The Well that Changed the World

改变世界的井

As a six-year-old Canadian schoolboy, Ryan had trouble believing the words spoken by his teacher that many people in developing African countries couldn’t get enough clean water. He looked across the classroom at the drinking fountain. It was very close—only ten steps away. So, Ryan asked himself, “Why do some African children have to walk ten kilometres to get water every day And why is the water so dirty that it makes them sick” Young Ryan thought, “Life is easy for me, but hard for those people. Why don’t I help”

年仅六岁的加拿大小学生瑞安难以相信老师所说的话：在欠发达的非洲国家，许多人都喝不到足够的干净的水。他的目光掠过教室，望向对面的喷泉式饮水器，它是那么近——只有十步之遥。因此，瑞安问自己：“为什么有些非洲儿童每天要步行十公里去取水为什么他们会因为喝了不卫生的水而生病”年幼的瑞安想道：“我的生活很舒适，但他们的生活却那么艰难，我为什么不去帮帮他们呢”

At first, his plan was to earn money to build a single well somewhere in Africa. He cleaned windows and did gardening for his family and neighbours. He soon reached his first target of $70, but when he gave the money to a charity, he was told that it actually cost $2,000 to build a well. Seventy dollars was only enough for a hand pump. Ryan understood that a hand pump wouldn’t help the children. What they needed was a well dug near their homes.

起初，他的计划是赚钱在非洲挖一口井。通过帮助家人和邻居们擦窗户、做园艺，他很快就达到了他的第一个目标——70美元，但当他把这笔钱捐给慈善机构时，他才得知挖一口井实际上需要花费2,000美元。70美元只够买一个手压泵。瑞安明白一个手压泵帮不了非洲的孩子们。他们需要的是一口离家不远的井。

Two thousand dollars was a lot of money, but Ryan didn’t give up. He was determined to help other children have clean water. He started to ask for help from his classmates and neighbours and persuaded them to donate money. At the same time, a friend of Ryan’s mother helped make his story go public. After several months, Ryan had raised the $2,000, with which a well was built near a primary school in Uganda. The children at the school no longer needed to walk for hours to get water. They were grateful to him and invited him to visit.