Spotlights
Grand Valley students raise money to bring water filters to Ghana
May 18, 2010
Thanks to the determination of a trio of Grand Valley students,
people in a village in Ghana will soon drink clean, filtered water.
Students Annie Hakim, Uma Mishra and Amanda Clark are raising
money to send 30 water filters, which were developed by Cascade
Engineering, to Winneba, Ghana. The students will travel to Ghana this
summer to help educate villagers about the benefits of water
filtration before working with Ghanaians to install the filters.
Hakim, a senior in the Frederik Meijer Honors College, said the
project grew from efforts established by other Grand Valley students
and staff members who traveled to Ghana last summer through the
Service Learning Initiative. Hakim and her partners have organized
fundraisers throughout the previous semester and raised $4,700 for the
project. They have also made contact with Ghanaian village leaders and
nonprofit organizations there.
“It's important to establish a trust-based relationship in which
active participation and the voice of the community is being served to
implement the water filtration system,” Hakim, a native of Clinton
Township, said.
Jeff Chamberlain, director of the Frederik Meijer Honors College,
said the students made contacts not only in Ghana but at Grand Valley
to spread awareness of the project. “I have been amazed and gratified
by their initiative and leadership in all of this,” Chamberlain said.
“They are bringing together people of every stripe to participate and
support them. It is a very interdisciplinary initiative, and we hope
that in the future, students from many different majors will be involved.”
In conjunction with their efforts to implement these filters, the
students are working with area high schools to raise awareness of the
issue. Mishra said: “It is important that we allow for this project to
serve as a teaching opportunity for all involved. We are learning so
much as we work on this initiative and we want others to have the same
opportunity. You don't have to travel to Ghana to help, it starts by
learning about the world around you.”
Cascade Engineering provided the Hydraid BioSand Water Filters at
cost. Three years ago, the Grand Rapids company entered a partnership
to address the global safe water crisis and designed a plastic filter
that is easy to install and can serve the needs of about 10 people a
day. The filter weighs 8 pounds. Hakim said 300 people in Winneba will
benefit from the filters.
Grand Valley departments that have lent assistance are the
Frederik Meijer Honors College, Annis Water Resources Institute and
the Biology Department.
People interested in donating or finding out more about the GVSU
Ghana Clean Water Initiative can contact Grand Valley's Honors College
at (616) 331-3219.