MARY WISNIEWSKI
Assistant Living Editor
Born in Zimbabwe, senior Moe Mutuma witnessed the need for clean water in Africa a long time ago. He said people in the suburbs with middle-class standing did not and do not have enough water, and in the villages, people are starving.
“No one is doing well,” he said.
Having seen such visions may have given Mutuma the vision to co-form the Wishing Well Initiative.
This student organization headed by Mutuma and co-directed by Brendan Groves dedicates itself to raise money to bring clean water to Africa by building wells. Mutuma and Groves formed the club last spring break.
It seems natural that the issue of water is close to Mutuma’s heart — he still has family in Africa, and of course, lived there.
“Africa is one of the most important things in my life,” he said. He also said he has always sought to educate others about Africa.
But in addition to family and geographical ties, Mutuma said his christian faith makes it a natural decision too.
“I’m blessed to be here at Pepperdine,” he said. “I have to use that blessing to help other people. As Christians, it’s just what we are supposed to do.”
Mutuma said clean water helps in many different ways.
“We can change the sick to the healthy,” he said. He also said the issue is a matter of cause and effect — people need water, so all one needs to do is provide it for them.
“We don’t have to go into the lab and cook up some medicine,” he said. “It’s just clean water; 86 percent of disease in Africa is water born, so they are preventable. It’s so simple.”
`In the last year, Mutuma said the club raised a little more than $10,000 from the school alone to build wells, and of that, 95 percent of the funds came from the students. Wishing Well efforts haven’t stop there.
“Our goal is to make sure everyone in the world has clean water,” Mutuma said. He said he realizes it’s idealistic but that idealism keeps him motivated.
Co-director of Public Relations Savannah Overton said another goal is to advance the organization off campus with Mutuma.
“We’re in the works of becoming a non-profit organization,” Overton said. “It’s becoming a lifetime thing for us.”
Mutuma said if their club becomes a non-profit, his goal is to build between one and three per month, and realistically, at least 10 per year. He also wants to travel to Africa every time a well is built to make sure it’s built as well as to make sure no corruption occurs. Mutuma said it is also important on such trips to scout out villages that are in need of wells since they won’t have access to Wishing Well.
“My dream is to go to Africa for two weeks every month,” Mutuma said.
The cost of water wells depends on several factors such as how far one must drill, where one drills and what one wants to do with the well. The cost, therefore, varies from $3,000 to about $15,000.
Overton said the dirty water present in Africa is worsening the conditions for people with AIDS because the water can carry diseases like malaria and destroy the already diseased.
“Water with malaria in it is a death sentence for them,” Overton said.
Overton said the lack of water also produces gender crimes. For example, some women have to walk several miles to just get a bucket of water, and on their walk, have sometimes been raped, Overton said. There is no escaping this walk because people need water daily.
For these reasons, Overton said water is more than just something to drink.
“It’s a humanitarian issue too,” she said. “Wishing Well’s goal is to bring free access to global citizens.”
Overton couldn’t see herself without Wishing Well.
“This is one of the most effective ways for me to do something greater than my life,” Overton said. “It’s such a basic need that I can help with.”
The club has done many things on campus to promote awareness and raise funds. In 2006, the club ran the Water Week campaign. This event requested students to only drink water and donate the money they would have spent on non-water beverages to the club.
“One cup of coffee isn’t doing much good,” she said. “Instead, we could be better global citizens.
The club has also held several convocation along with Acting on AIDS to both promote awareness and raise revenue.
Right now, the Wishing Well Initiative is planning a convocation to raise funds for their endeavors. The club also plans to host another water week toward the end of March this year. Because of the nature of its cause, the club is pushing for a social issue week as well.
02-15-2007