NPO and Waterfront launch fund-raiser on World Water Day

Water being pumped from a borehole while people stand ready with their buckets.

Save Our Schools non-profit organisation (SOSNPO) will be launching a 10-week campaign called Wishing Well for Communities, in collaboration with the V&A Waterfront, next week.

The event is an initiative launched for the United Nations World Water Day, marked on Tuesday March 22, which aims to raise awareness around groundwater, and generate funding for the local community.

It will take place at the V&A Amphitheatre, and will feature water experts, government officials, up-and-coming music artists and entertainment by Craig Hinds of the band Watershed.

The idea for World Water Day dates back to 1992, the year in which the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro took place.

That same year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by declaring March 22 World Day for Water starting in 1993.

The 2022 theme is “Groundwater making the invisible visible”.

For the launch of the Wishing Well for Communities, the SOSNPO invites the public to participate in a worthy competition in exchange for the opportunity to win prizes.

SOSNPO has numerous activations pivoted around supporting informal communities, specifically within the Kraaifontein district.

Shelley Humphreys, CEO of SOSNPO, said: “This year’s World Water Day theme, groundwater, is such a vital part of our future. Good groundwater management is needed to achieve most of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.

“We have to do this via educational and fun activities for people to understand the importance of the invisible treasure right under our feet – hence the wishing wells campaign.”

A focus of the non-profit organisation is to have the brand expand to other impoverished districts on the African continent, with continued assistance within the water and sanitation space to those less fortunate.

The event encourages members of the public to locate small wooden wishing wells situated around the Waterfront, while educating visitors – especially youth – on interesting facts about groundwater.

Groundwater, a hidden water source beneath the Earth’s surface which occupies the spaces between soils, sand and rocks, plays a vital role in sustaining ecosystems, preventing seawater intrusion, and providing water for communities.

This invisible water source is vital to sustain human life, with 2.5 billion people solely dependent on groundwater for their daily water intake.

Two-hundred children from informal settlements in the Kraaifontein area will be transported over four weekends to take part in the event.

The children will also enjoy a trip to the Two Oceans Aquarium and a lunch.

Money raised from donations made during this campaign will contribute towards the water and sanitation projects that SOSNPO implement into the informal communities.

For more information, visit www.soscpt.org