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Louise Arbour Students Watermark Writing

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Louise Arbour French Immersion Public School Collection 2016 - Watermark Project

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Watermarks by Angela Estratudakis's grade 7 students at Louise Arbour French Immersion Public School in London, Ontario. The Watermark Project was introduced to the school by the Thames Valley District School Board Learning Coordinator, Annette Gilbert.

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Scholastic's new Junior Inquiry Series...Canadian stats!

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This came across my Facebook feed and I immediately thought of adding it! Thanks for the great inquiry Annette!

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A 19-year-old from North Spirit Lake First Nation is the key to solving a boil water advisory in place in his community for nearly as long as he has been alive.

The remote First Nation, about 800 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, Ont., has been under a boil water advisory for 14 years.

Now, a unique program spearheaded by the Northern Chiefs Council (Keewatinook Okimakanak), is allowing people like Quentin Rae to take the initiative and the responsibility for providing clean water in their own communities.

"I have to take care of the plant, make sure chlorine gets in the water to clean the bacteria," said Rae with a smile during his first week on the job at the end of April.

"I just graduated last year and they gave me the job."

The high school diploma is the prerequisite for the training provided by Northern Chiefs Council that will provide Rae with his operator certificate. Once the water plant in North Spirit Lake has a certified operator, the boil water advisory can be lifted.

But the program goes beyond the training.

"The supports have to be there," said Barry Strachan, the council's public works manager.

"You think about a 19-year-old like Quentin having the safety of every member of this community on him - we can't let him do that alone, we need to support him."

The support comes in the form of a high-tech monitoring system installed in five remote First Nations in 2015. It provides Strachan up-to-the-second updates on water quality, sent to his office in Dryden, Ont. He can then help the local technicians work through the problem over the phone.

"We want the community to own and fix the problems," Strachan said.

"The best way to build the confidence in their own ability to run these systems is to let them do it and support them while they are."

Strachan admits First Nations need sound infrastructure in place first, before the monitoring and training system will work. The program has already resulted in removing boil water advisories in three other northern Ontario First Nations.

Meanwhile, community leaders in North Spirit Lake are pleased to be able to offer new opportunities to the young people.

"That young fella, he just graduated from Grade 12 and we gave him an opportunity and he jumped at it," said deputy chief Donald Campbell.

"I think he's very excited and he'll be a good asset for our community as he grows and learns."

Rae expects to complete his training for his certificate in June.

"It feels all right," he said. "I'm happy."

But Rae laughs when asked whether he sees the opportunity as a "job for life."

"I don't know," he says. "It's my first job ever."

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Meet the teenager who solved his First Nation's drinking water problems | CBC News

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A 19-year-old from North Spirit Lake First Nation is the key to solving a boil water advisory in place in his community for nearly as long as he has been alive. The remote First Nation, about 800 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, Ont., has been under a boil water advisory for 14 years.

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Sustainability Classroom Resources at Resources for Rethinking - Exemplary classroom resources reviewed by teachers for teachers

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Welcome to Resources for Rethinking. R4R.ca provides immediate access to more than 1000 quality classroom resources. Developed by Learning for a Sustainable Future, R4R.ca connects teachers to lesson plans, books, videos and other materials that explore the environmental, social and economic dimensions of important issues and events unfolding in our world today.

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How access to water frees girls for education

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Short Film | Project 22: Free The Children

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In 1995, 12-year old Craig Kielburger founded Free The Children. Today, it is the world's largest network of children helping children through education and development projects around the world, including providing access to clean water in developing countries.

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opening scene re: water

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ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL Trailer | TIFF Kids 2014

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#5 Invest in Humanity: Solar-powered water pumps.

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Inspired by his own experiences of war, and knowing that today's challenges are global, borderless and beyond the capacity of any one country or organization to resolve, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will convene the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit on 23 and 24 May 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Summit - a culmination of three years of consultations with more than 23,000 people in 150 countries - will be an opportunity for leaders from governments, aid organizations, crisis-affected communities, the private sector and academia to come together and commit to take action to prevent and end suffering, reduce the impact of future crises and transform financing to save lives.

Ahead of the Summit, the Secretary-General presented the Agenda for Humanity, which outlines five different areas requiring collective action that, taken as a whole, provides the key actions and strategic shifts the world needs.

Click on the icons to find out more.

Core Responsibility 2: Respect rules of war

Unless international humanitarian and human rights laws are respected and monitored, and unless violators are held to account each time they break them, civilians will continue to make up the vast majority of people killed in conflict and their hospitals, schools and homes will continue to be obliterated. In addition, civilians will continue to be trapped by fighting parties and aid workers will continue to be barred from accessing them and will be putting themselves in danger when they try to do so.

Retired mine worker Gennadiy was with his wife when she was killed by shelling in Ukraine. "We were outside, standing in the line for bread. My wife was behind me. It happened so fast and unexpectedly. I just heard two things passing by, like a whistle. I knew her voice so well. We were married for 29 years. Her name was Milatovana. God bless her soul. We thought we would celebrate our thirtieth anniversary this year, but now we never will." Photo: OCHA/PAX/Dirk-Jan Visser

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Agenda for Humanity: five key actions the world needs

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Not since the Second World War have global humanitarian needs been so high. From the crisis in Syria and the drought in Ethiopia, to the conflict in Sudan and the violence in the Lake Chad Basin, more than 125 million people around the world whose lives have been devastated by conflict and disaster desperately need humanitarian aid and protection.

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Video clip

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No Running Water articles and news from Manitoba - Winnipeg Free Press.

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To build background knowledge and model persuasive engaging arguments.

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A collection of TED Talks (and more) on the topic of water

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Linda Reif writes, and a student sample based on original.

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What value does water hold in your community? Your culture? How are culture, time and place influenced by water?
In what ways can human settlement affect the environment?
In what ways can the environment affect human settlement?
What role does water play in your life? In your identity?

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Flooding the room with texts.

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The role of water across cultures, diets and landscapes.

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Shared Reading: Dear Future Generations 

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Shared Reading: Dear Future Generations 

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Shared Reading

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Read aloud Grade up to 6

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Grade 6-8

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PDF guide for teachers while reading Hope Springs.

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Water is one of those vital things, like air, that we take for granted until it's in short supply.

That's why World Water Day was established, which this year falls on March 22nd. An international observance that dates back to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, World Water Day is an opportunity to learn more about water related issues, take action to make a difference and be inspired to tell others.

So in light of the occasion, let me share a moving story about the intersection of water with one man, one woman, one company and many employees.

The man is Salva Dut, who was born in South Sudan and found himself, at the age of 11, displaced by the country's civil war. Fleeing through the war-torn southern desert, Dut became one of the thousands of "The Lost Boys of Sudan." Heroically, Dut led 1500 "Lost Boys" hundreds of miles through the Southern Sudan desert to a refugee camp in Kenya, and eventually was lucky enough to gain entrance to the U.S.

While Dut was embraced by his adopted American family, he insisted on helping those from his homeland by forming a nonprofit called Water for South Sudan to provide much needed water that is safe and clean throughout the year. Today, Dut lives most of the time in South Sudan overseeing Water for South Sudan's drilling operations.

The woman is Linda Sue Park, author of the New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water, which has sold more than a million copies and become a modern classroom classic since it was published in 2010. Park's novel combines the true story of Salva Dut with the fictional story of Nya, a Sudanese girl who must walk eight hours a day to retrieve water from a distant well for her family.

A Long Walk to Water has electrified young readers across the country and inspired many of them to raise money to build more wells in South Sudan. To date, the efforts of children to help their less fortunate counterparts a continent away have raised more than $1 million for Water for South Sudan, directly leading to the building of many wells in South Sudan and the subsequent transformation of communities and lives, especially the lives of girls, who can now attend school and dream of a future for themselves. For many of these readers, Dut's selfless example will serve as a model for how they want to live their own lives, carving meaning from giving back.

Park spoke about this remarkable effort in a recent TED Talk, examining how children's books can change the world by lighting up pathways for empathy and engagement in young minds.

The pools of inspiration from one boy's courage and perseverance ripple even further. Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the publisher of A Long Walk to Water, decided to celebrate the book's one million copies sold milestone by donating $15,000 to Water for South Sudan for the drilling and installation of a new well. Then the organization took its corporate philanthropy one step further by offering a challenge to its employees to raise an additional $15,000, leveraging its matching gift initiative to accelerate this goal and fund the build of a second well.

To the surprise of everyone, the employees reached $15,000 in just two weeks.

This was the first company-wide matching campaign for HMH - which is a client of my company, Causecast - but given the strong employee engagement in the Water for South Sudan challenge, it's surely not its last. With a mission to change people's lives by fostering passionate, curious learners, it makes sense that HMH employees would rally together and show their personal commitment to a story and a cause that has touched so many hearts and changed so many lives. It's an effort that thrilled the employees of HMH and drew many of them closer to their company, connecting them with the larger purpose and impact of their jobs.

All because of one boy's determination to survive and then help the people he left behind.

The 2016 theme of World Water Day is "Better Water, Better Jobs," focusing on the central role that water plays in creating good quality jobs, which in turn fosters economic, social, and human development. Half of the world's workers - 1.5 billion people - work in water-related sectors, and almost every job across every sector relies directly on water. World Water Day 2016 asks us to recognize and support people and jobs whose work with water helps us all.

And when it comes to thinking about jobs and workers, the example of Salva Dut shows that one person's actions can spark a movement that improves the lives of everyone around him - even the life of a company.

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On World Water Day, a Story to Make You Feel Good About the World

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Water is one of those vital things, like air, that we take for granted until it's in short supply. That's why World Water Day was established, which this year falls on March 22nd.

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Eric Walters' orphanage.

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The Creation of Hope - working together to create a future for the orphans of Mbooni Region in Kenya. Click any image below to see a larger version or to start the slideshow:

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Fire in Northern First Nations kills 9

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The investigation into a fatal fire in the Pikangikum First Nation on Tuesday night is still in its initial stages, but Aboriginal leaders from across the country say the loss of nine lives may have been preventable if the community had better fire services - or even reliable running water.

"Our people are living in substandard living conditions and this is the result," said Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

"We need to bring our communities into the twenty-first century. Substandard is not a standard that we can live with any longer."

Day says Pikangikum is far from alone, citing a 2010 federal study that found people living on a First Nations reserve in Canada are 10 times more likely to die in a house fire than the rest of the population. He is also calling for a coroner's inquest into Tuesday night's deadly blaze.

Indigenous Peoples' Assembly of Canada National Chief Dwight Dorey echoed Day's sentiments in his own statement.

"While an investigation is still on-going, this tragic incident brings to light the urgent need for improved living conditions in First Nations communities," Dorey wrote.

Reports from inside the community have painted a bleak picture of the scramble to save the family members inside the burning house. There is no dedicated firefighting service, and the vast majority of the homes on the reserve (more than 90 per cent) have no running water, which made it virtually impossible for neighbours to help douse the flames.

Pikangikum has a fire truck, but it must be filled up at the centre of town. The community's chief, Dean Owen, told a CBC reporter that muddy roads prevented it from reaching the house until it was much too late.

A fundraising page established by a community member identified the nine victims as Gilbert and Annette Strang, their son Gilbert and his wife Sylvia Peters, their daughter Faith and her husband Dietrich Peters, and Peters' three children Ireland, 4, Aubree, 2, and baby Amber who was just eight months old.

A candlelight vigil was held for the family on Wednesday night.
Change coming too slowly, says NDP
A First Nations fire protection strategy was developed in 2010 under the former Conservative government, and several recommendations were issued. They included enhancing fire prevention education and improving fire safety inspections and reporting. It's unclear if all, or even some, of those recommendations have been implemented.

Meanwhile, this month's federal budget earmarked $1.8 billion over the next five years to "address health and safety needs" related to water and waste-water on reserves, ensure proper facility operation and maintenance, and end long-term boil water advisories.
WATCH AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde praises federal budget
But according to NDP critic for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Charlie Angus, the "nightmare" in Pikangikum is proof that change isn't come fast enough to First Nations communities.

"Sympathy and condolences must be wedded to a concrete commitment to establish proper fire services in every community in Canada," Angus said.

"Too many Indigenous communities in the north lack the basic infrastructure to offer safety and security to families."
With files from the Canadian Press.

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One firetruck, no running water: Pikangikum fire blamed on 'substandard living conditions'

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The investigation into a fatal fire in the Pikangikum First Nation on Tuesday night is still in its initial stages, but Aboriginal leaders from across the country say the loss of nine lives may have been preventable if the community had better fire services - or even reliable running water.

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A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story

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The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours' walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond ...

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Access to clean water can mean the difference between life and death. Since 1990, 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water sources, but there is still work to be done to improve the livelihood of the 663 million people without access to safe drinking water.

In developing communities, women and girls have the primary responsibility of collecting water from distant sources. This means they often miss out on school and income-generating activities at home while hauling water for themselves and their families.

With access to clean water, families are able to have their girls attend school, watch their crops flourish at home and improve their personal health. Children are especially at risk for water-related diseases, and with better access to clean water school attendance rates increase-expanding the opportunities in children's lives.

Fast Facts

42% of health care facilities in Africa do not have access to safe water

91% of the world's population had access to an improved drinking-water source in 2015, compared to only 76% in 1990.

Almost 900 children die every day from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.

The United Nations is working to provide affordable access to clean water and adequate sanitation facilities to everyone on earth by 2030.

WATER HELPS COMMUNITIES DEVELOP

Water is necessary for many activities that are seen as the responsibility of women and girls in many regions: food preparation, care of animals, care of the sick, crop irrigation, cleaning, washing and waste disposal. Water is the key element in the hundreds of tasks women and girls do for their families and communities.

By making clean water available in schools, we can help girls attend class rather than spend hours each day carrying heavy buckets from sources that are miles away.

Supporting access to clean water is essential to sustainable community development.

16 million girls will never start school. Learn More

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Access to clean water can mean the difference between life and death. Since 1990, 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water sources, but there is still work to be done to improve the livelihood of the 663 million people without access to safe drinking water.

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From TIME, stunning photos, both negative & positive.

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In the extraordinary new book Blue Planet Run, hundreds of photographers from all over the world track mankind's vital race to provide safe drinking water to the one billion people who lack it

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world water crisis  book blue planet run safe drinking water to the one billion people who lack it

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In the extraordinary new book Blue Planet Run, hundreds of photographers from all over the world track mankind's vital race to provide safe drinking water to the one billion people who lack it

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Shared Reading: American stats but still useful.

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Story mapping and story collecting isn't a new thing. It's quite common for companies and organizations, big and small, to ask you to share your story or submit your experience.

But the Watermark Project is more than an effort to collect stories. Watermarks are more than stories.

When we ask you to share your Watermark, we're not only asking you to contribute your story.

We're asking you to help protect a waterbody.

What is a Watermark?
A Watermark is a story about you, a specific body of water, at a specific time.

Watermarks are personal and unique. No one needs to nag you and tell you what to say. Your Watermark is yours and stems from your memory.

Last week, we gave examples of Watermarks that had great impact. But not all individuals go on to lead environmental movements, start a company that cleans major rivers, or become Waterkeepers. Some ripples don't become waves - and that's okay too.

Watermarks do three big things:

1. Reconnect people to water. When we talk to communities around the watershed, it's easy to see that the problem isn't that people don't care. People care. We believe it's a deeper problem. People have become disconnected with their environment and the waters that helped shape their lives. When a person thinks back and reflects - when someone finds their Watermark, that person reconnects. Watermarks connect people to a waterbody and act as a reminder for why they should protect water.

2. Serve as a record. In a recent interview with CBC Ontario Morning's Wei Chen, Waterkeeper Mark Mattson explained, "The way that our laws have changed and weakened in the last decade - the public needs to show a beneficial use. They have to show their waters are being used and it's important to their communities." If you can't show beneficial use, it's like a victimless crime. Watermarks act as evidence of people swimming, paddling, boating, fishing - people spending time in and along the water. Watermarks become a basis for protecting water.

3. Map waterbody-based communities. The Waterbodies map shows where Watermarks are based. Over time we'll see where communities are forming around waterbodies. Since we launched the site in January, you can already see communities forming.

Your Watermark is your reason for protecting water. It's unique to you.

Today is World Water Day. And it's never been more clear that Canada's waters need more protection than ever.

So what's your reason for protecting water? What's your Watermark?

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Behind the Watermark Project: Why every Canadian should share their Watermark

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The Watermark Project is more than an effort to collect stories because Watermarks are more than stories. When we ask you to share your Watermark, we're not only asking you to contribute your story. We're asking you to help protect a waterbody.

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Collecting, archiving, and sharing Canada's water stories.