One in four people do not have access to safe drinking water, according to Our World in Data. On Wednesday, May 25, students at Highlands High School in Fort Thomas will hold their “Water Walk” fundraiser to draw attention to this issue.
Highlands junior Emma Daly was leafing through an old yearbook when she found photos of the student-led fundraiser designed to support and bring awareness to issues of water access and quality around the world.
Each spring from 2010 to 2016, the entire junior class participated in the event, designed to raise money for a chosen water-related charity. Students walked 16 laps (approximately four miles) around the football field, carrying full or half-full five-gallon jugs of water. The trek was meant to symbolize the challenges many people in the developing world face just to find safe drinking water each day.
With the pressures of what the students call “Monster May,” the month chock full of end-of-year exams and project deadlines, and then the pandemic, the event has not been held since 2016.
Daly was intrigued about the idea of bringing the event back, so she spoke to her friend Olivia Kohler about it.
“Obviously with COVID, we had lost some of our traditions that we did,” Daily said. “Olivia and I decided to bring it back this year, so we brought the idea to Ms. Epperson, and we just got the ball rolling,” she said.
From Fort Thomas to Peru
Colleen Epperson teaches chemistry at Highlands. In 2019, just before the pandemic hit, she traveled to Peru for a teacher workshop in the Amazon rainforest. Her goal was to get a deeper understanding of the world’s largest forest ecosystem and to share what she learned — and the connections she made — with her students.
While there, she worked with CONAPAC Peru, an organization that supports communities in and around the Amazon. Translated from the Spanish, CONAPAC stands for Conservation for Amazonian Communities in Peru, and water quality and protection programs are a major focus.
“Being there and seeing the impact of deforestation and the infringement on the indigenous cultures,” Epperson said, “it was really eye opening to see how important it is for these kinds of organizations to be there in place to keep basically our biggest forest in the entire world intact.”
When the students approached her, she suggested proceeds could benefit Global Access 2030, a Colorado-based partner that works with CONAPAC. The organization provides water filtration systems in Peru and Rwanda. Epperson met the director during her time in the Amazon and liked that there would be a direct connection.
All juniors take chemistry, and leading up to the fundraiser, the students have been learning all about water, starting with the basic chemistry and moving into more hands-on activities. They have explored the Ohio River watershed and have been taking water quality samples from the creek that runs behind the football field. From there, they’ve moved into studying water issues across the world.
“We always talk about the ‘real world’ but connecting to it is another thing,” Epperson said. “That is why I wanted to go to the rainforest. We try to provide as many connections for the students. With more experiences like these, hopefully students will feel the connection, and the care and inspiration will be more impactful.”
Connecting through personal story
The students also plan for a guest speaker. Kohler said as soon as she learned of the Water Walk, she immediately thought of a person who could talk about the issue with direct experience. Her mother works with a man from Rwanda who has become an advocate and activist for his homeland. He moved to the U.S. just before the Rwandan genocide, she said.
“Since then he has devoted his life to going back to Rwanda each year and helping the citizens rebuild their cities and education systems—and has been helping with the water crisis there,” she said.
She approached her mother’s coworker, who goes by Thomas, and asked if he’d share his story, especially the challenges he and his family faced finding safe water to drink. He agreed and will meet and share his story with the junior class on May 23.
Learn it forward
All are invited to pledge support for the Water Walk. The juniors have pledge forms, and people can come to either the high school or middle school office to pick up a Water Walk pledge form.
“We will collect pledges up to May 25,” Epperson said, “but people don’t have to pledge a donation. They can also pledge to be a better conservator of water.”
The event will run during chemistry classes on May 25, from 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
“I call this a ‘Learn it Forward,’” Epperson said. “Students are going out and spreading awareness, telling their parents, maybe telling their neighbors, grandparents, things like that. The excitement is growing.”
