Water Fundraiser is Successful

WAITSBURG - On May Day, Waitsburg Elementary students took the first steps in a month-long walk, with the goal of providing water for the needy. Last Friday, students and staff culmi- nated the school year with an assembly where they learned that the school had met its goal and is funding a rainwater catchment and storage system for a school of 398 students in Kenya.

In years past, Waitsburg Elementary School has par- ticipated in 'Walk Across America' as a fitness activity. This year, for the first time, they chose to participate in a 'Walk for Water' campaign, working with Water Charity (www.watercharity.org) to provide safe water for those without.

"We thought this would be a good chance to have the kids walk for a purpose - to become more globally aware of other people's lives and needs," said kindergarten teacher, Pam Beasley.

Students spent their recesses walking, as a re- minder that not everyone can simply walk to the sink for a glass of water; that many women and children throughout the world walk three to five miles a day to find drinking water. Even then, what they gather is often contaminated, leading to illness or death.

With a goal of raising $555, the amount needed to fund an entire project, students eagerly solicited sponsorships from friends and family as they devoted their recesses to walking. Walkers were made aware of the water and sanitation needs in third-world coun- tries and learned that just one $20 donation could provide a person with clean water.

Students walked at least three days a week, correlat- ing the number of laps to the distance people often have to walk to get water. Mrs. Henderson's second grade class even carried water jugs as they walked to make the exercise more realistic.

"One day a girl accidentally spilled everything she was carrying," said Beasley. "She cried, as she knew that was 'her family's water sup- ply for the whole day'. Some of the students have taken this very seriously,"

The students were also given the option of buying "special" water balloons for $1. Each balloon included permission to take a shot at their teacher or school superintendent, Dr. Clarke as they walked before the firing squad.

By May's end, the school had raised $555 and funded a rainwater catchment and storage system at a school in Kenya. The school has com- piled a team of fathers who are skilled laborers to build the system, consisting of a 3.2 liter plastic water tank mounted on a platform with gutters connecting from the roof of the school.

The school has given per- mission for staff to oversee water distribution to families of the schoolchildren, allowing the project to reach close to 1,000 people who currently walk up to five km (3.1 miles) daily for free potable water.

When asked what she thought about the project, sixth grader Leena Baker said, "I liked it. I thought it was a good program and it brought to my attention that there are children who don't get water as easily as we do. I'm proud that we met the goal we aimed for. Some days it wasn't too fun when you could be doing other stuff besides walking, but I think it was a good program."

Beasley, who is currently researching the Guatemala City garbage dump workers in anticipation of next years' walk, deems the program a success and looks forward to the next project.

"We hope to use technol- ogy to communicate with the students and staff, to help our students connect on a personal level," said Beasley. "We hope to extend the school-wide project over several months next year. We're planning a water sci- ence day, with biologists, guest speakers, and hands- on activities that the classes will rotate through - along with involving the commu- nity in our campaign."