Prior to leaving for Spring Break, the students and faculty of the University of West Georgia have the opportunity to provide water for the thirsty in a very tangible way. The week of March 9-15 will bring the advent of UWG’s Water for Ghana. Water for Ghana is a water drive initiated by the Delta Sigma Theta (DST) sorority, that is aimed at encouraging a campus wide awareness of global needs.
“Water is something that we do not fully appreciate because we are so used to receiving it every day,” said Kelby Mitchell, chapter president for Delta Sigma Theta. “We do not realize that there are others out there who do not have clean water.”
Nothing fancy, Water for Ghana is about getting water to those with out, no matter the vessel.
“We are taking any [brand] of water people would like to give us,” said Mitchell. “We will take cases, or individual [bottles], anything filled with clean water. Just give us the water and we will handle [everything else].”
UWG’s chapter of DST is working in partnership with its Alumni chapter in Atlanta that is handling the actual transportation to Ghana.
“We had a hard time trying to find a decent contact to send it to [in Ghana],” said Mitchell. “Our sister chapter [has] sent a lot of things over there already, so they told us that we can send them everything that we collect, and they will send it to their contact.”
Although the water will not be shipped directly to Ghana from UWG, no one should worry about it ending up where it is not actually needed. During a previous drive called Pads for Education, the ladies of DST received so many donated items that they had to split the donation between Africa, which was the intended receiver, and a local women’s shelter. No doubt the same level of conscientiousness will be exercised in regards to this drive as well.
As with previous drives, DST encourages the student body as well as faculty and staff to give as much as they can.
“We do not have a set goal, we just want to raise a lot,” said Mitchell. “Whatever people want to contribute, however much people want to give out of their heart, this is an issue that does not stop.”
Due to the weather, this and other drives planned for the beginning of Feb. had to be rescheduled for the same week in March. In addition to water bottles for Ghana, DST will be collecting blankets for the homeless in Carrollton and feminine products for girls in Africa.
This is the first appearance Water for Ghana has made on UWG’s campus, but Mitchell promises that if it goes well, DST wants to bring it back next year.
“We are built on Christian principles,” said Mitchell. “We love to give back and we want to continue to help.”
