John Baird: Canada's freedom agenda - Diplomat Magazine

DIPLOMATICA|NOTES FROM THE FIELDPeter BreggSchool children at St. Paul Buloba Primary School near Kampala, Uganda, now have safedrinking water thanks to WaterCan.“Before the new tank was constructed,we only had one tank and would stillneed to collect water from the pond,”the girl said. “I remember having to missclass time not only to collect the water butalso because I suffered a lot from stomachpains and diarrhea. But this isn’t the caseanymore. Now we have clean water tolast us the term. We can drink it, the teacherscan have tea and we can wash ourhands. The girls can even shower.” Thisgirl and her classmates have learned tomanage the water and, by practising conservation,there is enough water to meetthe demands of the school for all threesemesters.According to the head teacher at BarChando, enrolment is up, absenteeismis down and academic performance hasimproved since completion of this projectin 2010.It is amazing to see the difference asmall project like this can make in thelives of school children — not only physicallybut mentally as well. The morale atthe school is high and I know more goodthings are yet to come.WaterCan’s Clean Water for Schoolsprogram is funded entirely by the Canadianpublic. Thank you for making thisprogram such a success. Please visit www.watercan.com to learn more about thisprogram and how you can get involved.Leslie Moreland is an Ottawa-based programofficer for WaterCan.24FALL 2011 | OCT-NOV-DEC