients.

Johnston believes he has a calling for his role in the organization. Like the other leaders of OBOV we feel like we have a calling,” he said. That this is something deep in our soul that God has called us to do.”