Waukon Junior High eighth grader Alex Marti pitching in to help provide clean water for school in Africa

by Brianne Eilers

Consider the good fortune of living in a place with easy access to clean drinking water. It’s not something that most people give much thought to every day, they just go to the faucet, turn it on, fill up a glass or pot or pan, and either drink it or heat it up for cooking.
But have they ever considered how different life might be if they didn’t have that option?
There are many places in the world where not having a source of clean water is very much a reality, and when Waukon Junior High eighth grade student Alex Marti saw a presentation on some of these third world countries that lack clean water, she felt moved to do something about it.
“I couldn’t believe the amount of people who live without clean water, and seeing the pictures of them suffering, kids walking for miles to bring back muddy water, it was horrible,” Marti said.
Inspired by what she saw, Marti has set a goal of raising $2,000 to help build a well for a school in Africa. She enlisted the help of her friend, Constance Goeke, and they have been working to raise the money through activities and events in the Allamakee   Community School District (ACSD), as well as within the community.
In the schools, money has been raised in a variety of ways. During February, there were “hat days” held Fridays, where students paid a fee to be able to wear hats in school. The teachers had “casual days” Tuesday, where they paid to be able to dress casually. “Change for Change” was an activity where students brought in their spare change to their homerooms to donate to the cause. In March, t-shirts and bracelets are being sold to help raise money as well, and canisters for donations will be placed in local businesses so that the public can get involved if they wish.
According to Marti, the idea for this fundraising project began when she saw a presentation given by one of her teachers, Julie Askelson, about her experiences working in some of these under-developed countries where basic needs, like clean water, are not readily available. Over the Christmas break, Marti began to do some of her own research on the issue, and came across and organization called The Water Project.
“The stories and pictures were very sad. It’s hard to believe that people have to live that way, and we take so much for granted here,” said Marti. She explained that she’s read that some kids living in the areas where there isn’t access to clean water will walk for miles to find muddy, dirty water for them and their families to use for drinking and cooking. Sickness and parasites are often a problem, and because those kids spend a lot of time looking for water, or dealing with illness, they end up missing out on a lot of school.
The Water Project is a non-profit organization with the goal of helping communities gain access to clean water and proper sanitation. The group has been providing relief efforts since 2006. The Water Project also states that there are over one billion people world-wide who don’t have access to clean water and good sanitation. The Water Project helps to dig wells, build small dams, collect rainwater in large holding tanks, and filter dirty water using Biosand water filtration systems.
The group relies on local labor and management for these projects. The organization currently is working on projects in the African countries of Uganda, Kenya, Rawanda, Sierra  Leone and Sudan. They have also funded projects in India, Haiti and Cameroon.
During her research of this group, Marti noted that she e-mailed back and forth with Tess Crick, who is in charge of outreach and fundraising for The Water Project. The group also gives progress reports on their projects, which allows donors to see what their money has gone towards. It takes $6,000 or more to build a well, and the wells are supposed to last for 10 years.
In addition to trying to help others out, Marti has also been learning some valuable skills and information that she can take with her. “It’s fun doing this,” she says. She says some of the challenges she’s met in undertaking this project have been figuring out how to get things done, how to go about it, and who she needed to speak with. Marti says she’s been honing her communications skills with this project. She notes that the ACSD staff and administration have been really helpful and supportive of her fundraiser.
“I’m grateful to the faculty for their support,” she said. Once everything is done, she’s also planning on giving a presentation to explain how the money was spent and will include pictures of what was done with the money that was raised. She says they are going to use whatever they raise in donations to help build a well for a school.
Anyone wishing to contact Marti for further information about her project or to make a donation to her cause may do so by e-mail at is gabalex2@mchsi.com.