A group of young people from Sarnia-Lambton will soon fly to Uganda to help provide clean drinking water in two villages.
Water for Life Adult Advisor Myles Vanni said their group of 12 (10 youth, a youth leader, and adult advisor) will leave from Toronto Pearson Airport on Tuesday, August 13 and will return on Friday, August 30.
"This will be our fourth trip. We're going to be working in two villages, putting water wells in for these villages that don't have access to clean water," Vanni said. "We'll also be working on a building we had built on a previous trip to convert it to a medical clinic so it'll provide medical services for the village."
Vanni said aside from providing a healthy source of water, the well project has several significant impacts for the area.
"It also means that they're not having to boil water for hours, deforesting the hillsides to get the firewood to build the fires, which also means when the rain season hits, there's landslides," he said.
Vanni said the entire experience tends to provide a lasting impact on local youth.
"They really get a sense of value in terms of what they can do, what they can impact, how they can impact the world. They also get a really significant appreciation for our life in Canada, how much we take for granted," he said. "So it really has an impact on these young people who are learning planning skills, problem-solving, communication, fundraising, all those types of things."
The Water for Life program involves youth from Scouts and Interact Sarnia (a Rotary Club youth group). Those going on this expedition range in age from 15 years old to early 20s.
"It's a year-and-a-half to two-year lead up before we go as we do the fundraising and the planning and coaching the kids on how to prepare things," he said. "We have a youth leader, we work side-by-side and lead the group. Just seeing the opportunity and how these young people grow and the experience they have is pretty amazing."
While in Uganda, Vanni said the group will also have some downtime from their work to go on a two-day safari.
Details about the well building process can be found on the Uganda Water or Life website.
