KIDS CARE ABOUT KIDS
Aqua Clara’s mission is to save children’s lives by enabling them and their families to have clean disinfected water. The Kids to Kids program fosters cross cultural awareness and friendship as we are all one family, in one world, in one planet. The response of the children at Lakewood Elementary School to the children at The Potters School in Eldoret, Kenya, surprised and inspired all of us.
World class Kenyan runners Luke Kibet and Daniel Komen held an assembly at Lakewood for Aqua Clara and talked about the need for clean water for the children in their village. The children of Lakewood were so moved that they saved their nickels and dimes. Eager minds, generous hearts, and loving spirits characterize these children as they presented a check for $460.00 to provide water purifiers for the children in schools around Eldoret. When children have a giving heart at this age, they will give all of their lives!
The children then decided to write letters to the children in Kenya and would like to be their pen pals. My heart was truly warmed with the effort of the children to write about what they thought the Kenyan children would care about. What a wonderful way for these children to understand what life is like in the village of Kenya and to understand more deeply not only what the difference in possessions and style of life they have, but also that when all is said and done, the children in Kenya are just like the children in Holland, they all like to play sports whether it is with a brand new soccer ball, or a ball that is made of string, they all love their families and know that families are important, and they all have goals and dreams about their lives as they grow up. The excitement on their faces, and the enthusiastic “this is the very best project we have ever had” confirms the marvelous way to begin this intra cultural awareness and global understanding. We are really all one family.
To set the stage for the letter writing event, Margaret Kimosop, a Kenyan woman who is doing her doctorate in Grand Rapids, and Mrs. Bettie Visscher, a former teacher in Kenya, visited Lakewood. Margaret wore her traditional dress and they both talked to the students about life in Eldoret. The children were transfixed. The children were quite shocked to hear that Kenyan students have a cup of tea for breakfast, eat corn gruel for lunch, and then again eat corn gruel for dinner maybe with a little goat meat added. And that is what they eat the next day and the next day after that. You could feel the exhaling of the children as they thought about giving up their hamburgers and pizza and fresh vegetables, and ice cream, etc. They tested this concept by asking,
“What do they have for treats or snacks?” (They do not have chips, crackers, candy, etc.)
“Do they have a cafeteria that they go to?” (No)
“What do they eat on the other days?” (The same thing)
This was a little hard for us all to comprehend!!
Mrs. Jamila Jawahir talked to her students about what life was like in this village. She asked the students to open their top drawer, and to count their pencils. Then, she told them that the Kenyan students do not have their own pencil, they share pencils, sometimes with four to a pencil. A child would be thrilled to have his/her own pencil. Quietly, but deliberately, the students started to bring in pencils to send to Kenya, and collected 2,000 pencils, sharpeners and erasers to send with their letters. We also got a map of the world to put on their wall, and a map of the United States with Holland circled, so they would know where we live.
The letters from the students show an avid interest in the life in Eldoret. They ask if they have pets, and they describe their own pets. They ask what they do in their free time, and Tayler asks them “what is the most fun thing you do.” Lauren said that “she would love to get to know you and you know about me.” Many students wrote “I sure hope that you write back – I want you to be my new friend.” Abby signed her letter, “Love, Your new American Friend!” Mrs. Von Allsberg said that she “had never seen the students so thoughtful and dedicated to a project. They really worked hard on these letters.” The children in Kenya are writing letters back to Lakewood.
As a follow up to this letter writing, we will connect the Lakewood children to the Kenyan students via SKYPE and allow the children to actually talk and see each other live on the computer. I think this will be another very exciting moment.
The next phase of this program will be to collect used LEGOS from the schools and the community to send to Kenya. They will be very welcome in Eldoret as most of the children do not have them, and we see LEGOS as a way of promoting Fun, Creativity, Problem Solving and Dexterity. Many of these children have never been able to take things apart and put them back together again. The Kenyan teachers are enthusiastic about the initiative.
As wonderful and inspiring as this program is, the underlying and important objective is to bring clean water to the families, and to teach health and hygiene principles that support the eradication of disease and death from fecal contaminated water. The inexpensive Aqua Clara Water Purifier, a point of use purifier that is appropriate for a family of five, will do just that. This purifier has no moving parts, requires no power, uses local materials and is made by local crafts-makers, is under $20.00 a unit. This purifier is made to last for years without maintenance and to be sustainable because of its elegant simplicity.
Too often, groups have tried to solve the problems for the people in developing countries by giving them what they think they need. Aqua Clara is dedicated to listening to the words and the hearts of the people. Furthermore, Aqua Clara uses existing infrastructure in the village to find an interested person who wants to start a new business. This trusted member of the village community brings the water purifier to his/her own people with the passion and the knowledge of what a difference this unit can make in dispelling the despair and hopelessness of watching one out of five of their children die, and the perpetual caring of two more of the remaining four children who are permanently disabled and sick their entire lives. We have found that as gradual miraculous change is noted, and the children do not have as much diarrhea or miss as much school, that there are more people from the village interested in this phenomenon. And, then, more businesses are born.
As we go forward, the kids to kids program is vital for Aqua Clara. The key to the sustainable acceptance of the Aqua Clara purification of the contaminated water in the homes of the children is the mother’s heart of love for her child. As the child experiences the clean water, the better health, the “feel good” benefits, he will want to have clean water for his life, and for his family, and for the children that follow. The combination of the clean disinfected water with the opportunity to have their own business, and to be able to make a profit, while doing good, is an opportunity to dream a better dream, to hope for a different tomorrow, and to believe that what seemed to be impossible is now happening.
Aqua Clara will respond to this call for the children by purchasing full priced water purifiers for each classroom in the local schools through sponsors both from the United States and from the local community who are interested in this cause. This sale will help to launch the new business and build the awareness and excitement in the families as the children create a buzz about the clean water. The children will have clean water in the classroom, and one child will be privileged to take home a pitcher of clean water for a special deed each day, further spreading the good word about the clean water.
Very visible locally owned businesses that are profitable change the dynamics in the community. Young people now can dream of being able to own a business – and they begin to have HOPE, they see that they can make a profit, and they believe that it can become a reality, and thus begins the end of the cycle of poverty and despair. Hope and Faith light up their eyes, incentive and enthusiasm replaces the dull sameness of every day, and the indomitable human spirit begins to lift groups of people from the bottom of the pyramid to meaningful and productive family lives.