Twain Elementary Exhibition

Equal Opportunity is the Gateway to a Balanced Community

Imagine These

Introduction

   We  are fifth grade students at Mark Twain Elementary in Houston, Texas. As part of our final exhibition project we are concerned about the water quality in Tanzania. We are trying to raise money to purchase a water pump to build in Izigo, Bukoba in Tanzania. We are partnered with the non-profit organization, COSAD. COSAD stands for Compassionate Solutions for Africa's Development. You can visit their site at http://www.cosad.org and donate to the Dream Team at http://cosad.org/support.html and scroll down to the bottom of the page or you can e-mail Smart P. Baitani at smart@cosad.org for more information. We would be happy with what you donate.All donations are appreciated.

Do you want this water?                                 They Need This!

                               

Members & Mentors

Our Partnership with COSAD

As you might have read in the introduction, we are gladly partnered with the non-profit organization, COSAD. We have created our own mini-organization within the boundaries of COSAD. Here is some of the things said at our link:

This fifth grade class, now known as The Dream Team, recognized how very fortunate they are to live in a country like the USA, where access to water is never an issue. Seeing the importance of water to all people, this class decided to reach out to a “community” that did not have the privilege of clean, easily accessible water. Led by Ms. Mitchell, they happened upon the COSAD web-site and learned of the plight of the village of Izigo, Tanzania. Many members of this community of 40,000 villagers, consisting of many widowed women, must walk for over two hours each day to get water to carry home for their families AND their goats. You see, Izigo is an impoverished community that is trying to develop a dairy goat enterprise that can provide milk for their families and a small business for their community. Without water, the goats’ milk production and their ability to breed is severely limited.

The Dream Team immediately recognized this as an opportunity to help but wondered how they could help a community on another continent many thousand miles from their homes. Undaunted, they contacted COSAD and wanted to know if we could use a water pump as part of our solution for the community. COSAD, still a very young organization and just beginning its physical efforts, was literally overwhelmed and overjoyed by their initiative. The Dream Team had already raised almost $1,000 through a series of car washes and bake sales and they are not done.

As partners, we will continue our mutual efforts and we are hoping to begin work on construction of a village well in August of this year. We have informed the communities of our plans and, needless to say, they too are overjoyed at the news. The Dream Team has already made a difference in a community thousands of miles away. They will continue to make a difference, not only in communities like Izigo, but as they mature and become contributing citizens in their own communities, they will carry that same spirit forward. People can and do make a difference, even when they are 10 and 11 years old.-- Wayne Wilson

 

Tanzanian Water Quality

   The water quality in Tanzania is beyond your imagination. It's so bad,  about 5,000 children die everyday. 20% of the children in Zambia die before their fifth birthday. In the United Kingdom, less than 1% die before that age. Women and children are often responsible for getting water--which makes it even worse. Carrying such heavy loads can damage young bodies, especially the head, neck and spine. Getting the water also takes very long. It could take as long as six hours, so most children don't get a good education or any at all. What's even worse is that they take that long just to get dirty water. Imagine your toilet or sink running on murky water and having to carry buckets of that all day long. Try drinking it as well. Children are most vulnerable to the diseases of dirty toilets and lack of clean water. Diarrhoea is deadly, but in most cases it can be prevented or treated. It's no laughing matter. Not having enough water also means that children cannot bathe enough. They develop skin diseases such as scabies and eye infections like trachoma, which can make you blind. Here are some fast facts; The population of Tanzania is 36.9 million, the infant mortality, or the rate at which infants survive, is 165/1,000, the life expectancy is 45.9 years, the water supply coverage is 62%,(but the village we are working on has only 30% clean water)the sanitation coverage is 47%, the below poverty line is 35.7%, the development index is 162, and the adult literacy (meaning how much of the adults can read) is 69%. It's that bad. And we plan to do something about it.

Our Plan

   Our plan is to raise enough money ($7,200) to build a water pump in Izigo, Bukoba. So far we have raised around $1,000 from a car wash and bake sale, and we are still counting on donations to get to our goal. Please donate at http://www.cosad.org/ or for more info, e-mail our teacher at mmitche5@houstonisd.org.

Sponsors

Sanitation

     2.6 billion people in the world do not have clean and friendly toilets. Without clean water, not a lot of people will use the toilet. A lot of girls don't go to school because lack of decent toilets at school. Providing children with decent water to Tanzania can change  lives. Their health gets better, they get time with friends and can go to school.  

Visitors

                                 

Created By

 The Dream Team!