Daniel's isearch

Daniel S. isearch

What We Did-

A group of friends and I raised money to build a well in Sierra Leone. We built the well through a company called The Water Project. In order to build a well in Sierra Leone it would costs$4,500. So far we have raised over$4,000 by educating our friends relatives and strangers on the problem and then asking for donations. We also sold water balloons and cookies to people who we had told our mission to.

What I learned-

I learned a lot about the issue of water in not just Sierra Leone but all of Africa. Sometimes people have to walk up to ten miles just to get fresh water so that they don’t die of dehydration. Another problem is that the water they get is very unclean and carries many waterborne diseases. I learned about how bad the problem was and then, I wanted to help.

I also learned how fortunate I am to have such easy access to water and hospitals. When I am thirsty and want some water all I have to do is turn a faucet on and then I get clean water. When people in Africa need water they have to walk long distances and then don’t even get clean water. Even if I do get a waterborne illness, which would be unlikely, I could get easy access to a hospital and I would be fine after a short amount of time. People in Africa get small illnesses and sometimes die because they can’t get good enough care to help them recover.

As I learned more and more about the water issues in Africa I only wanted to help more. Then we got the opportunity to do an action project and I really wanted to help these people. The well will give a whole community access to water without having to walk very far. It is amazing how a group of fourteen year olds can help so many people.

Ben's iSearch

Doing this action project was very eye opening to me. I learned so much for instance, 1.5 million children die every year from waterborne illnesses, some people in Africa walk 3 miles each way to get water that normally isn’t even clean, and that children miss a ton of school from those diseases. Another thing that I learned about fundraising was that people want to donate to good causes like ours so us knowing our facts about it was super helpful. During this project I felt really guilty and proud of myself at the same time. I felt guilty, because I have all of the resources that none of the people in Sierra Leone have. I have running water, medicine, hospitals, etc. I also feel proud of myself at the same time, because of the amount of people I am going to be helping. The well serves over 250 people. Also, something else that I learned while doing this that made me proud was that every ten dollars gives a person clean drinking water for an entire year. So, the fact that we are going to raise 4500 dollars is really amazing. Although we have raised 4155 dollars, I do feel really bad. I feel this way, because besides the eighty dollars we raised on Earth Day we have not done anything to get the money besides sending the e-mails to family and friends. Saying that, I think that we are going to try and either do a bake sale or a low water car wash or something since I know that Leah and I, and most likely Ellery and Daniel, feel the same way that I do. Lastly, i am glad that we were able to do this project and I know that it will make a huge difference in peoples lives.

Almost There!

Hey, everybody!

First off, I'd like to be sure to thank everybody who has been so generous to our project.  This wouldn't be possible without you, so all of us on the We Dig Water team are so appreciative for you and your donations.  I'm sure the families in Sierra Leone are thankful, too.

However, the end of school is approaching quickly (June 3rd), and we still have about $600 to go!  For anybody who's reading this who hasn't donated, I'd be so happy if you could pitch in -- even just a couple bucks would be amazing.  Of course, if you've already donated but are feeling super generous, feel free to donate again!  We will be having either a bake sale or car wash (using a low amount of water) soon to raise some money, the details of which will be posted here on our blog for those who are interested.

We'd really like to put in a final little push to finish the project by the end of school, but, of course, we'd all be more than happy to continue our work into Summer if that's what it takes.

And again, thank you so much to everybody who has helped us make this project a success.  You have helped so much, and we cannot express our gratitude enough.

Earth Day Success!! And Thank-You's...

By selling home-made chocolate chip cookies, getting people to throw water balloons at Daniel, and asking for donation from the dozens of Paideians attending the Earth Day celebration, the four of us on the We Dig Water team ended up raising $80 for our water well funds!! This puts us at $1,320.. and only after one week! We are on the fast track toward the $4,500 dollars we need to fully fund a well in Sierra Leone! Absolutely none of this would be possible without your donations, which is why we would all like to say thank you to the following people for their generosity:

E Vaughn Dunnigan gave $50.00

Karmen Stephenson gave $20.00

Kelly Koelker gave $100.00

Cynthia Koelker gave $30.00

Sarah Hardy gave $100.00

Bob Wolfe gave $100.00

Janet Buntain gave $50.00

James Swartz gave $25.00

Becky Luce gave $50.00

Nancy Rafuse gave $100.00

Gabe Eisen gave $10.23

Susan Herron gave $200.00

Scott Baum gave $100.00

Claudia Levitas gave $100.00

Daniel Sperling gave $99.77

Paideia Project gave $80.00

Andrea Curcio gave $50.00

Mary Emma McConaughey gave $25.00

Leslie Wayne gave $30.00

One thousand thanks to all of you for helping us make this possible!!

Earth Day

This Friday, April 22nd, the four of us on the We Dig Water team will be hosting a booth at our school's Earth Day Fair.  We'll have baked goods for sale to earn money for our fundraiser, and we'll have activities with water such as water balloons.  Our first goal is to educate the students, parents, and others attending about the water crisis and what one can do to save water at home.  Please stop by this Friday at four o'clock!

We Dig Sierra Leone

After thorough research and careful decision making, the four of us have come to the conclusion that The Water Project will be the best organization for our action project.  We will raise $4,500 to fund a well in Sierra Leone, our country of choice, and it will provide clean, safe water to over 250 people.

Eager to begin our fundraising, we've contacted Krispy Kreme.  They offer a program that would allow us to purchase donuts from them for half price and sell them for retail price or higher.  Ben and Daniel are going to look into this with more detail this afternoon when they travel together to the Krispy Kreme on Ponce de Leon.

Another method of fundraising will be in the form of teeshirts and water bottles.  We've designed a shirt that will be printed soon, as will water bottles.  More details to follow.

For now, remember to visit our fundraising page and please donate!

Leah's iSearch

When Ellery, Ben, Daniel and I decided we wanted to build a well, we really didn’t think there would be too many organizations to choose from. But upon entering “building water wells” into Google, hundreds of results came up. Here are some of the sites that really stood out to me:

Ryan’s Well

Already having some background information on the foundation because of a recent project I did, the story of Ryan as a young boy doing chores and public speaking in order to raise money for wells in developing countries was not new. But I did learn about some of their projects and system of donations. For example, Ryan’s Well conducts community driven solutions, where students and community members plan and talk about ways to create new clean water and sanitation sources, which they raise money to create then see to the management of those sources. Ryan’s Well also educates children, youth, and women on the importance of clean water, they’re part of local partnerships, and scalable projects for future growth. You can easily donate by going on their web page: www.ryanswell.ca, and clicking the DONATE NOW button, where you can enter the amount you would like to contribute.

Nicaragua Water Wells

As you can probably tell from its name, the Nicaragua Water Well project has a mission to bring clean water and proper sanitation to the people of Nicaragua. The site, which can be found at www.tulsarotaryweb.com/Water/water.html, gives you a background on the foundation and how it came about: in 1996, Rotarian Bob Scroggs went to Nicaragua in efforts to build a medical clinic with his church mission group. He quickly realized the peoples lack of clean water and formed the beginning of an idea that wasn’t put into motion for three more years, when Scroggs talked to a water well driller and they decided to head down to Nicaragua and build wells. Several trips followed this one, including one in 2004 where they drilled 10 wells, providing safe water for 3,300 people, and later in 2005, where they drilled 15 wells and brought clean water to 2,500 Nicaraguans. Though I can’t find a donation page, I can tell that the mean and women involved in this project are very motivated and are slowly but surely making a change, and the website gives good ideas on how to help with the worlds growing water crisis.

World Concern

After Googling “clean water wells”, World concern was one of the first sites to pop up and I was able to find it at www.worldconcern.org/water. This organization, like many other clean water/well based organizations has a primary goal of fulfilling basic human needs and supplying people with clean drinking water. By digging fresh water wells by machine and hand, building rainwater runoff storage systems (systems that transport water from rooftops to larger tanks), and excavating ponds to collect rainwater (which benefit humans and animals), World concern is able to help out developing countries by giving them what every person needs: safe water. The website is big, clear, and full of information and ways to help, including a DONATE NOW page, that allows you to invest a certain amount of money in the building of wells monthly or one time. This foundation would definitely be something to look farther into for our well building project!