Water Blogged

School has been going very well for Melissa Bologescu, as she is wrapping up her freshman year of college. Last year, she was a Senior at Enloe High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. There, she helped lead her local Interact Club in an H2O for Life Project through our fellowship program.

We are always excited to get updates from previous students and what they are up to. Melissa shared with us that this year she had the chance to study abroad in Quito, Ecuador for an engineering class. “I thought you would like to hear about it, since it has a lot to do with the water crisis and what I learned in the H2O for Life fellowship,” she shared with us.

Quito is a beautiful city in Ecuador in the middle of the mountains. The city has around 3 million people. Rivers coming in are the source of water, however, 97% of wastewater in Quito is not treated and is dumped directly into the rivers. This leads to severe pollution, and smaller communities on the outskirts of Quito have to use this water.

Her class centered on studying these issues. She got to work with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito to collect water samples from the Manchanagra river (the most polluted river) and test those samples. They met with local researchers who have been studying the issue. In her group, they worked to design a prototype that would contribute to solving the water crisis. Her team created a water filtration system to attach to household pipes that lead directly to the river.

“This was such an amazing experience. My professor told me that my participation in H2O and reflection on what I learned from it in my application essay is what helped me get accepted into this program. I also had a lot of prior knowledge that helped me come up with prototype ideas and understand the issue in general. I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to teach me and grow as a leader through the H2O for Life Fellowship! I did not realize how many doors it would open for me.”

Thank you for  sharing your expierence with us Melissa! We are so proud of our fellows and the incredible work that they are doing! Her note is a reminder of why we do the work that we do, to open doors for the next generation of global changemakers and giving them the tools they need to succeed.

If you or your students have expierences they want to share, please send them our way. If you are a high schooler interested in participating in the fellowship, reach out to mitchell@h2oforlifeschools.org and we will get you on the email list for the next cohort!