Water4Water

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Page history last edited by Bob Hofman 11 mos ago

See fundraising results page !

Why? JOIN

iEARN celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Global Teenager Project celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Normally you receive gifts on your birthday…why not give one your birthday?
We face a world where many communities lack clean, potable water
Wouldn’t donating “a fresh water well” be a beautiful gift to a community in need?

What?

W4W is a new iEARN Project that will act as an umbrella for projects dealing with providing clean water to communities in need.
The goal of the W4W project is to raise monies to build wells for communities in need.
Provide an education learning environment where students can make a meaningful difference in the world.
The first project that W4W will focus on is Water for Sudan (WFS) - a learning adventure that celebrates both anniversaries of iEARN and GTP. The results are that children are able to go to school and not have to walk for clean water and communities can rebuild.
Gain experience with learning in new, Web 2.0 virtual learning environments.
Produce sharable learning outcome.

Who?

Peter Copen, the founder of iEARN is in contact with an organization that drills wells in Sudan as well as a Sudanese community in his neighbourhood.
Bob Hofman is a Global Teenager Project coordinator and member of iEARN and willing to
facilitate the learning process and fundraising.
Southern Sudanese Community Center of San Diego, Director Mr. Dep Tuany, Vice President of WFS has joined iEARN.
The Water for Sudan non-profit, 501-c-3 organization based in the U.S., Mr. Burl Jordan,
Rotarian and educator of the drill rig.
Kennisnet (national educational ICT portal The Netherlands) contributes with facilitation
And not to forget: Many schools and students to find sponsors that donate spring water bottles;
The bottles are labelled with the W4W logo and sold for one dollar. We need about 7500 US dollars to drill one well. Of course other kinds of water related fundraising activities are more than welcome!

When?

The W4W project starts in July 2008 at the iEARN Uzbekistan conference, where the W4W water bottles are already for sale.
The thematic W4W Learning Circle will start at the End of February 2009 and ends in May 2009. The learning environment would remain open during the drilling process and drilling experts report - together with students from Sudan - on progress.
Drilling to be scheduled with the WFS organization; drilling expected to take place in 2009.

Where?

The clean water well would be drilled in South Sudan, Ulang Count, near the Ethiopian border.
Students, teachers and schools join globally.
Start in Uzbekistan in July 2008.
Celebration and hands-on workshop at Holland Open Conference, September 18-19 2008.

How?

The Dutch Ministry of Education is willing to support a project that focuses on learning in virtual environments, on the condition that it is safe, meaningful and the learning outcomes are shareble.
The idea has grown to contact “Linden lab” from “Second Life” with the question: “Would it be possible to virtually simulate a process of finding, drilling and supplying water, before or even parallel to the real drilling process in Sudan”?
One of the “Linden lab” directors has committed and will participate in the September 2008 Holland Open Conference and work with students and teachers in a hands-on workshop.
During the fundraising activities, when we sell our W4W water bottles, students learn together in a Web 2.0 environment, based upon a Learning Circle with water as theme.

Outcome?

The project will deliver the funds, raised by students to drill a clean water well, to the Water For Sudan organization (www.WaterForSudan.org).
The project will deliver “sharable web based learning objects”, created by students
These learning objects will be labeled as “re-useable” so they can be used in follow up lesson plans or learning arrangements.
The project will offer students a rich and authentic learning environment by which they gain knowledge, skills and cultural insights about global water issues.
The project will bring students a success experience and awareness that joining hands can make a difference in the world.

Sustainable?

The W4W Project is mindful that selling water in plastic bottles, as well as the cost of transporting drinking water using fossil fuels, has negative environmental effects. Therefore, the W4W Project would like to pose these issues as a challenge for students to resolve. The challenge is: “How to create new, more ‘green’ ways to manage this project for the future."
Please share your “reduce, reuse or recycle” ideas on the W4W project website. If we, as educational organizations and individuals, join hands and make a difference, we would practice what we preach and show the world that education is not only academics, but also about caring and making a meaningful difference in the world.

There might be a 1000 bears on the road… yet there are 2 reasons to do it: