EDGE OUTREACH looks to students to help provide worldwide water solutions
- Dec 26, 2007 - comment
EDGE’s October 2007 Water Purification Training Conference gave hands-on experience with the most effective tools available for providing clean water.
By the time you finish reading this story, 11 children will have died from diseases such as cholera, hepatitis, and typhoid, due to unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and poor hygiene (UNICEF).
In fact, the World Health Organization reports that over 1.1 billion people across the world have no access to clean water, which is the cause of over 80% of all sicknesses today. If nothing changes, Peter Gleik of the Pacific Institute estimates, 135 million people will die from water-related diseases by the year 2020.
Though the world’s water problem seems overwhelming, Edge Outreach has taken on the challenge.
Based in Louisville, Kentucky, EDGE OUTREACH is a faith-based nonprofit ministry that trains and sends individuals and organizations across the globe to initiate integrated water solutions in areas that are in dire need of clean water. This includes drilling wells, repairing hand pumps, filtering and purifying water, setting up mini-treatment plants, and teaching health education and sanitation in communities around the world.
Recently, EDGE decided to seek help and support from college students across the country in order to continue their efforts to bring clean water to those in need. Mark Hogg, director of EDGE, explained, “We want people to take ownership of integrated water solutions through EDGE OUTREACH and/or any other organization or means. We believe students are the ones who can get the job done.”
Because Hogg and others working with the ministry see the success social networks such as MySpace and Facebook have had at bringing college students together, they’ve decided to create a similar online arena called the Student Water International Mobilization initiative (SWIM) in order to harness the power and energy of these young adults.
Serving as a mobilization platform, SWIM is being used to inspire students to participate in clean water ministry. The Web site offers projects and ideas for student participation, tools to help train students about water purification, and the opportunity to give a monetary donation to support water projects. The site also serves as a networking hub where students can share their personal experiences and spread their enthusiasm about the ministry to others in an effort to increase interest and involvement.
One of the first projects offered to students through SWIM is in January 2008, when 12 students will travel to the Dominican Republic to install a system at the CURE International hospital and teach health education to a local community.
This particular project was initiated by Courtney Crain, a sophomore at Murray State University who is actively involved with EDGE and SWIM. After volunteering at the CURE International Hospital last summer, she discovered the facility did not have clean water. When she returned to the United States, she challenged EDGE to help this community in need.
Since then, several teams have visited the area and have developed a system that Crain and 11 other students will install on their trip this winter. “I just can’t even fathom the impact that clean water will have on the lives of those who are served by this hospital,” Crain said.
While thousands of students across the country have already joined the online SWIM initiative, Crain encourages others to get involved.
“College students have the time, energy, passion, networking skills and ability to educate, serve and make a difference,” she said. While having clean water is crucial and has become a global problem, Crain explained that it is a solvable problem. “We just need to educate the people around us and give some of our resources so that others may be able to have the necessary clean water.”
If you are interested in becoming involved in the SWIM initiative or would like to learn more about how you can help alleviate the world’s water problems, visit www.swimserve.com.