Did you know that 2 million children die each year from infections spread from water?
Did you know that 1.2 million people lack safe access to safe drinking water?
Did you know that many of these people and children live in Africa?
Did you know that the young girls are unable to go to school because they must walk for hours to get water from a muddy river?
Did you know they would then carry the 40 gallon jug of infected water on their head for miles and miles every day?
Did you know that the annual expenditure on ocean cruises is $14 billion... and the cost to achieve clean water for everyone in the world is $10 billion?
Our O Ambassadors learned about this reality check from Free the Children and the United Nations. They decided to raise awareness and funds to build a clean water system in West Africa. This past week, they prepared water bottles with facts about the global experience of the lack of clean drinking water. The money raised from the sale of the water bottles will go toward the building of the clean water system in the Sierra Leone. It cost $5,000 to provide such a system and we are at almost 40% of our goal. Together we can eliminate water waste by shutting off the faucet and not letting the water run, take shorter showers and fill the sink when washing the dishes. At Benedictine Academy, we care!
