African Well Fund helping African villagers in need
Fund will help build good wells for people used to walking ten miles every day to get water.
Amy Poppinga
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: News
The journey will begin and end at the Brookings High School and with every step, help people who live half the world away.
Participants in the Wells For Africa 5k Run and Walk-a-thon, which are both sponsored by the SDSU Pre-Professional Club, will be walking and running around Brookings to support well construction to provide clean water in Africa.
Through the 5k, walk-a-thon and other fundraising efforts, like going door-to-door in Brookings asking for donations, the club hopes to raise $10,000 for The African Well Fund.
According to a brochure for the Wells For Africa 5k, 100 percent of the proceeds of The African Well Fund go to a central organization, Africare, which constructs the wells with help from village volunteers.
Colin Zdenek, the president of the Pre-Professional Club, said these wells will be built in places that need it the most, such as small communities of 100 people, where there is a common need of water.
After the well is built, the quality of life for the African villagers can vastly improve. Crop production can be increased and the villagers and their livestock can become healthier. Right now, water-borne diseases are "crippling the health of the villagers," but after a well is built, they will no longer have to fear these illnesses, said the brochure.
"We're not going for a cure or a total change of life," said Barbara Wehde, an active Pre-Professional Club member and sophomore Spanish and biology major. "With water, though, it will at least give them a start in a change of lifestyles."
The availability of water - something we take for granted, Zdenek said - will also be improved with the help of a new well. Women in Africa commonly walk 10 miles one way just for a gallon of water, but with a new well, their journey will be much shorter, the brochure said. A slogan for the race is "come and run so they don't have to walk."
With all the good it is doing in Africa, Africare is endorsed by politicians in Africa and hugely backed, but not enough is known about it in the U.S., said Wehde.
Participants in the Wells For Africa 5k Run and Walk-a-thon, which are both sponsored by the SDSU Pre-Professional Club, will be walking and running around Brookings to support well construction to provide clean water in Africa.
Through the 5k, walk-a-thon and other fundraising efforts, like going door-to-door in Brookings asking for donations, the club hopes to raise $10,000 for The African Well Fund.
According to a brochure for the Wells For Africa 5k, 100 percent of the proceeds of The African Well Fund go to a central organization, Africare, which constructs the wells with help from village volunteers.
Colin Zdenek, the president of the Pre-Professional Club, said these wells will be built in places that need it the most, such as small communities of 100 people, where there is a common need of water.
After the well is built, the quality of life for the African villagers can vastly improve. Crop production can be increased and the villagers and their livestock can become healthier. Right now, water-borne diseases are "crippling the health of the villagers," but after a well is built, they will no longer have to fear these illnesses, said the brochure.
"We're not going for a cure or a total change of life," said Barbara Wehde, an active Pre-Professional Club member and sophomore Spanish and biology major. "With water, though, it will at least give them a start in a change of lifestyles."
The availability of water - something we take for granted, Zdenek said - will also be improved with the help of a new well. Women in Africa commonly walk 10 miles one way just for a gallon of water, but with a new well, their journey will be much shorter, the brochure said. A slogan for the race is "come and run so they don't have to walk."
With all the good it is doing in Africa, Africare is endorsed by politicians in Africa and hugely backed, but not enough is known about it in the U.S., said Wehde.
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