Many of my friends have seen my Charity: Water post on Facebook. I thought I'd tell you a bit more about it here because it might take more than the 140 characters Facebook allows me to use.
First of all, I'm not only a mommy, but also a teacher. Each year our school does a "World Tour". Sort of a way to maintain focus at the end of the school year and to bring the world to young people who may not get to see much of it otherwise. I personally love this time of year. Partly because of all the crafting and project-based learning, but mostly because it isn't about any test.
Anyway, my third graders study Kenya every year. I have a very good friend from Kenya who comes every year to talk to the kids. I always love his visits because he really helps the children to understand that even though we do things differently, people are all very much the same. The Kenyan children don't go to a school like ours, but they are learning. They don't have the toys and games that our children have, but they play and have fun all the same. They don't live in houses like ours, but they love their homes and families just like we do. I believe it's important to teach children that we are all more alike than different.
But what does any of that have to do with water? During the course of our Kenya study there is a video that we watch called "Africa's Child: Living with Lions". It documents the life of a young Maasai boy and his family. One of the things my students are struck by is the fact that the boy's mother and sisters have to walk every day to fetch water from the same water hole the animals use. The boy talks about how many people get sick and die from drinking the water.
At this point I have the students brainstorm all the things we use water for in one day. Drinking, washing, brushing teeth, flushing toilets, watering our lawns and gardens, swimming, bathing...
What would we do if that water wasn't there? Millions of people in developing countries are living like this every day. Can anything be done?
Enter Charity: Water. Our class began a fundraising campaign to help bring clean water to a developing country. We shared this video to explain why we were collecting coins:
Day by day our water jug filled with coins. In the two weeks we had to raise money at school the students collected $285.40. Some of the students were disappointed that we didn't raise more, but I was proud. Every time I saw a child make the choice to donate change to our water project I knew we made a difference, not only to the people who are going to receive our donations, but also to the children who are donating. They are learning compassion. They are learning generosity. They are learning to help others. These are the important things no state test can measure. I am proud of my students.
Our online fundraising campaign is open until July 29th. I plan to share it every day until it closes. Here is the link to donate:
http://my.charitywater.org/desgives
Feel free to share the link with family, friends, church members... anyone who might like to donate to our cause. Donations are tax deductible.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read our story! Thanks for helping us reach our goal.
