WATER FOR HAITI AND BOOKS FOR CAMEROON: INCORPORATING CHARITABLE CAUSES INTO GEOSCIENCE CLASSES AS A VEHICLE FOR TEACHING ABOUT THE HYDROSPHERE

For the past two years, Alfred University’s first year course entitled “The Water Planet” has incorporated charity drives into the curriculum in order increase awareness about water issues in other countries (e.g. Haiti and Cameroon) and as a vehicle to learn about hydrogeologic processes and issues. In 2015, books were collected by Water Planet students on campus and in the village of Alfred and shipped to Cameroon where libraries are being established by the Himalayan Institute, an organization that sponsors humanitarian projects in West Africa, India and Mexico. Originally conceived as a “team building” exercise for this first-year class, the book drive became a vehicle for discussing a variety of water resource issues, such as the geography and geohydrology of West Africa and the concept of virtual water, including the amount of water used to process and manufacture paper. Ultimately, more than 15,000 books were collected. The books were weighed and the amount of water saved by “re-using” these books was calculated.

In 2016, Alfred University’s “Water for Haiti” project was organized by the Water Planet course. Haiti Outreach, an organization that installs drinking water wells in rural villages in Haiti, was our partner this time. Haiti Outreach’s Adopt-a-Well program allows groups to sponsor a well for a donation of $15,000. Again, the project provided a context for discussions of ground and surface water hydrology, geography, water quality, meterology (especially hurricanes), and even tectonics (e.g. earthquakes in Haiti). The class prepared informational materials on the situation in Haiti and the goals of the project, and sponsored numerous fund-raising activities throughout the semester. Other classes and campus organizations also got involved, resulting in a campus-wide common effort to “do some good”. We reached (in fact, we surpassed) our goal of $15,000 by mid December 2016. During spring break 2017, a group of faculty and students traveled to Haiti for the inauguration of a village well.

We have found these activities to be “win-win”: in these two instances, students (in particular, first year students) were introduced to environmental and social issues in locations outside of their realm of experience, they became involved in community activities, and they learned some science along the way.