[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 749

[Garry & Anne Krischock]

1. 1427: Son of GSE alumns crusades for clean water 

 
Mon Dec 17, 2007 4:28 pm (PST) 
Son of GSE alumns crusades for clean water

By Tiffany Woods 
Rotary International News 

Ryan Hreljac (left), founder of Ryan's Well Foundation, saved his 
money as a kid to finance a well in Uganda. Ryan Hreljac is a typical 
16-year-old. He plays sports, spends time on the computer, loves to 
sleep, and is up to his neck in schoolwork. But there's one thing 
that makes him stand out, besides his lanky 6-foot-6-inch frame. 
He's the founder of Ryan's Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization 
in Kemptville, Ont., Canada. It has raised more than US$3 million to 
fund nearly 320 water projects serving almost 500,000 people in 14 
countries since it was created in 2001, according to his mother, 
Susan, who is its executive director. She participated in a Rotary 
Foundation Group Study Exchange (GSE) to France in 1992-93. 

Ryan's interest in clean water started when he was just six years 
old. His first-grade teacher, during a school charity drive for 
developing countries, rattled off a list of items that their 
donations could buy. She said $70 could fund a well. As Ryan recalls, 
she told the class that people were dying because they didn't have 
access to clean water and that some had to walk several kilometers to 
get a drink. 

"I thought that was unfair, so I decided to do something about it," 
says Ryan, who was named a Paul Harris Fellow in 2004. "I went home 
and said, `Can I have $70 to build a well in Africa?'" 

"Being good parents, we ignored him," his mother says. "One night at 
dinner he was still pestering us. He said, `You don't get it. Someone 
just died because they didn't have clean water.' I thought, `Whoa.'" 

They decided to let him do extra chores to earn the money. Ryan 
collected pinecones for his grandmother's craft projects, vacuumed, 
and washed windows. "If he didn't do a good job, I'd make him redo 
it," Susan says. 

Ryan saved the money he earned in a cookie tin. Four months later, he 
reached his goal and presented his tin to an official at WaterCan, a 
charity dedicated to clean water. 

He was told, however, that a well would actually cost about 
$2,000. "I said I'd do more chores," Ryan recalls. He kept doing 
them, but in the meantime his story picked up momentum in the media, 
and donations started coming in. In 2000, he traveled to Uganda to 
visit the well that he helped finance. 

Ryan has since become the face of his foundation, which has worked on 
water projects with Rotary clubs and has a Rotarian board member. 
He's also given numerous speeches to various groups, including 
Rotarians, Rotaractors, and Interactors. 

For other young people - or anyone - looking to make a difference, 
Ryan offers this advice: "Find something that you're passionate 
about. The world is a huge puzzle. You have to figure out where your 
piece fits. My piece was clean water. You don't have to devote your 
life to something. Have fun - but at the end of the day, it's 
important to lend a hand and give back." 

Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary
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