U.S. Students Raise Funds for South African RAIN Water for Schools Beneficiaries

The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation's RAIN Water for Schools program is doing more than helping to provide clean water and sanitation to children in rural South Africa. It's also educating young people in the U.S. about how they can help.

For students at Highview Middle School in St. Paul, Minnesota, water challenges in South Africa are now part of the curriculum.

Meanwhile, students at Puputle High School and Phaphamani Primary School in South Africa's Limpopo Province are learning more about water, sanitation and hygiene. They also are benefiting from funds raised by their sister school in the U.S. During the 2010- 2011 school year, Highview students raised more than $5,000 to provide water systems for their partner schools in South Africa.

A unique approach
This pairing of schools is the brain child of Minnesota-based nonprofit organization H₂O for Life, one of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation (TCCAF)'s partners in the RAIN (Replenish Africa Initiative) program.

H₂O for Life pairs schools in the U.S. or other developed nations with schools in a developing country. The schools in the developing world benefit from WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene education) in Schools Projects, which strive to provide students with clean water sources, toilets and hand-washing facilities.

Through the RAIN Water for Schools program, students choose a partner school from a list of 100 schools presented by the South African Department of Basic Education, another RAIN partner. H₂O for Life coordinates the service learning and fundraising activities of the U.S.-based schools.

Through this school matching program, $25,000 has been raised for schools in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, where the first phase of the RAIN Water for Schools initiative is underway.

Water on the curriculum
Teachers at Highview Middle School have incorporated water-related topics into their lessons, and students have organized several service-learning and fundraising projects. These include a Walk for Water carnival and t-shirt sale to raise money for the Puputle and Phaphamani schools. They also helped educate their fellow students through lectures, photos and videos.

Eighth-graders at Highview planned and implemented the Walk for Water, where participants carried three-gallon buckets of water for three miles. Students received pledges from parents, friends and relatives.

At the end of the walk, the proud students could clearly relate to the plight of children in developing countries who walk an average of three miles a day to access clean water.

To date, H₂O for Life has worked with students around the world to raise more than $1 million to support projects in schools in developing countries.

What is RAIN Water for Schools?
The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation is collaborating with the Department of Basic Education (DoBE) in the Republic of South Africa and H₂O for Life to bring clean drinking water to 100 schools across South Africa. The DoBE has participated in school selection and will provide the infrastructure upgrades in 81 of these schools.

RAIN Water for Schools is a component of RAIN, which aims to bring clean water to more than 2 million people in Africa by 2015. RAIN has been made possible by a five year, $30 million commitment from The Coca-Cola Company. RAIN Water for Schools will also benefit 100 schools in other African countries, bringing the total number of beneficiary schools in Africa to 200.

Progress made to date:

• Nine pilot schools were completed in June 2010.
• Project implementation is currently underway at 52 schools. H₂O for Life contributed $25,000 for 11 of these schools and is now working to raise funds for schools in the KwaZulu-Natal province.
• An estimated 50 South African schools will be completed by the end of 2011.

For more information about RAIN or The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation please visit www.tccaf.org.