I was reflecting that as wonderful as the story of the finding of a source of sustainable, clean, potable water for the residents of the village of Gouria is, there is an even more outstanding story, and that is, the source of the money that allowed us to make the effort in the first place.
For that we must go back to the very beginning. As part of the vision of Judith Burnett, whose initiative The Malima Project is, she drew up a whole Wish List of things that she would have liked to see accomplished, and in going over that list we realised that all significant points have been achieved.
That is so neat!
On her list there was a first class elementary school; (Done!) A library; connection to electricity; a Mill for grain; a health clinic; a permanent source of clean water, (Done! Done! Done! Done! and Done!) Women´s Centre/Cultural Centre, in progress.
The other objective that we started with was the idea to teach children from both Spain and Cameroon at the same time. By appealing to the parents of Cambridge House Community College to persuade their children on the idea of making a small sacrifice by giving up a part of their monthly allowance to pay the school fees for a child in Cameroon, both sets of children received an education at the same time.
The children in Africa received a solid grounding in elementary education while at the same time acquiring a friend overseas who could help them to understand what life was like in another country outside Africa. This broadened their horizons and gave them something to aim for.
For the child in Spain they learned what life was like from someone they were actively helping to receive a good education. It also focussed their minds on how people so much less fortunate than themselves lived. They therefore had something for comparative purposes to realize how good their lives are. They also learned at a very early age to care for others who need help.
The story of the collection of the money was that all of the funds used for the purpose of exploring for water came from very young children. They turned their School Open House days into fundraising. When they drank the contents of a bottle of water they kept the bottle and then refilled it with small change. They participated in other school related fundraising events until we barely had enough money to make an initial try.
So, that´s where the money came from!
How does one adequately thank all the parents and teachers and especially the children for making this possible? The truth is that no-one has yet composed a poem beautiful enough to express gratitude of that magnitude. In fact I am sure that there are no words large enough to cover the situation.
Perhaps it´s quite enough for each and everyone who made their contribution, large and small to take on to themselves the fact that because of their intervention they have given the gift of life, for water is life, to even those not yet born.
Be Proud! Be very, very Proud, for you have had the privilege of doing something very rare. You have made a life-changing difference.
Congratulations to the children and their parents, administration and teachers of Cambridge House Community College of Valencia; Newton College of Elche; and Rivas-Luna of L´Eliana, Valencia.
