Water Ambassadors looking for volunteers


Mags Storey Ontario Editor


TORONTO, ON—A few years aſter Barry Hart and his wife Heather Alloway retired from teaching they heard a statistic which Hart says “went straight from our heads into our hearts.” Almost one bil- lion people worldwide don’t have access to clean water. Te couple decided to fly to


Guatemala with Living Water Internat ional to help install a well in a small community. A year later, they formed Living Water Internat- ional Canada, now known as Water Ambass adors Canada (www. waterambassadorscanada.org).


“You can give 3,000 people clean water in just a few days, it’s amazing.”


More than 200 Canadians have


gone on Water Ambassador trips since 2003. Tey have drilled and repaired wells, installed purifier units and distributed water filters in communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Eastern Africa. Teams also teach about hygiene. “You can give 3,000 people clean water in just a few days,” he says.


“It’s amazing.” “Te need is huge,” Hart adds. An estimated 30,000 people die


Top: Water Ambassadors volunteers installing a well. Right: An open, hand-dug well in Nicaragua.


Water Ambassadors Canada


each day from drinking bad water. “Most of the time I tell people


you wouldn’t wash your car tires in the water they’d otherwise drink. If people can get clean water closer to home it has all sorts of social, health and economic benefits.” Most trips run during the win-


ter and spring, and last about a week. Participants have ranged


from teenagers to seniors. “Everyone can do something,”


Hart says. “We’re looking for regu- lar, every day people who want to do something significant.” Tey are also looking for people


to sponsor teams and projects. For example, a $70 filter to


remove bacteria and other harmful substances can be shared among several families, says Hart. A full water system for a village costs $2,500. Water Ambassadors is running


14 trips in 2011. Tey hope to run 20 in 2012. “Te interesting thing is that


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Canadians go to help give clean water but find out that that they themselves have been ‘helped’ in the process,” he adds. “You will never stand in the shower again with all that clean hot and cold water around you without real- izing how blessed we are in this country.”


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