Sydney school girl Emily spent a great deal of her mid-year holidays thinking about water
Not only did Emily, 10, spend her holidays raising funds to provide clean water for children in need, she did it by making a splash at her local swimming pool.
When Emily – whose family sponsor a child in Swaziland – told her parents she wanted to raise money to help children have access to clean water, her father Peter suggested she use what she was good at to attract sponsorship from friends and family.
“I’m good at swimming. I could get people to sponsor me for swimming laps,” was Emily’s quick response!
Emily’s mum Lyndal then shared Emily’s plans on Facebook, describing how Emily would swim as many laps of her local 25 metre pool as she could, in one hour.
“The seed was planted, and we facilitated her endeavour … The response was swift and amazing,” Lyndal says.
On Monday 14 July, with support crew in tow – including her grandfather who marked every lap on a tally board – Emily began her swim.
By the end of one hour, Emily had swum 80 laps of the 25 metre pool – twice the farthest distance she has ever swum before.
“… I got tired but what kept me going was thinking of how much they need it … I think it’s important that children get clean water to keep them healthy,” Emily says.
Mum Lyndal says other swimmers at the pool were amazed at what the determined 10-year-old was up to: “… when Emily’s fellow swimmers in the pool caught wind of what she was doing, they in turn offered financial contributions,” she says.
After all the donations rolled in, Emily had raised a total of $1,425 – enough to provide clean drinking water for an entire community.
Lyndal says Emily’s story is an encouragement to people of all ages, proving that “… no matter how old they are, there are numerous opportunities to make a difference in somebody else’s life.”
As well as providing vital funds for World Vision’s work, Emily’s endeavour to help children in need was her school holiday highlight (and something she plans to do again).
“I wanted to help poor children because we have so much and helping others is what God wants me to do and I love helping,” Emily concludes.