Continued: Schools' H2O project helps one drop at a time

A service-learning program aims to get students in the Mounds View district and across the country to act on the global shortage of clean drinking water.

Teacher Patty Hall launched H2O for Life last year at Highview Middle School in New Brighton; students raised enough money to build a dam in a Kenyan village.

Hall has also created a program that is being used by about 14 schools not just in the Mounds View area, but in Lino Lakes, White Bear Lake, Menomonie, Wis., and Abington, Pa. Mounds View organizers hope to someday link 1,000 U.S. schools to 1,000 schools in developing countries around the world.

Hall, a seasoned traveler and international volunteer, received an appeal two years ago from a friend in Kenya, who noted girls and women in parts of that country spend hours each day walking miles to collect water for their families, instead of going to school. The water they collected was contaminated by the herd animals who shared it. So the hope for the campaign was that making clean water accessible would not only improve the health of the village, but allow girls to stay in school and give women time to work to better support their families.

A committee of 15 eighth-graders led their schoolmates in a series of small fund-raisers with the goal of bringing in $10,000 to build a sand dam for the Kwa Kasolo community in Kenya.

Their fundraising motto was "A drop in the bucket"; some of the fund-raising events students held included a progressive nickel-dime-quarter coin drive, in which a total of 40 cents per student bought chances to win prizes. They also sold woven bracelets for $2 each, and solicited donations from friends and family.

"We were not looking for the big hits," said parent adviser Val Blumberg. "This is nickel-and-dime your way to your goal."

Students raised $13,000.

Hall traveled back to Kenya last June to oversee the building project, and came back with about 600 photos to share with students

"It was just totally overwhelmingly awesome. It was wonderful," she said. "Their donations made a tremendous difference in the lives of thousands of people."

Expanding the reach

This year, the former eighth-graders brought their campaign to Irondale High School. They are working to fund a sustainable water-collection system at Kathungu Primary School in Kwa Kasolo. So far, they've raised about $1,000 from sales of T-shirts and bracelets, and from a dunk tank they sponsored during Irondale's Charity Week earlier this month. There are plans for a pancake breakfast at Moe's in Mounds View the morning of Feb. 9.

At Centennial Middle School in Lino Lakes, students have reached their $10,000 goal already this year through various fundraisers, including a raffle for the right to dress teachers any way the winner wanted.

The middle school group at Highview is raising money for a similar project at Entonet School in southern Kenya, and to connect a water pipeline from Mount Kilimanjaro to the village. In November, the group held a "Walk-for-Water" that brought in $5,000. Eighth-grader Jesse Lund walked 6 miles carrying a five-gallon bucket of water, a nod to his counterparts in Kenya, Blumberg noted.

"He said, 'I just want to know how other people live,'" she recalled.

For their part, the students say the experience has made them more grateful for what they have.

"It's an important thing to do," said Nate Loomis, 15, Irondale's H2O for Life president. "It benefits others and kind of makes you realize everything we have here is not the same all over the world. We strive for equality."

And despite Kenya's distance, physically and psychologically, the group has been well-received at Irondale.

"People get it," Nate said. "If you tell people what you're doing, it's very easy to understand."

The adult leaders are encouraging students to think big. In March, a small group of students will speak at a World Water Day event in Washington, D.C. Hall and fellow teacher Maureen Haqq plan to write a picture book about the Kenyan communities and their students' fund-raising achievements. In the next couple of years, they hope some students can visit Kenya.

Their faculty adviser, Branden Schields, is impressed by the students' heart.

"Sometimes as adults we can get jaded," he said. "Students are very hopeful that they can make a difference in the world for the better. It's very concrete, and it's an achievable goal where they can make a big difference in the lives of a school and a community."

Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409