Queen Victoria School, a small inner-city elementary school on Vancouver 's east side, recently completed an extensive, school-wide, interdisciplinary study of water.  An original musical play about water, written by the children with the help of teachers and artists in residence, came next. The play was a major success and proved to be a catalyst that made the children aware of issues surrounding water on a global level. 

As a result of this process, the idea of raising funds to help build a well in Africa was born. Contact with Moshi Changi, a Tanzanian who agreed to manage the project, was established through one of our Queen Vic families. Penpals and a sister village relationship between the Queen Victoria community and the village of Sori, Tanzania were established with Moshi's help. The Queen Victoria school community has embraced an ambitious goal: to raise $25,000 to build a well in the district of Kondoa, Tanzania . 

There are 3 phases to this project: 

Phase 1 is to do water surveys to see if a water source can be found. 
Phase 2 is the actual digging of the borehole
Phase 3 is building the bricks to line the well and installing a pump. The community in Tanzania will be actively involved in this third phase.

The reason Queen Victoria is doing this project is to teach kids to be socially aware and compassionate. This project is giving children a chance to use their voice to make positive changes within their own communities and the world at large. It teaches them to broaden their understanding of world issues, cultures and create a global community.

Already a considerable amount of money has been raised. Proceeds from ticket sales for the play have been set aside for the well. Students from Charles Dickens School, who attended the play, were moved to initiate fundraising in their community for the well. A Queen Victoria family who, coincidentally happens to be moving to Tanzania, held a silent auction of many of their household items, and donated the proceeds to the well.

Queen Victoria children are actively involved in the process of raising money for this project. Please refer to the events section of this site for current and future school based initiatives. But obviously, the resources in our small community are limited. We hope that our story will inspire others, including the corporate community, to help.