In marking the International Day of Action for Rivers on Friday, Grahamstown’s Institute for Water Research and Water for Dignity project spent the day teaching high school pupils on the importance of water conservation.
In marking the International Day of Action for Rivers on Friday, Grahamstown’s Institute for Water Research and Water for Dignity project spent the day teaching high school pupils on the importance of water conservation.
The fifteen pupils from various schools were taken to various bodies of water, including the Kowie River.
They were not only given knowledge but were also taught a few practical skills they could use to conserve water.
“We are establishing Water forums in different local schools. These kids will be looking at sanitation and water management issues in their schools and reporting those issues back to us,” said the chairperson of Water for Dignity, Mbulelo Lipile.
He said, in turn, the Water for Dignity project will carry these issues forward and find possible solutions to them.
Matthew Weaver, a Masters student at Rhodes from the Water Research Institute said, “The goal is to start a generation that cares about water.”
Pupils were taught how to save water and how to keep water streams unpolluted.
They were also shown how to make useful things like a filtering bucket.
The last stop on their tour was the Matyana River in Joza, which runs through Matthew Street.
It is filled with rubbish, which the pupils removed, filling more than ten plastic bags.
“The Matyana River ultimately goes to the Kowie River. Anything floating on the Matyana River goes to the Kowie River,” said Weaver.
