Posted: Jul 28, 2008, 9:37 PM CST
Ryan's Well
BY KATHY COOK
On learning that African children were dying for lack of clean water, the young Canadian decided to act
From Canadian Reader's Digest January 2001
SIX-YEAR-OLD Ryan Hreljac sat in shock as he listened to his Grade 1 teacher, Nancy Prest, at Holy Cross Catholic School in Kemptville, Ont. Launching a school-wide campaign, she spoke that day of the sad plight of children living in impoverished, disease-stricken Africa, where there was little access to medicine, food or clean water. Ryan, a sensitive child with blond hair and blue eyes, winced when he heard that hundreds of thousands of African children die each year just from drinking contaminated water.
IT WAS January 1998, and Holy Cross was raising money for African relief. "Every penny helps," Prest told her class. She explained that a single penny would buy a pencil; 25 cents, 175 vitamins; 60 cents, a two-month supply of medicine for one child; "and $70 pays for a well."
WHEN RYAN'S mother, Susan, 40, a consultant at the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation, and Mark, his police-officer father, got home later that day, Ryan rushed past his baby-sitter to greet them."Mom, Dad, I need $70 for a well in Africa!" he said excitedly.
"That's nice, Ryan," his mother replied distractedly as his younger brother, Keegan, three, clung to her.
Over dinner, Ryan tried again.
"Ryan, $70 is a lot of money," his mother said. "We can't afford that."
The next evening Ryan brought the subject up again. "You don't understand," he said, tears filling his eyes. "Children are dying because they don't have clean water!"
Susan exchanged a glance with Mark and sat Ryan down. "If you're really serious about raising $70, you can do extra chores around the house," she said, assuming he would quickly forget his project.