Well, Well, Well
The grandkids were pleading for more money. We don’t mind, because when their parents were living at home, we as a family went on the World Vision 40 hour famine. Now the grandkids wanted their $40 in sponsorship, and there are ten of them and that number is growing!
Young children can be given a vision which they match with their passion. Last month I sponsored a visit by the Wototo Childrens’ Choir. We raised several thousand dollars for these orphans, and the village that cares for a thousand more children all of whom have seen their parents die of HIV-Aids in Uganda.
Afterwards, senior students and teachers from Redeemer Baptist School in Sydney offered to raise funds as a school and next month I will attend an assembly when they will hand over a cheque for ten thousand dollars raised by the students. A vision plus passion means multitudes can be helped. Once a boy gave Jesus some loaves and fish, and thousands were fed. That is still happening today. Take water for drought stricken Africa for example.
This month I used the Parliamentary Theatre to introduce Ryan Hreljac. I would seek to raise money for wells in Africa. We soon saw the passion behind Ryan’s Well Foundation. The genesis of Ryan’s Well lies in a young boy named Ryan Hreljac. At 6 years of age, the young Canadian felt compelled to raise money to help Africans access clean, safe water. He raised the amount of $70, which his school teacher had said was needed, in order to establish one water well.
However, he then found out that this amount was not enough – he in fact needed $2000 to build a well. This did not deter him. Over the last 9 years, Ryan’s efforts have raised over 1.5 million dollars and have completed more than 227 water and sanitation projects in 10 developing countries. Current projects are underway in Africa, South America and India. And educational programs continue to be developed to help people in developed countries not only to understand the importance of water as a life giving resource but to motivate them to take their own steps toward positive global change.
We had the privilege of hearing about Ryan’s cause after he had visited 11 Illawarra schools and the University of Wollongong at events organized by my legal assistant Linda Munoz and her husband, hydrologist Luke Scott.. We also heard first-hand from Ryan’s adopted brother, Jimmy Akana, on the value of water wells to African communities.
Those in Parliament House address contributed $1050 to help build water wells in Africa. This amount will help at least 200 people access safe water. Ryan’s Sydney tour raised $17,500 in total.
Ryan said to our audience:
I am 15 years old and I live in Kemptville, a small town just south of Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. As fast as you can snap your fingers people are dying because they don’t have clean water. In places like Canada and Australia most of us have easy access. We drink it. We use it to brush our teeth and wash our clothes. We have proper bathrooms and a place to wash our hands afterward so we won’t get sick. Some people even water their lawns to keep them green. But one in six people on the planet aren’t as lucky.Every day 6,000 children die needlessly because of waterborne diseases. That’s like 20 full jumbo jets crashing every day of the year. And that’s just the kids. Too many people are talking about what we should do but not enough people are taking action. There is no reason for so many people to die just because they don’t have the most basic necessity of life – clean water. That is why I am here. I want to change that. We should all want to change that.
When I was six years old, Mrs. Prest, my Grade 1 teacher sparked something in me that made me want to help. It was a simple message that I have tried to pass on to others. It has grown ways that still surprise me.
As a six-year-old living in Canada, I learned that day in 1998 just how lucky I was to be living in such a fortunate country. We have the ability to help. Many of us do. We can all have a role to play, no matter who we are or how old we are.
My own message is simple. Be kind. Be compassionate. Care and share what you have with others. Get involved in your communities and get involved in the world. Helping others is what makes us truly rich, truly satisfied.
I love to read, watch television and play video games. My parents have to remind me sometimes to make my bed and clean my room. I think I am a pretty regular kid. If you don’t believe me, just ask one of my brothers. But like so many others, I spend time helping others.
In the past eight years, we have helped raise over 1.5 million dollars which has allowed us to complete 227 water and sanitation projects in ten developing countries.
I was lucky because I got to visit my very first well in Uganda when I was just nine years old. I learned early that there is no substitute for water-anywhere. In Africa they say, “Water is Life.”
More than 375,000 people have access to clean water now because supporters in more than 115 countries around the world have chosen to help the Ryan’s Well Foundation.
The Ryan’s Well Foundation is currently working on projects in India, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Uganda. As we grow, we will do even more to make the world a bit more equal.
I am not as naïve as I was at the age of six. I realize now that for serious positive global change, we have to work together to find solutions to the many problems we face today. Governments must work together. Organizations must work together. People must work together. There are many challenges in the world today. Even in the one area of water, there are lots of issues. Environmental problems like air and water pollution are problems that we all face no matter what country we call home.
We need to act. Hopefully the work we do together will set an example for the rest of the world to follow. I am not an expert in water issues but I know that 2.4 billion people in this world do not have access to sanitation. Not only do they not have a proper place to go to the bathroom, there is nowhere to wash after they do. Our oceans and rivers are being polluted by people who have totally forgotten that one day their children and grandchildren and great grandchildren will inherit this planet along with the mess we have all made.
But we do more than build wells. We have worked for years to educate people, young and old, about the importance of water as a life giving resource. We also motivate others to support positive change. Build. Educate. Motivate. That’s what we do at Ryan’s Well. I pray at night for clean water not just for my family but for every family on earth. I hope my dreams come true one day and I hope your dreams come true too.”
Thanks to the vision and passion of kids like Ryan, tens of thousands of people who lack access to water now have access and are living more fruitful and healthy lives.
GORDON MOYES
