April 23, 2018 at 5:18 p.m.
Crescent students raise money to buy water filters for Africans
Crescent students raise money to buy water filters for Africans
By Kayla Thomason-
The students held a cookie and lemonade sale recently to raise funds to purchase water filters for people in Africa. They raised $1,200 which will allow them to purchase 16 filters at a cost of $75 each.
"One filter has the ability to clean water for a town the size of Rhinelander for 250 days," said Jenny Prom, second grade teacher at Crescent Elementary School. "So we've been able to impact a town the size of Rhinelander for about 12 years now."
The sale took place over approximately three weeks and Prom said she hopes it will become a yearly activity.
"In doing this, I hope that my students see that the power of one is very strong and that they show kindness even in the darkness that they see," she said.
The students incorporated math skills by counting the money and used English and art to create the posters.
"It's amazing, the compassion that they have," Prom said, adding that the class would like to thank the staff, students and families for their support and donations to reach their goal.
Wyatt Crowell, one of Prom's students, was happy to help others.
"We thought of this because we just want to help the Africans and we did that because we just wanted to show some kindness," he said. "It was really fun and I feel great for doing what I should be doing, it's just good to show some kindness and it just feels great."
Ava Fidak, another of Prom's students, was upset to learn that people are dying due to poor water quality.
To teach the children about the water issues in Africa, Prom read a book called "The Water Princess". It's about a girl who walks a half day to the water, then carries the 40-50 pounds of water on her head back home, but it's dirty water and makes her family sick.
"I really wanted to help Africa," Fidak said. "I learned some facts and I don't really like how a lot of people die a day from just dirty water. It's sad."
"I love to show kindness, I really liked helping Africa, it was a good opportunity," she added.
Taylor McKinney, Crowell and Fidak's classmate, also enjoyed the project.
"I think it was fun and I was glad that we were helping out these people who need this clean water," she said.
Rev. Henry Mukonda of Zambia, regional director for Wise Intentional Leadership Development (WILD), was grateful for the assistance.
"It was awesome to be here and we are grateful to the Lord that he gave us an opportunity here," he said. "These water filters are used to clean the water so that people can drink clean water and live longer, and for us that goes way beyond what we expected."
He also explained how the filters impact life expectancy for African villagers.
"Out of one filter, it can save a whole village," Mukonda said. "A village would have about 20 families living in one area. Because their source of water is the same, one water filter goes a long way. But I must mention here that because of the color of the water that we draw and the leaves or anything that could be there and the sand, these water filters get blocked and they may not last for a long time, so to have others that come our way is a real blessing for us."
He enjoyed meeting the students and seeing their enthusiasm.
"To me, it is something that is great and it is awesome to have been here," he said.
WILD is an organization that offers training and spiritual leadership development. To learn more, visit www.wildleadership.org.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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