School pupils from Somerset have been helping a Rotary water survival box charity ship out vital aid to families whose homes have been destroyed in Gaza.
The enthusiastic pupils from Stanton Drew Primary School in North East Somerset managed to pack 50 boxes on Thursday 29 January at the Water-Survival Box project, run by the Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge in Somerset and supported by local RIBI clubs.
The packed boxes, filled with brand new items that people who have lost everything would need to survive, plus 50 more will be flown out early next week and will be in Gaza within days, where Oxfam representatives will co-ordinate their distribution to families in need.
Rotarian Hugo Pike, chairman of World Water Works, said: “The children were fantastic. We thought maybe they would pack twenty boxes but they were so willing and energetic they managed to more than double that. This has helped to demonstrate our engagement with the local community and, by involvement with primary school children, our support for teachers as they seek to broaden the horizons of their pupils and encourage them to consider the needs of those much less fortunate than themselves.
“We have established links with Oxfam on the ground in Gaza and would like to send out more aid but we need the financial support of all Rotary clubs in RIBI and would appeal to Rotarians who want to help relieve the suffering of those in Gaza to get in touch.”
World Water Works, founded two years ago, is dedicated to helping people escape the stranglehold of disease and poverty caused by disasters which destroy their homes and possessions and leave them without safe water and sanitation.
The Rotary box charity delivers humanitarian aid in the form of water filtration kits and essential survival items within days of natural or man-made disaster. Items include a container to collect water, cooking utensils, anti-septic spray, cotton materials and needles and thread to make clothes, basic tools, tarpaulin and cable ties to make simple shelter.
To find out how you can help, visit the website at www.worldwaterworks.org or send cheques (made payable to ‘World Water Works’) to: World Water Works, Westfield Business Centre, 32 Second Avenue, Westfield Industrial Estate, Midsomer Norton, Radstock, Bath, BA3 4BH.
02/02/08
