Chapter
1. Water You Waiting For?
Usually
when the Kindness Kids met for their weekly
meetings, they found themselves magically
transported from their homes all around
the world through their computers into the
hazy emptiness of cyberspace. But this time
was very different. This time, after they
typed in the web address of their Kindness
Kids Team, they were transported to a bustling
water park, where they were sitting together
on a log flume ride. Their log-boat was
rapidly rising up a steep, steep hill.
Ahmed,
the club secretary, didn't even have time
to call their meeting to order. None of
the kids had time to say their hello's because
before they knew it, their log-boat had
reached the top of the flume. For just a
moment the world was completely still and
they found themselves holding their breaths.
No one said a word. Then, in another thrilling
instant, they suddenly began plunging downward.
The Kids laughed and squealed in delight
as the wind rushed through their hair. Water
splashed all over them, and the water park
flashed by in a blur of exciting colors.
What a great way to start an adventure,
they thought. They were having so much fun.
But then suddenly they noticed something
was wrong.
The first sign of trouble was that they
didn't hear the sound of rushing water anymore.
They no longer felt it splashing on their
faces. Instead, wisps of sand rushed by.
As they looked over the side of the log
boat, they saw the flume was completely
dry. The log-boat was travelling a little
slower perhaps, as the boat bumped up and
down against the sandy bottom of the flume,
but they were still plunging rapidly downwards.
As
if that weren't frightening enough, José
squeaked out another troubling discovery.
"Uh guys. Don't look now, but we're about
to crash into a giant tower of empty plastic
water bottles…" he gasped.
The
first thought that crossed everyone's mind
was that José was joking; he was always
kidding around. But as they looked up ahead,
a giant tower of empty water bottles was
exactly what they saw. It stretched up into
the sky for as far as they could see. And
they were heading right towards it.
"Duck
everyone!" Erin gasped as she scrunched
lower in the log-flume.
"Water
you waiting for?" José added as he saw Johnny
and Sol in the seats in front of him hesitate
just a moment. He didn't even think to congratulate
himself on the pun his subconscious had
come up with - this was serious! But part
of him was a little disappointed that no
one laughed.
The
Kids all crouched down and braced themselves
as they smashed through the tower. Water
bottles flew everywhere as the tower crashed
down and empty bottles fell, and fell and
fell and…
As
the Kids opened their eyes they were shocked
to see that they were falling, too, along
with the billions and billions of plastic
bottles. The flume had apparently ended
at the tower; the log-boat had fallen over,
and they were all free-falling through the
blue sky. Without parachutes!
Chapter
2
Captain Kindness to the Rescue, Again…
The
Kids had been on enough adventures to know
that nothing bad could happen to them in
cyberspace. But that didn't stop them from
panicking. This was really scary!
Just
as they were about to become really frightened,
Sunanda noticed something swimming in the
air, pushing bottles out of the way. "Kit!"
she cried out, and all of the kids turned
to where she was pointing.
Sure
enough, Kindness Kit, the robotic cat they'd
met on a previous adventure, was rapidly
heading towards them. "Meow," he called
out reassuringly.
Before
another instant had passed, Kit pulled out
a yarn ball from his belt with one paw and
started swinging it around his head with
his other paw. The Kids watched as the yarn
flew towards them. Miraculously, it wrapped
around each of them.
Suddenly
the line went taut and the kids stopped
falling. They watched as the robotic cat
reeled them in, pulling paw over paw until
they were floating by his side. The water
bottles rained down all around them.
"Meow,"
Kindness Kit declared and pointed above
them.
The
Kids saw a shiny metallic spacecraft. Of
course it was the Kindness Cruiser, piloted
by none other than Kit's best friend, Captain
Kindness. Kit tossed his end of the rope
up to the ship. As the Kids began rising
towards the Cruiser, towed in by the yarn
lifeline, they couldn't wait to see their
favorite superhero once again.
Captain
Kindness was glad to see them, too. But
when they were safely aboard, he asked the
kids to hold their questions and hold on,
because the ship was quickly being buried
under a mountain of plastic.
They
braced themselves as the Kindness Cruiser
rocketed upwards through the seemingly endless
cascade of falling bottles.
In
another instant they had broken free of
the Earth's atmosphere and the Kids were
staring down at their home planet in shock.
It was almost completely shrouded in a blanket
of floating disposable water bottles!
Captain
Kindness was as confused as they were. "What
are those polyethylene trephthalate thermoplastic
polymer resin containers?" he gasped.
"Uh
… those are empty plastic water bottles,"
Sol and Erin and Jamal said at the same
time.
"But
there's so many of them," Ling gasped.
"Meow,"
Kit said from the control panel, where he
was busily tapping and pulling and pushing
on the console's buttons and levers and
knobs.
"Kit's
counted 50 billion of them," Captain Kindness
translated.
Ahmed
was busy typing away on his own laptop.
"This says that's how many water bottles
people use each year…" he said. "Enough
to circle the Earth 100 times!" he added.
"Whoa!"
the Kids gasped. Captain Kindness couldn't
understand why the water bottles were needed
at all. Let alone 50 billion of them. And
that's just what he asked the Kids.
"I
guess people find them more convenient,"
Sunanda offered.
"Sure
must use up a lot of resources," Captain
Kindness commented.
Kit
meowed a few times as he typed away on the
control panel and pulled up the numbers
he was looking for.
"Wow,"
their favorite hero sighed. "According to
Kit's research, with the amount of petroleum
that's used to make the plastic bottles,
you can heat 190,000 homes all year long
or drive a million cars for a year..."
"And,"
Ahmed added pulling up his own research,
"another billion gallons of oil are used
up transporting the water bottles to stores
all around the world!"
"Meow,"
Kit called out.
"What?
That's crazy!" Captain Kindness laughed.
"Meow!"
Kit insisted.
"Oh,"
the Captain said. "Well, apparently 3 liters
of water are used up in the manufacturing
process to create each empty 1 liter water
bottle."
"That
is crazy!" the Kids agreed.
"Whoa!"
Ahmed added looking up. "Get this… 2.5 million
tons of carbon dioxide are produced in the
manufacturing process, too!"
"But
that's a greenhouse gas," Maya gasped. "That
means using plastic water bottles is making
global climate change worse!"
Captain
Kindness shook his head sadly. "Well at
least the used bottles are all recycled,
right?" he asked.
"Meow."
"Really?"
the Captain sighed. "According to the figures,
four out of five water bottles end up in
landfills, or are dumped into the oceans…"
"It
can take a thousand years for plastic to
completely break down," Erin pointed out.
The
Kids all agreed that this was a terrible
situation.
Everyone
seemed so quiet and thoughtful. "So... Water
we going to do about it?" José asked in
his usual half-joking half-serious way,
to try to liven up the mood a little. Even
though no one seemed to notice the recycled
joke he'd already used on their adventure,
thinking about a positive solution was just
what they all needed.
"Meow,"
Kit said.
"Right!"
the Captain agreed. Kit punched some controls
and a panel opened up on the outside of
the Cruiser. A big vacuum cleaner wheeled
out into space and started sucking up the
bottles.
"We'll
get these off to recycling plants right
away," the Captain explained. "But what
are we going to do about this situation
for the long run…?" he asked. "The earth
will be covered in more bottles in no time!"
The
Kids put their thinking caps on. "We'll
just have to get the word out about what
a problem plastic water bottles are!" Ahmed
said.
"Yes,
we'll let people know about better alternatives,"
Sunanda agreed.
"In
many places tap water is perfectly safe
to drink," Johnny offered.
"We
have a filter on our faucet," Michiko agreed.
"We
use a water pitcher filter," Ling said.
"I
use a refillable water bottle," Sol said
reaching into his backpack and pulling his
out to show everyone.
"Me,
too," Maya and Ahmed declared.
"I'm
going to get one as soon as I get home!"
José promised. "No more plastic water bottles
for me! No way José!"
Captain
Kindness looked really pleased. "Kit and
I had been passing by your galaxy when we
saw the Red Alert coming from Earth. It
said you had a 'water emergency!'" He looked
out as the vacuum cleaner rolled back into
the ship - its job complete. "Well, first
we saved you all … by the way, good job
Kit," he said to his trusty side-kick.
"Meow,"
Kit purred proudly, looking up from the
control panel.
"And
we figured out a solution to the bottled
water problem," Captain Kindness continued.
"So I guess the crisis is over," he concluded.
"Hooray!"
the Kids exclaimed together. Captain Kindness
had saved the day, once again!
"Meow!"
Kit said concernedly.
"Are
you sure?" Captain Kindness gasped.
"Meow,"
Kit assured him.
"Kit
says the problem is much, much more serious
than we realized," Captain Kindness said
to them. "Kit says we're really going to
need your help on this one!"
The
Kindness Kids assured him they were definitely
up to the task.
"Alright
Kit, let's check this out right away," Captain
Kindness said determinedly.
Kit
tapped away on the panel. The Kindness Cruiser
locked into a hyperlink, and they rocketed
down towards the Earth.
Chapter
3
Water, Water Everywhere,
But Not Enough to Drink …
(And not enough toilets, too)
As
the Kindness Cruiser sped towards the Earth,
Captain Kindness sighed. The Earth's beauty
always filled him with such wonder. It was
definitely near the top of his Top Ten
Most Amazing Planets list. "I just don't
see how there could be a water crisis…"
he muttered. "More than 70% of Earth surface
is covered by the oceans!"
"Meow,"
Kit reminded him.
"Oh
yeah," Captain Kindness nodded. "You're
right. I forgot humans can't drink salt
water."
Kit
meowed more somberly as he continued tapping
the controls.
"That's
terrible," the Captain gasped.
"What
is it?" Erin asked and all the other Kids
had the same question on their mind as they
stared out at their beautiful home planet
rapidly approaching.
"Kit
says that nearly a billion people on Earth
don't have access to safe, clean drinking
water!"
Ahmed
had found some statistics on his laptop,
too. "This says that two-and-a-half billion
people don't have toilets, either…!" he
said unbelievingly.
"Meow,"
Kit added slowly. It was painful to say.
Their
favorite superhero was heartbroken as he
translated: "Every day 4000 children die
because of lack of water or diseases caused
by unsafe and contaminated water..."
Everyone
was sadly silent in the last few moments
before they burst through the atmosphere
and sailed over the Earth's surface.
"Oh,
look, we're flying over the Indian Ocean…"
Sunanda exclaimed. "India is just up ahead…"
In
another instant they were flying over a
tiny rural Indian village. Below, a line
of women and children were anxiously waiting
at the water tap in the middle of their
community, each holding several jugs and
pails. They'd been waiting for hours because
the water truck was late, again.
One
young girl near the front of the line was
especially nervous as she finally got to
fill her containers. Hurriedly she turned
and lugged them as fast as she could towards
her home at the edge of the village. Today
she had made sure she was very early in
line. Last time there was only enough water
left for one of her containers when it was
her turn. Since the water truck only came
every other day, her family had barely enough
water to drink, let alone wash their dishes
and bathe over the past two days.
The
Kids all wanted to help the girl carry the
heavy buckets of water, so Captain Kindness
gently landed the Cruiser beside her.
At
first the girl was frightened; who wouldn't
be scared if a spaceship suddenly landed
in front of them! But when Sunanda spoke
to her in Hindi, the girl smiled. She told
them her name was Anjali, and she was so
thankful for their help.
But
then suddenly Anjali's face was filled with
panic again. "I've been waiting in line
for hours and I'm going to be late for school
again!" Anjali explained. "We have no water
left at all, and I'll have to make a second
trip…" she sighed. "Last time I was this
late, Teacher punished me by making me spend
half the day outside the classroom." Anjali
started crying. "I'm getting so far behind
in my studies…"
"Come
on, we'll give you a ride," Sunanda said
comfortingly.
In
a flash they brought Anjali and her water
buckets back home. When they got there,
Kit filled some other containers with fresh
water reserves from the Cruiser so that
she wouldn't have to make a second trip."
"Thank
you so much," Anjali said a little more
happily. "But I still have to get to school.
It's in the next village, and by now class
has already started…"
"Not
a problem!" Captain Kindness assured her.
Anjali
was so excited when they gave her a ride
to school in the Cruiser, but she was still
very worried that she'd be late. What a
surprise it was when it turns out they arrived
at the school before any of the other children!
The Cruiser had soared so much faster than
the speed of light that time had gone backwards!
The
Kids couldn't believe it. "Elementary physics,"
Captain Kindness assured them.
"Thank
you so much!" Anjali said as she waved goodbye.
Her friends were just arriving and they
couldn't believe their eyes. They all gathered
around Anjali to hear her story about flying
in the strange spaceship as the Cruiser
rose up into the air and rocketed off into
the distance.
They
flew over many countries like Bangladesh,
Haiti, Kenya and Ethiopia. And everywhere
they went they saw the same thing - women
and children travelling long distances to
carry heavy buckets and jars and jugs filled
with water, day in and day out.
Finally,
they reached a village in Ethiopia. Women
and children were getting their water from
a shallow pond that oxen were standing in,
drinking too. Kit sighed sadly. "Meow,"
he told them.
Captain
Kindness shook his head. "That just doesn't
seem right," he sighed. "Oh," he said looking
up at the Kids who were waiting for him
to translate. "Women and children around
the world spend 200 million hours a day
collecting the daily water they need for
their families. And look, it's often from
shallow wells and unprotected ponds and
streams like this one that are easily contaminated."
The
Kids shook their heads in disbelief, too.
"Surely
somebody's doing something about this, right?"
Captain Kindness asked with tears in his
eyes.
"Meow…"
Kit piped up.
"Oh…"
Captain Kindness said with a hint of a smile.
"Kit's got some more hopeful things to show
us, now…"
"Well
it's about time!" José exclaimed. "Come
on Kit, water you waiting for?" he added
hesitantly.
José
was starting to feel more than a little
discouraged. This was the third time he'd
tried the same pun and still no one had
noticed! But then in another instant they
were soaring into a hyperlink, and he, like
all the others, held on and enjoyed the
exciting cyber-rush roller-coaster feeling
that hyperlink-jumping always gave them.
Chapter
4
An Agenda for the Earth
As
the Cruiser descended through the clouds
and coasted over the ocean, the Kids saw
that they were heading towards the coastline
of a bustling city.
"Meow,"
Kit declared.
"Rio
de Janeiro!" all of the Kids exclaimed at
once.
"Wait…You
can all understand Kit-talk now?" Captain
Kindness exclaimed. He was very surprised.
The
Kids laughed and pointed up ahead at a landmark
all of them had recognized immediately.
High up on a hilltop overlooking the city
they saw the giant, unmistakable Christ
the Redeemer statue. It was so famous that
even Captain Kindness remembered seeing
it in his Intergalactic-History books from
when he was their age.
"Meow,"
Kit pointed out as they sailed past the
statue and approached a large crowd gathered
around a stage of speakers.
"This
is early June, 1992," Ahmed said. "We're
here for the Earth Summit." Everyone assumed
he'd gathered that information from his
laptop, but his laptop was on stand-by.
The truth was he was starting to understand
everything Kit said!
"Meow,"
Kit confirmed.
The
Cruiser floated over the crowd of women,
men and children from many different countries.
They were all paying close attention to
the speakers. Some were waving their nation's
flags. A huge ball was being batted around
over the crowd. It was a giant globe, painted
with the oceans and continents of the Earth.
Some of the kids in the crowd looked up
at the Cruiser and waved.
"Meow,"
Kit pointed out.
"Kit
says that this is when the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development
took place. That's the official name of
the Earth Summit. More than 150 nations
came together for discussions, to make plans
and to sign treaties. Almost 120 Presidents
and Prime Ministers were there! It was a
major step forward for the world to work
together to address serious environmental
problems like global climate change, alternative
energy sources, protecting animal and plant
species and the lack of safe, fresh drinking
water…"
"These
look like ordinary people like us," Ling
pointed out as they reached the edge of
the crowd and headed toward some buildings.
"Meow."
"That's
right. Kit says that whenever the United
Nations holds major world conferences about
a particular issue, government officials
aren't the only ones to attend. NGO representatives
are also invited to participate… Uh…But
wait, what's a 'ngo'? Sounds like we're
missing a vowel or two?"
"Non-governmental
organization!" Jamal said first, with several
of the other kids chiming in.
"Oh.
Okay," Captain Kindness said. "Well, apparently
civil society's participation at UN events
really started here at the Earth Summit.
Nearly 20,000 people gathered for the NGO
Global Summit that took place at the same
time. They wanted to really make sure that
the people's concerns were heard. Since
then, these parallel summits almost always
take place, and civil society has a much
greater voice at the 'official' meetings,
too."
They
had reached one of the buildings and the
Cruiser hovered outside a large window.
Peering inside they saw a huge crowded hall,
where men and women in suits or in formal
native dress listened intently to the speaker
on the stage.
"This
must be where the world leaders hung out,"
José observed.
"Meow,"
Kit confirmed.
"That's
no world leader speaking!" Michiko declared
pointing to the young girl who was addressing
the room.
This
time Ahmed did the web-research. "That's
twelve year old Severn Suzuki from Canada,"
he told them. "Wow, look at this youtube
video about her speech here. It's got millions
and millions and millions of views. It's
called The Girl Who Silenced The World
For 5 Minutes."
Ahmed
raised the volume on the video so that they
could hear it. The Kids blinked when they
heard her voice in stereo, because the girl
on the stage was at the same place in her
speech as in the video.
"If
you don't know how to fix the environment,
please stop breaking it!" the two Severns
were saying.
The
audience was completely silent, but when
she finished her speech there was a roar
of applause.
The
Cruiser inched along to another window where
they peeked in on another day at the conference.
Inside they saw Heads of State and delegates
and other Earth Summit participants signing
their names on one of the walls in the large
room. At the top of the wall they saw large
green letters that spelled out EARTH PLEDGE,
and beneath it they read together what everyone
was promising to do:
"Recognizing
that people's actions toward nature and
each other are the source of growing damage
to the environmental resources needed to
meet human needs and ensure survival and
development, I PLEDGE to act to the best
of my ability to help make the Earth a secure
and hospitable home for present and future
generations."
The
Earth Pledge was definitely something all
of the Kids believed in. "We want to sign
it," they whispered.
"Meow,"
Kit agreed.
"Me,
too!" Captain Kindness declared and he proudly
led the way as they stepped through the
window.
When
they were done and were climbing back into
the awaiting Cruiser, Kit explained that
an important document called Agenda 21 was
created at the Earth Summit. It outlined
specific goals that world leaders and civil
society wanted to achieve in the approaching
21st Century in order to conserve the environment
and reduce poverty while protecting the
earth.
"It's
also where the idea for World Water Day
was presented!" Ahmed added.
"Meow."
"That's
right," Captain Kindness translated. "The
world started observing it on March 22 the
very next year! Since then World Water Day
has become an important date to raise awareness
about this serious global issue of the lack
of clean, safe drinking water for all!"
"Meow!"
Kit announced.
"Kit
wants to show us some of the World Water
Day celebrations over the years," Ahmed
translated before Captain Kindness could
get the words out. He smiled and patted
Ahmed on the shoulder.
"Meow,"
Kit added.
"But
first, hang on. We've got to witness another
important pledge the world agreed to…" Ahmed
and Captain Kindness translated together.
Kit
tapped the controls. In a flash they zipped
along a hyperlink and emerged over New York
City. The Kids spotted a familiar building
in the distance and quickly realized they
were heading for one of their favorite places:
the United Nations.
The
Cruiser coasted up to the Visitor's Entrance
and hovered near the back of the long line.
Someone turned and noticed the strange spaceship
and screamed. Like a rippling row of dominoes,
shrieks and gasps spread all the way up
the line. People dashed, darted and dove
into the courtyard.
The
Guards at the entrance were shocked at first
as the spacecraft floated up to the front
of the now empty line. But when they saw
the Kids peeking out of the spacecraft's
windshield, smiles spread across their faces;
the Kindness Kids were welcomed and frequent
VIP visitors at the UN. "Come on in!" the
guards waved.
Captain
Kindness tilted the Cruiser sideways so
it could fit through the metal detector,
and in they sailed. The Guards waved with
a chuckle. The spaceship glided along the
maze-like corridors until they reached the
lobby outside the General Assembly Hall.
The
Guard at the door stood frozen in place
with his mouth hanging open as he stared
at the spaceship hovering beside him. But
then he saw the Kids waving and he relaxed
and laughed nervously. "You Kids always
make such a grand entrance. Last time you
came on a giant flying eagle… and I heard
that one time you arrived aboard a giant
golden crane!"
The
Kids giggled.
"Well,
are you coming in?" the Guard asked.
"We're
only here for a quick peek. If that's okay?"
Captain Kindness told him and held a badge
(which had mysteriously appeared on a chain
around his neck) up to the windshield.
The
Guard shook his head amusedly as he checked
the badge through the glass. He shrugged
before he opened the door.
Peeking
in, the Kids immediately recognized that
they were back in September 2000 at the
special Millennium Assembly. They'd been
here before and they knew it was a very
important gathering to discuss goals and
plans for the whole planet to work together
for a better world in the New Millennium.
They'd arrived right in the middle of discussions
about the Millennium Development Goals -
a significant set of milestones that all
nations agreed to work together to achieve.
The
Speaker was just outlining Goal Number Seven
about achieving environmental sustainability.
They listened as the audience applauded
after hearing the part about the pledge
to cut in half the number of people without
access to clean water and proper sanitation.
"Hmm…"
Captain Kindness sighed. "This was a long
time ago, but your planet still has a long
way to go to achieve that goal!" he said
to the Kids. He forced a smile and turned
to his co-pilot. "Well, let's see some of
those Water Day celebrations now, Kit."
Kit
tapped on the controls and Captain Kindness
looked down at the Guard at the door. "Thank
you," he saluted and the Cruiser disappeared
down a hyperlink.
The
Guard shook his head. He was fairly new
here at the UN and was still trying to memorize
everything in the training manual. "They've
really got to update that manual," he mumbled.
"They never prepared me for stuff like this!"
Chapter
5
So Many Ways To Help
The
Kids jetted back and forth through cyberspace
and cybertime peeking in on all kinds of
workshops and conferences, meetings and
water celebrations. They danced and sang
at concerts, and joined in walkathons and
community gatherings. They took part in
candlelight vigils and helped plant peacepoles
that shared the message, "May Peace Prevail
On Earth!" They bought cookies and cupcakes
at bake sales to raise money for organizations
working to bring clean water and sanitation
to poor neighborhoods. They painted their
thumbs blue and posted pictures of themselves
holding up their thumbs on their Facebook
pages to remind people about the water crisis.
There were so many ways to bring communities
together and help them think about the urgent
water crisis all around the world.
Each
year World Water Day celebrations featured
a different theme, and worldwide celebrations
were organized by the UN Agency that dealt
with that particular issue. The Kids were
amazed at how interconnected the water problem
was with so many other issues that people
were trying to fix. Each of the Kids found
that they had a particular favorite World
Water Day theme.
Sunanda
and Maya's favorite was 1995's Women
and Water theme. They learned that when
women don't have to waste so much of their
days fetching water from very distant places,
they have time to improve their lives. They
are able to get jobs that bring in income
to make life better for themselves and their
families. Young girls don't have to miss
time at school and can get the education
they need for a brighter future.
The
Water and Cities themes in 1996 and
2011 opened Michiko's eyes to the urgent
problems that many large cities around the
world face in keeping up with their residents'
growing needs for safe, clean drinking water.
Jamal
thought 2004's Water and Disaster
theme pointed out how overlooked access
to water resources was when people deal
with natural disasters like tornadoes and
floods and droughts.
Ling
and Johnny were amazed by 2006's observance
of Water and Culture. They never
realized that various cultures around the
world looked at, used and celebrated water
so differently. They were awed at how large
a part water played in various religious
ceremonies. They were fascinated when they
saw just a glimpse of the many ways water
has been portrayed in paintings, music,
books and movies.
José
thought that 2008's focus on Sanitation
was something everyone should know about.
The Kids figured he was going to make a
joke that was sure to include something
about 'Number Two'. But for once he was
serious and simply said he thought that
everyone should know that one out of three
people in the world don't have a toilet.
"We've got to do something about this!"
he insisted.
Erin
was a vegetarian and 2012's focus on Water
and Food Security really meant a
lot to her. She'd never realized how much
water it takes to grow the foods we eat.
It takes 200 gallons of water to grow a
pound of wheat, which she thought seemed
like a lot at first. Until she saw that
it takes 2000 gallons of water for a pound
of meat. She never liked to preach about
her decision to be a vegetarian, but she
smiled when she discovered that her choice
was actually helping to conserve water.
What she did decide she was going to talk
about when she got home was how much perfectly
good food people waste. Not only are they
wasting food, but they're wasting all the
water it took to make that food, too! By
convincing supermarkets and restaurants
to donate their excess food to soup kitchens
and food banks, they'd also be helping to
save water for the planet!
Ahmed
and Sol both thought that 2014's focus on
Water and Energy was one of the most
important themes. None of the Kids had realized
how closely connected water and energy were.
Water is needed to produce nearly all of
the energy sources people use for electricity,
to heat their homes, run their cars and
power their MP3 players and cell phones.
And energy is needed to extract, treat and
deliver water for us to use. When we save
energy we're also saving water, and when
we save water we save energy.
"Whenever
we work to conserve one of them…" Ahmed
started to say to the Kids.
"We're
really solving two problems," Sol finished.
"Two
for the price of one!" they said together.
Everyone
laughed. Even José. But the truth is he
was a little jealous, because no one had
laughed at any of his jokes today.
As
much as the Kids enjoyed seeing the many
ways people got the word out, what really
moved them was seeing how people were solving
the problem.
In
their travels they learned about a lot of
different organizations that were helping
lead the way to making sure that everyone
has clean drinking water. Like Charity:
Water which has helped more than 2.5 million
people by funding more than 6000 projects
around the world to dig or fix wells or
put in place other water sources like systems
to capture rainwater for drinking.
Many
of the places they saw people helping were
through UNICEF projects. They already knew
that UNICEF was the United Nations Children's
Fund, but they didn't know that UNICEF works
in 90 countries to bring drinkable water
and sanitation to schools and communities
by providing funding for things like drilling
wells, installing water pumps and providing
water filters. It also helps educate about
the importance of washing with soap to reduce
the spread of diseases.
The
Kids were so excited to find out about the
UNICEF Tap Project event that takes place
during the week around World Water Day.
Restaurants help raise money for the Tap
Project by asking diners to donate $1 to
UNICEF for the tap water they are normally
served free. The Kids couldn't wait to ask
their favorite restaurants to get involved
when they got back home.
In
a small village in Kenya the Kids learned
about Water.org's WaterCredit program. A
young boy named Joseph proudly showed the
Kids the outhouse his family had just built,
thanks to a small loan they had gotten through
the program. The Kids had never imagined
someone could be so excited about having
a toilet, but this was the first time Joseph's
family didn't have to be embarrassed every
time they had to find someplace at the edge
of town just to go to the bathroom.
Finally
they had reached their last stop. It was
the very same village in India where they
had met Anjali. Peering down from the Cruiser
the Kids saw her and her friends looking
on as their parents were digging a well
in the center of their community that Water.org
had financed. Just then Anjali and her friends
looked up and noticed the spaceship. They
waved and they looked so happy that the
Kids were filled with a huge surge of hope.
The
Kindness Kids suddenly felt that tingly
feeling they always got just before they
were somehow magically transported back
to their homes all around the world.
"Meow…"
Kit said a little sadly from the control
panel.
All
of the Kids understood immediately. "We're
going to miss you, too, Kit!" they exclaimed
and hugged their favorite robo-cat.
"Yes,
Kit and I have to get going too," Captain
Kindness sighed as he hugged the Kids. "Kit's
just gotten an urgent call for help from
a planet in a constellation three galaxies
over…"
"But
we'll see you again soon, right?" Ling asked
and all of the other Kids hoped so, too.
"Absolutely!"
Captain Kindness declared.
"Meow!"
Kit promised.
Before
they said their final good-byes, Captain
Kindness wanted to go over one last time
all of the things the Kids were going to
do to help when they got back home.
"There
are so many ways we can 'Do One Thing for
a Better World!" Michiko exclaimed.
"And
together we make a world of difference!"
Ling added.
"First
of all I'm going to make sure I don't waste
water…" Jamal declared.
"Yeah,
I'm going to make sure I don't let the water
run when I brush my teeth," José promised.
"I forget sometimes."
"Don't
forget, no more disposable plastic water
bottles," Johnny reminded everyone.
"And
I'm going to save water by conserving energy,"
Ling promised.
"Yeah,
I often forget to turn off the lights when
I'm not using them," Michiko admitted.
"And
I'm going to raise a lot of money for Water.org!"
Sol insisted.
"And
Charity: Water, the UNICEF Tap Project,
and Water Collective, too!" Ahmed added.
"I'm
going to urge all my Facebook friends to
get involved!" Sunanda said.
"We'll
do stuff all year round, but we'll also
plan something really cool for World Water
Day!" Erin declared.
The
Kids had a lot more ideas about what they
could do. But it was getting late.
"Meow,"
Kit said.
"So
water you waiting for?" Captain Kindness
translated.
Everyone
laughed. Everyone except José. "Hey! I've
been saying that exact same thing this entire
adventure!" he complained.
"Water
you talking about, José?" the Kids all laughed
just before the meeting was adjourned. Until
the next adventure with the Kindness Team,
of course.
>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<
For more information about what you can
do:
www.Water.org
www.UNWater.org
www.CharityWater.org
www.Tap.UNICEFUSA.org
WaterAid.org
www.TheWaterCollective.org
www.DoOneThing.org/water