Schools pitch in to build wells for Africa

Student forsakes video game player to meet greater need

- WCR photo by Bill Glen Eric Melnyk drops a few coins into the community watering can held by his older sister Haley, at St. Charles Elementry School.

By BILL GLEN
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

Grade 6 student Justin Pulongbarit hauled in a triple-lined plastic grocery bag filled with coins and heaved it onto Diane Klein's desk.

"It took us all day to count the coins," said Klein, secretary at St. Charles Elementary School. "There was $247. I called to thank his mother who said nobody's change was safe."

Pulongbarit had cleaned out his piggy banks - money he was saving to buy a video game player - and then tapped family members for donations to help children in Africa have access to clean, healthy water.

"My parents give me change for shovelling the walks and doing my chores. I decided the money would go to a good cause," he said.

Pulongbarit was only a few dollars short of having enough to buy the player. "That's OK. The money will help a lot of people."

St. Charles is one of five north Edmonton Catholic elementary schools within St. Charles Parish participating in a Lenten project to raise funds for Ryan's Well Foundation, a non-government organization based in Ontario that drills wells and provides watering systems to developing countries in Africa.

"Sometimes kids have to step up," Pulongbarit said. "It's sad to see people have to walk so far to get water that isn't even clean. When I grow up I hope to donate a lot of money to this."

In January 1998, after listening to his Grade 1 teacher describe how African children walk at night avoiding the heat to fill containers with contaminated water - which has killed hundreds of thousands of their brothers and sisters because of the lack of medicine to combat associated diseases - a shy and sensitive Ryan Hreljac stopped at the doorway to his classroom at Holy Cross Catholic School in Kemptville, Ont., put his head down and paced the distance to the nearest water fountain.

"Ryan was so shy because he used to stutter," said his mother Susan, in a telephone interview with the WCR.

"When I look back, I recognize the importance of his decision to help when he learned that kids in another part of the world had to walk way further than the nine steps he counted to the tap outside his classroom."

Now 14, Hreljac speaks globally on water awareness. His family formed the Ryan's Well Foundation after Ryan came home from school that day, asking his parents for $70 - what he thought it cost to drill a well.

The foundation has now raised more than $1 million providing nearly 400,000 Africans with clean water from more than 190 wells in 10 countries.

"Sometimes kids have to step up." Justin Pulongbarit

Doreen Bloos brought the idea of supporting the foundation to St. Charles Parish during the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace's access to fresh water campaign in 2003. She had read an article about Hreljac a few years earlier in a national magazine.

"St. Charles is a parish with a lot of young familes," said Bloos, parish social justice committee coordinator. "We purchased a video on Ryan's Well and we thought we could share it with all the children in the five elementary schools in the parish. We wanted to share it with more than just the children who come to church on Sunday."

With parish council approval, the school principals were contacted. All agreed to provide support.

The parish and the five schools in Castle Downs - including Bishop Savaryn, Katherine Therrien, St. Lucy and St. Timothy - have been raising funds through various initiatives, including bottle drives and coin collections. The schools have had several fun activities like break-a-rule day and have raffled off items donated by staff members.

"This was brought to us by the parish to help Ryan's pursuit," said Colleen Hook, principal of St. Charles School. "The video we showed the children - with Ryan being a child himself - had a huge impact. It showed them how one child has made a difference."

Hook says children like Pulongbarit are a good example of how unselfish kids can be.

"It tells me they have a good sense of how they can contribute to help children in other parts of the world. They can look beyond their own needs and appreciate what they have. I think Justin is a fine young man."

A watering can is passed around the classrooms and staff room daily for coin collection. For one day, the students could break a rule for 25 cents. They could chew gum, listen to music or wear a hat. Staff members pay $1 to wear jeans. Movie day cost a quarter to attend.

"Students bring in bags of coins and they are very excited about looking at how they can make a difference," Hook said. "The school's theme is 'Hearts and Hands for Christ' so we believe we are here to do Christ's work by reaching out to our community."

To date, the schools have raised almost $4,800.

"I have learned the people in Africa don't have good water," said St. Charles Grade 5 student Haley Melnyk. "So we are taking a collection for them."

Her younger brother Eric made a contribution to the collection can. "We have raised a lot of money," said Eric, in Grade 3. "People can be really sick without clean water."

Susan Hreljac was unaware children in Edmonton were involved. She had a special message for each of them on behalf of her son: "Please tell them they are Ryan's new heroes."

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