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Continuing to promote global citizenship to children across Ontario, Good Neighbours Canada participates in another year of education advocacy at the Children’s Water Festival; the Niagara Children’s Water Festival from April 29 – April 30, and the Peel Children’s Water Festival from May 22 – 27.
The Children’s Water Festival is a yearly event that encourages students from grades 2 to 5 to learn about the importance of water conservation, protection, awareness, respect, science technology, history and health. Good Neighbours Canada was excited to take on the opportunity to educate children about water access in other parts of the world.
This year, our team shared the story of Echik, a young girl in Indonesia, who has to carry large buckets of water for hours back to her home every morning. In some parts of the world, like Indonesia, children have to travel up to four hours a day to the nearest water source. These water sources are often contaminated and leave communities at risk of preventable waterborne illnesses.
During the Niagara event, students participated in the Step4Water Activity, where they had to walk back and forth over a short distance while carrying buckets of water. This gives them a glimpse of the challenges that Echik has to go through. Students reflected on their experience after being informed that a single household would actually need at least 60 buckets of water a day, much to the surprise of the students.
At the Peel festival, children were encouraged to hold heavy buckets of water throughout the story to experience the difficulty of getting water that individuals like Echik experience daily. Some students were shocked at the weight, noting that they would only be able to carry the buckets for a couple minutes, some only for a couple of seconds.
Students were then encouraged to write or draw a letter of hope for Echik. Feedback from students, parents, teachers, and volunteers were positive. “Hope is so important to give”, said one teacher, head of their school’s eco team. “These activities are so important for students to participate in and to think about”.
In partnership with Global Affairs Canada, GNCA continues its pursuit to empower women by conducting menstrual hygiene education through women and girls’ clubs, training for community health workers, and building boreholes and toilet facilities for the community. Through this program, we will reach 3,500 community members in the rural village of Mehé in Cameroon.
We thank our team members Sharon Ehizogie, Elizabeth Ann Francisco, Matthew Neill and Joshua Choi for engaging the students with educational activities and encouraging them to share their voice in meaningful discussion. We are grateful to the organizers for allowing us to join another year of advocacy education and look forward to continuing partnerships!
Good Neighbours Canada’s Hope Letter Campaign is a global initiative that aims to empower youth in Canada to become future global leaders, acting with responsibility, morality and universal values of human rights. Learn more about our Hope Letter Campaign here.
