Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Receives $2000 from Water Challenge!

The Ellis School played host to an evening of food, fun…

…and beautiful Haitian art!

The evening was certainly enhanced by our presentation of the donation and check!

Text of the presentation:Each year the 8th grade Global Perspectives club gives Ellis students the chance to examine various current issues and share ideas about them with other students from around the nation and the world.

This year, the project focused on water and our access to it. To raise awareness about how to conserve this most precious natural resource, the project members put forth a challenge to students across the country to save water in their homes.

A donation to advance the cause of providing fresh, clean water to people in need would be made in the name of the winners of this “Interscholastic Water Challenge.”

My students had little difficulty in deciding which organization would be the recipient of this donation. The Hôpital Albert Schweitzer’s “Wells and Water” program has been outstanding, and our school’s ties to the hospital are strong.

Thanks to a generous sponsorship by the Kennametal Foundation, the challenge was on. The winning team came from Stilwell Jr. High in West Des Moines, Iowa. (continued)

While none of the three teams entered by the Ellis 8th grade earned the right to put their name on the donation, each did a great deal to not only raise awareness about Haiti and its water issues, but to convince their peers to actually practice effective ways to save water.

Which brings us to this time, when I have the honor to present a check for $2000 to the “Wells and Water” program of Hôpital Albert Schweitzer. It is all of the participants’ hope that this will help a Haitian village gain greater access to something we here in our own villages often take for granted: clean water and good health.

Gregg StoneProject Coordinator

The Wells and Water Programtargets dehydration problems, a leading cause of death for children underthe age of five, and operates a cable-tooled drilling rig which has drilledmore than 100 wells. Approximately 26,000 admissions/diagnoses ofdehydration occur annually.

To learn more about Hôpital Albert Schweitzer’s “Water and Wells” community outreach program, visit: http://www.hashaiti.org/CFHASHArticle1.html