Cincinnati State students, faculty reach beyond borders

June 3, 2009

Cincinnati State faculty, staff and students have been taking their Safe Water for Africa program on the road – with impressive results.

The student group Beyond Borders -- with support from faculty member Martha Brosz (who regularly offers lessons on global drinking water issues) and from recent graduate Cara Dyne (who is now employed in the Upward Bound program at Cincinnati State) -- has been visiting high schools in the region, demonstrating simple, inexpensive water purification techniques.

Many of the schools have responded with fund-raising campaigns to purchase water purification kits that are sent to Africa, particularly to war-torn Zimbabwe.

One school that took the message to heart was Edgewood High School in Trenton, Ohio. There, after a demonstration of water purification techniques by a Cincinnati State delegation, students organized a “Penny Wars’’ game between classes. The freshman class won, and got a free cookout for lunch as a reward. The Edgewood students raised $2,378, which they presented to Brosz and Dyne during a recent ceremony at the school.

The Edgewood students are also in the process of contacting Oprah Winfrey, in hopes of garnering more publicity for the clean water initiative in Africa.

Above: Cincinnati State faculty member Martha Brosz, left, and staff member Cara Dyne, right, presented a plaque expressing their appreciation to Edgewood High School students for their work in raising funds for safe water programs in Africa.