It’s easy for Canadians to take water for granted — living in a land that’s home to one of the world’s largest supplies of fresh water.
But for people living in Third World countries, access to clean water — or the lack thereof — can mean the difference between life and death.
For the next month and a half, a group of high school students will work to raise the money for provide clean water to a community in need.
The Stettler Well Challenge — the brainchild of the Be the Change team at William E. Hay Composite High School — begins Feb. 13 and runs until March 31.
The goal is to raise $6,250, enough to build a well in one community and provide access to clean water for 10 families in other communities.
Erin Yaremcio, president of the club at William E. Hay, said that learning about the critical need for clean water had motivated her and the club to make a difference.
“I knew I wanted to do something with water,” she said. “We were going to do something as big as we could, because why not?”
The club’s name is inspired by a widely-circulated quote attributed to Mohandas Gandhi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
The club is working to promote the challenge through social media, writing letters to businesses, and advertising locally. They have created a hashtag — #StettlerWellChallenge — to promote their project through Twitter and social media.
Yaremcio said that the club’s goal was inspired by the development model promoted by Free the Children, which includes five main pillars: education, clean water and sanitation, health, alternative income and livelihood, and agriculture and food security.
While access to clean water is only one of the pillars, most of the others are dependent upon it, making it an essential ingredient for community development.
Yaremcio, now in Grade 12, said she learned about the organization when she was a student in Jefferson McClung’s Grade 10 social studies class.
That year, she raised $125, enough to provide a clean water kit for one family, but she became keenly aware of how far the need extends.
An estimated 780 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water, according to statistics provided by the United Nations.
UN guidelines state that people should have access to between 50 and 100 litres of clean water each day, but most Third World citizens live on less than 10 litres per day.
On top of that, many of those people must travel a kilometre or more to access that water, often in areas where it is dangerous for women or children to travel alone.
“To me, the idea of not having water is not something I can even imagine,” said Yaremcio.
“It creates a lot of adversity . . . People need to realize that this is a real issue.”
Yaremcio leads a team of eight, along with support from teachers Santana Scarff and Jefferson McClung. Though their numbers are small, she said the team will work to promote their fundraiser, to make the community aware of the need that exists and to encourage people to contribute towards the goal.
The team is allowed to choose where the funds will be disbursed. Yaremcio said the funds will likely be used to help communities in Kenya, Ghana or Nicaragua.
Some communities in Kenya are raising support through the Maasai Mamas program, which is designed to empower female leaders through the manufacture and sale of sustainable products, including beaded jewelry.
Yaremcio said their club has acquired some of this jewelry, which will be sold during their fundraising campaign.
Donations will be accepted at the school office throughout the campaign and can also be sent by mail. Tax receipts will be available.
For more information, check out the “Wm. E. Hay Be the Change” group on Facebook.