For Educators - Whereever the Need

Text Box: VOLUNTARY WATER METER Each day 4,000 children die from unclean water and lack of toilets.

The signs are taped to the outside of the jars. Students take the jars home and invite their family to participate for one week in donating small change each time they use water in the home. For instance, there might be a jar in the bathroom and each time someone flushes the toilet they put a quarter in the jar. A shower might command fifty cents. Another jar near the kitchen sink would be for donations whenever dishes are washed. Other jars can be for watering the lawn, washing the car, etc. It’s a fun and relatively painless way to collect money for a project that involves the students’ families.

We invite teachers who are interested in this curriculum to contact Wherever the Need and we can identify a water or toilet project to match the funds raised by your school. An important piece of closure for the students is the plaque we will install on the outside of the toilet or on the handpump or water storage tank. A photo will be sent to the teacher who can make copies and distribute one to each student. Some teachers have supplied the photo to their local newspaper.

A typical plaque might read “This project was made possible by the students of (your) school in (your town), USA.” A shallow well will typically cost as little as $150, and deeper wells for larger villages can range from $2,000 to $7,000. Construction of a composting toilet for a school is from $5,000 to $6,000. We can pool donations from different schools if the full amount cannot be raised by any one school or class.

Other Class Project Ideas

A school teacher in Los Angeles has his sixth grade class undertake a project each year to help children in India. The project began in response to the Asian tsunami and we suggested the class raise money for a playground in a village that was decimated by the tsunami back in 2005. This past school year they raised money for another playground and a water filtration system at a school for untouchable caste children. In gratitude the India students hand made placemats for their new friends in America. The LA students record a CD of songs they sing and sell the CD to family and neighbors with the understanding the proceeds will go toward the project they have selected. Playgrounds with a range of familiar play equipment typically cost around $2,000 depending on the location of the school or village.

Other classes and school clubs have raised money to purchase foot-operated sewing machines for physically challenged and lower caste children. Sewing machines are inexpensive at $90 and provide a guaranteed source of future income for the students when they complete the sewing class. One high school student in Montana hosted an India-themed meal to which she invited her relatives and friends. A suggested donation for her meal helped her raise enough money to buy a sewing machine and contribute toward a school toilet project.

Much good can be done by school children under the guidance of a motivated teacher. Please contact WTN if you would like to do something along these lines with your own students.

To Educators of Our Youth

To see what other teachers and children have done,

visit our Kids Helping Kids page.

As you undoubtedly realize our children are besieged with negative news stories everyday of their lives. How they incorporate the knowledge of other people’s misfortune may be influenced by how the mentors in their lives deal with this issue. A number of teachers have contacted Wherever the Need with a desire to involve their students in a positive program that helps them understand the situation of others and respond with a compassionate action. Here is what we suggest to teachers who want to introduce the idea of voluntary service to their students.

Voluntary Water Meter Project

Dedicate a portion of the school year to studying the global water situation. Perhaps it is one aspect of a global warming theme. Students are given resource material or appropriate Internet sites in order to research the global water crisis. After the students have a good grasp of the problem and have gained some empathy for people trapped in this crisis in developing areas, the teacher can introduce a plan for the class to raise money to dig a water well, construct a toilet or build a rainwater harvesting unit in Africa or India.

Each student is requested to bring several clean, empty glass jars or tin cans to class. The students make signs for their jars that read: VOLUNTARY WATER METER. Beneath this phrase is written some water fact they discovered in their research. For instance a typical sign might read:

Text Box: VOLUNTARY WATER METER 1.1 billion people don’t have clean drinking water.