Ryan's Well of Life

Reprinted with permission from Chicken Soup for the Soul.

When my son Ryan was six years old and in first grade, his teacher, Nancy, talked to his class about developing countries and how they could help people, particularly children, in other parts of the world. She explained that besides not having toys or enough food, some of them didn't even have clean water. For these children sitting in their comfortable classroom in Kemptville, Ontario, the idea of children not having any toys, or enough food or water, had an enormous impact.

The principal had distributed a list that showed the costs of buying supplies in developing countries. A penny would buy a pencil, a dollar a hot meal, two dollars a blanket. Seventy dollars would buy a well. When Ryan heard people died because they didn't have clean water, he was deeply affected. He came home that day and insisted he needed seventy dollars for class the next morning.

We thought it was very nice that he wanted to do something important, but we didn't take it seriously. My husband Mark and I both do volunteer work, but Ryan was only six years old - and we just brushed it off.

The next day, Ryan came home very upset because he hadn't been able to take the seventy dollars to school. People were dying, and he insisted he needed that money.

Mark and I discussed it, then explained to Ryan that seventy dollars was a lot of money. If he was really interested in doing something, however, he could earn it.

I drew a little thermometer on a sheet of paper and said, "This is how many dollars it takes to get to seventy, and if you're prepared to earn it, we'll give you extra chores." He happily agreed, so we put an old cookie tin on top of the refrigerator and started giving him chores.

Well, Ryan worked and worked and worked. With every two dollars he earned, he got to fill in another line on the thermometer, then throw his money into the cookie tin. He never stopped working. Ryan vacuumed, washed windows and much more.

He did chores for the neighbors and his grandparents, picked up brush after an ice storm - and it all went right into the cookie tin! When we realized he was really serious, we thought,Okay, what will we do with the money once he's raised it? We had no clue. After four months, Ryan was nearing his goal.

I called a girlfriend at CUSO (a Canadian International Development Agency) and asked her for suggestions.

"We can take it here at CUSO," she replied. "But let me look around for a more appropriate organization that might specifically build wells."

Brenda contacted WaterCan in Ottawa and set up a meeting for us. WaterCan is a Canadian nonprofit organization providing clean water and sanitation to people in developing countries.

In April 1998 we went for our meeting, and Ryan brought his cookie tin full of money. Nicole, the executive director, and Helen, her assistant, were very gracious, thanked him and told him how important his donation was. Then they told us it would cost a lot more than $70 to build a well - in fact, it would cost $2,000.

Ryan wasn't concerned and replied simply, "That's okay. I'll just do more chores!"

News about what Ryan was doing got out, and soon we were getting calls from the media. When the Ottawa Citizen did a story on Ryan's well, we began to receive donations at least once a week. People from all over were catching Ryan's dream and were inspired to give.

A high school in Cornwall, Ontario, sold bottled water and presented WaterCan with a check for Ryan's well for $228. Central Children's Choir from Ottawa donated $1,000 for a Singing Well. The Ground Water Association of Eastern Ontario donated $2,700. And for every dollar Ryan raised, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) matched it two for one. It wasn't long before Ryan had raised more than enough money for his well.

Ryan was invited to a board meeting to discuss details of the well. Gizaw, the engineer from Uganda who would design and build the well, was visiting from Africa. Ryan asked him: How long would it take to build the well? Where would it be built? And would he get a picture? When Gizaw asked Ryan where he would like the well to be built, Ryan decided that it would be best near a school.

Ryan's well was built beside Angolo Primary School in Uganda, Africa, and was dedicated in April of 1999!

But Ryan's efforts had only begun. Ryan's entire school embraced his dream. First, a fund-raising project raised about $1,400. Then the school organized a pen pal letter-writing campaign between Ryan's class and the students at Angolo Primary School.

CTV and several big newspapers did lead stories on the project and interviewed Ryan. I was concerned about all the attention going to his head. When I asked Ryan's teacher, Lynn, about it she said, "I don't think so. Ryan never talks about it unless someone asks." She then told me the class had been raising funds throughout the year, and a water can had been placed on her desk. One day she'd walked into her classroom and found Ryan was at the water can, picking his picture off the side. "I already have enough money for my well," he explained. "This well will be for my class."

One day Ryan said, "I'm going to keep working until everyone in Africa has clean water." I thought, Oh, boy! I'd heard about encouraging your children to be confident and dream big dreams. I didn't want to say, like I almost had when he asked for the seventy dollars, that he couldn't make a difference. The truth was, he already had!

One night Ryan shared with us that one day, he would love to actually see his well. I replied, "Ryan, you will see your well. You might be twelve by the time we save enough money to visit Africa, but I promise you‚ will see your well."

Continued on page 2: Thousands of children lined the roadside... »