2017 was another successful year for the Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy Eagles H2O for Life project. The students have contributed $2,976.50, almost twice as the pledged amount of $1,500, or almost six times the $508 contribution they made in 2016.
Starting the year strong, the students did their first fundraising event by picking up trash at the Western and Southern Open tennis tournament. Nine students participated in this event. During the shift of six hours, they kept the grounds clean, changed the trashcans, and raised $450 for the project.
The group’s most attended learning event was the H2O for Life Overnight, in which over 20 students simulated a day of activities to experience the water crisis. Students had an action-packed day, as they embarked on a water walk at the local Loveland trail, each carrying a jug of water as a way to experience what women and children in many parts of the world had to go through to get unpurified water. The students also listened to speakers from the local service organization and shelters for the homeless to learn about the local water crisis and its implications on the local economy. With all these activities, students learned about the impact of the global water crisis, near and far, and created more visual aids to help bring the messages to the school community. One of the more powerful visual aids that the students created was a balloon demonstration. The students spent hours hanging balloons over the main commons in the school. During the course of the day, students would gradually pop the balloons, indicating that around every 20 seconds, a child dies from the lack of safe water and basic sanitation. Many more students joined throughout the day, and this continued until all of the balloons were popped. This delivered a powerful message to remind the students of the somber reality of the water crisis. As a result, more and more students in the school community became aware of the water crisis and started to think about what they can do about it.
Another recent event was the school’s first Rummage Sale, led by Eagles H2O for Life. This was a tremendous two-month project, as the student leaders were responsible for all of the planning, advertising, and execution of the project. It became a huge success, as the local community supported this event through donation of goods and volunteering hours. This event alone had raised over $2,100 to support Eagles H2O For Life.
Another major event during the year was H2O for Life at the Flying Pig Marathon. As Cincinnati’s annual marathon event, the Flying Pig attracts tens of thousands of runners across the world to Cincinnati every year in this annual sports event. For the first time, Eagles H2O for Life became one of the designated charity organizations in this event, as a number of the students and faculty runners represented H2O for Life as they participated in the full and half marathon races at the Flying Pig. This was an excellent way to bring the water crisis awareness to Cincinnati. One of the group’s student leaders, Leon Bao, set up a booth at the Flying Pigs Health and Wellness Expo at the Duke Energy Convention Center the week before the race and talked to hundreds of visitors about the water crisis and what Eagles H2O for Life is doing to help our partner schools in Kenya.
Overall, this year was a tremendous success, as Eagles H2O for Life was able to spread more awareness for the water crisis while also surpassing their initial amount to support Wangui Primary School in Kenya. We are ecstatic for the opportunities and ideas we have for next year! 
