by Journalism I student Melanie Terez, ’14
H2O for Life, a project recently started by the Environmental Club, is geared toward providing a Tanzanian school with more accessible water sources. It is still in the brainstorming stage of development; however, the club hopes to put their plan to action soon.
President of the club, senior Ellie Thien discovered the project at the National Service Learning Conference in April.
“The goal of [H2O for Life],” she said, “is to raise about $1,000 for the Zanka Primary School in Tanzania to help build latrines, rain-catchers, and hand-washing stations.”
When choosing a country to sponsor, senior Anna Tatakis, club vice president, said the club members decided to pick a less familiar African country; the members hypothesized that lesser-known countries, such as Tanzania, probably don’t receive as much help.
Because clubs are no longer allowed to hold bake sales, raising $1,000 for the H2O for Life project will likely prove to be difficult, Thein said. Without bake sales, club members will need new ways to raise funds.
Adviser Jane Hunt said the members were considering raising money by hosting a walk between two elementary or middle schools in UA, possibly between Jones and Hastings. That’s a similar distance to how far the students at Zanka walk to get water. The students—from any school—would have sponsors donate money.
“[It] is going to be a major challenge,” Thien said. “We are going to have to come up with some creative [fundraising] ideas over the next couple weeks.”