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Senior students at St Joseph’s School in Rangiora recently spent almost 24 hours carrying a bucket of water around their school playing field.
In the Pacific Islands, some villagers have to walk long distances to get water.
This activity has given these North Canterbury children a better understanding of what it would be like.
The students were taking part in the Caritas Challenge. Other activities included building shelters out of recycled materials and taking to the streets to pick up rubbish.
Teacher Pamela Gallagher said the students had risen to the occasion in terms of showing community responsibility through the street clean and also their teamwork efforts in building the shelters.
But it was the enthusiasm with which they tackled the water challenge that really impressed her, with teams literally running the length of the course in pairs to cover the furthest distance possible.
The students had to work through the night to keep carrying the water continuously, sleeping on mattresses on the classroom floors in between their shifts.
The focus of the challenge this year was on the effects of climate change of the Pacific, and the subsequent challenges faced.
All funds raised through the nationwide effort, which includes $1000 raised so far by the school, will go towards supporting the people of Kiribati where rising sea levels, caused by warmer seas, are impacting on freshwater supplies.
Communities can no longer rely on groundwater supplies and are needing support to fix old rainwater collection systems as well as to put new rainwater tanks in place.
Source
- stuff.co.nz
- www.sjr.nz
- Image: stuff.co.nz
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