Putting Macedonia's Water to the Test

"In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference." -- Rachel Carson

When I was in 3rd grade, my class was given a list of famous people and we had to choose someone on the list to write a report about. Somehow I chose Rachel Carson, a scientist who raised awareness about the natural world and risks to it, particularly the dangers of pesticides. Now, no one thing made me gravitate towards working on environmental issues, but I have to think that exposure to the ideas and work of Rachel Carson at a young age was formative. That's why I am excited by the success of a project that I have been organizing in Macedonia, World Water Monitoring Day.

Last summer, Peace Corps Macedonia was contacted by one of our former volunteers named Patty who works now for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She asked if we wanted to receive kits to use with local students to test water quality. Sciences classes here rarely have the resources to do lab experiments, so this was an excellent opportunity to do something hands-on and to teach the kids about the importance of clean water. To make a long story short, I took the helm of organizing the project in Macedonia.

In eight different communities, Peace Corps volunteers led the kids through testing water from local rivers. As is apparent from these pictures on Picasa, the water testers had such a good time they almost forgot they were learning. What really impressed me was that in many communities, the youth shared the results with their peers and even local leaders. Our partners in the U.S., EPA and CH2M Hill, also put us in touch with schools in Colorado and Costa Rica to exchange photos and videos with. This international dimension helps show the kids that water is a global resource that we all need to work to protect.

Lauren and I did water testing with an 8th grade class at the primary school where she teaches. Unfortunately there wasn't time for the students to help us collect water from the river, which left Lauren and I alone attracting stares from passersby as we lowered a bucket from a bridge into the river running through town. The students did enthusiastically participate in the testing though and found the Dragor River is relatively healthy, which surprised some of them, mentioning the trash they had seen floating in the river. We are exchanging photos with students from my old school district, Aurora Public Schools, which should be interesting for the kids in both locations.

At the suggestion of my country director, this project got written up on the Peace Corps website. Already it has been pointed out that my "village" of 100,000 people is hardly that but hey, it's still a flattering writeup. It is a bit embarrassing that my name is mentioned so often because it truly was a group effort, so let me take this opportunity to thank again Dianne, Amanda, Sarah, Kerry, Jen, Lauren, Kaylee, Phebe, Lync, and Mike for being water testers extraordinaire!