Students raise money for healthy water

Julie Calleja's fourth-grade class learned that one child dies every eight seconds without access to healthy water.

And it decided to do something about it.

The plan began in January when Calleja brought a six-minute video about the water shortage to her Portola Elementary School class that was looking for a book topic. A solution to the water problem was play pumps - a device that pumps fresh water using energy produced when children play on a merry-go-round. Getting involved led to a bottled water fundraiser in which the students created their own label for spring water to purchase a pump in Africa. Today, four weeks after getting the first water shipment, students are hoping businesses and community members will begin supporting the project by buying "Water for Life."

The students were gearing up for an annual competition through Scholastic called "Kids are Authors," when the topic emerged, 10-year-old Veronica Bianculli explained during a Wednesday night presentation to the San Bruno Park Elementary School Board.

Gathering water tends to be considered women's work in many places, said 10-year-old Daniel Flynn.

Girls spend three to six hours collecting water, leaving little or no time for an education or to be a kid, said Bianculli.

A solution, created by Trevor Field, was the play pump which can provide 2,500 people water for up to 10 years with a $14,000 price tag, 9-year-old Robert Chapman explained.

Students worked together writing on the play pump topic they chose, then split the illustration duties to finish the book faster. It was dedicated to Field who e-mailed the students a photo of him with the book, said 10-year-old Sergio Diaz. Field also suggested the children contact RandomKid - an organization that helps kids take their ideas to another level to make a difference.

Before long, the students had found a San Martin vendor, Private Spring Water, that helps bottle custom-lableled water such as the "Water for Life." The company donated the shipping of the 288 cases, said Calleja.

Students designed the water logo and spent the last four weeks - the time since they received the water - looking for support. Three other schools have joined their quest - The Academy in Iowa, Naubu School in Connecticut and Middle School 254 in the South Bronx. So far, the San Bruno students raised $3,000, said Jimmy Sigh, 9.

Just because summer starts doesn't mean the class is giving up its dream of helping others have access to clean, healthy water.

In 10 years, Bianculli, hopes the group can have a toast - with apple cider of course, since not everyone will be 21 by then -celebrating the eradication of water shortages.

For more information visit www.randomkid.org/water.asp or e-mail the students at projectplaypump@yahoo.com.