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KANSAS
FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER 11,2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 121 ISSUE 17
SPREAD THE WELLS
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A woman gathers water from a well in the village of Mphagane, in the Limpopo Region of South Africa. More than 1.1 billion people in the world don't have clean water to drink. Ken Chang, Lawrence native, was inspired to help after visiting South Africa this past fall, so he created the River to Well project, which plans to fund at least one well in Ndhambi, South Africa, by raising iunds in a photo contest.
Competition to aid clean water
Lawrence photo contest to raise funds to build well in South Africa
BY DANIEL JOHNSON djohnson@kansan.com
During a trip to South Africa last fall with his pastor, Ken Chang watched villagers walk as far as two miles to drink dirty water from crocodile infested rivers. He had heard about hunger, AIDS and genocide, but he was shocked when he witnessed the water crisis crippling the continent. On his trip back to Kansas, Chang decided to help in an unusual way.
Chang would use his love of photography to build a well in Africa.
"I thought about the power of photography and had an epiphany," Chang said. "I decided to use a photo competition to raise money."
Chang, a Lawrence native and 2008 KU graduate, said he created the River to Well photo competition last spring to raise awareness for the global water crisis. The competition began in June and will accept entries until Tuesday, Sept. 15. He said the competition is raising money through entry fees, donations and sales of the submitted photographs. The winning photographs will be displayed and sold during Lawrence's
annual ArtWalk on Oct. 10 and 11 in downtown Lawrence.
Chang said he hoped to raise $5,000 to cover the cost of one well. He said the money was being primarily raised through entry fees, which are $15 for one photo entry, $25 for two, and $30 for three. He said the group would also collect donations during the ArtWalk. Chang said one well would provide water for a village of 100 to 200 people for up to 20 years.
Chang said he chose the village of Ndhambi in northeastern South Africa because he had witnessed the desperate need for
water there.
"There's a need everywhere, but we've got to start somewhere," Chang said. "I know people there, so that's where we'll start."
Chang said the ultimate goal was to spread awareness of the water crisis in Africa.
"Most of us don't realize that there are people all around the world who can't have a clean glass of water." Chang said.
Shannon McNealy, Lenexa senior, has worked for several months on the project as the
SEE PHOTO ON PAGE 3A
WATER SHORTAGE FACTS
1. 1 billion people, or one in six, don't have clean water to drink.
Nearly 200 million people in Africa are facing serious water shortages.
By 2025, nearly 230 million Africans will face water scarcity, and 460 million will be living in waterstressed countries.
Source: United Nations Environment Program
CULTURE
Festival celebrates mountain lifestyle
BY BETH BEAVERS bbeavers@kansan.com
For the eight consecutive year, the Banff Mountain Film Festival hopes to bring the mountains to Lawrence. The traveling film festival will be shown at 7 p.m. tonight and Saturday at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St. Tickets are $8.50 per night, and different films will be shown each night.
"There are not a lot of mountains here, but a lot of people interested in mountain culture," Dan Hughes, owner of Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop, 802 Massachusetts St., said. "We wanted to bring mountains to the plains."
The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festivals are based in Banff, Alberta, and feature films, books and photos related to mountain culture. Of the 300 entries in the main festival, about 40 are selected for the traveling festival.
Hughes, a 1992 KU graduate, said the films were adventure-based and showed anything from rock climbers to kayakers and base jumpers. He said there were also films that were more human-interest related, but were still loosely based on mountain culture.
Hughes said the idea to bring Banff to Lawrence came when he and some friends saw the festival while traveling in Colorado. While drinking beer from a local breery, enjoying delicious food and
SEE CULTURE ON PAGE 3A
BANFF MOUNTAIN
FILM FESTIVAL
WORLD TOUR
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Sept
11 and Saturday, Sept. 12
WHERE: Liberty Hall, 642
Massachusetts St.
TICKETS: $8.50 per night
ANNIVERSARY
Citizens countrywide make plans to remember September 11 victims
BY SUZANNE MA
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Americans planned beach cleanups, packages for soldiers and save-the-tree fundraisers along with familiar remembrances in three cities to mark eight years since the attacks of Sept. 11, the first time the anniversary was named a national day of service.
"Instead of us simply remembering the horrible events and more importantly the heroes who lost their lives on 9/11, we are all going to turn into local heroes," said Ted Tenenbaum, a Los Angeles repair shop owner who offered free handyman services Thursday and planned to do so again Friday.
Similar donations of time and labor were planned across the
country after President Barack Obama and Congress declared the day would be dedicated to service this year for the first time.
about the new commemoration, though, fearing it could overshadow a somber day of remembrance for nearly 3,000 people killed aboard four jetliners and at the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, and a
Some Americans are suspicious
"Instead of simply remembering...we are all going to turn into local heroes."
field in western Pennsylvania.
"When I first heard about it, I was concerned," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother was the American Airlines pilot of the
TED TENENBAUM Repair shop owner
hijacked jet that crashed into the Pentagon. "I fear, I greatly fear, at some point we'll transition to turning it into Earth Day where we go and plant trees and the remembrance part will become smaller, and smaller, and smaller."
In a column in American Spectator magazine last month, conservative commentator Matthew Vadum wrote that the push for volunteerism was an attempt
The criticism didn't dampen
"to try to change 9/11 from a day of reflection and remembrance to a day of activism, food banks and community gardens."
spirits of those who planned to participate, though.
Sue Katz, a tour bus guide in New York City, planned a walking tour in Central Park to raise money to repair damage after hundreds of century-old trees were toppled by a recent storm.
Vice President Joe Biden was scheduled to attend the ceremony in New York, while President Obama was to meet with family members for a ceremony at the Pentagon outside Washington. D.C.
The president will "speak about what the day means and the sacrifices of thousands, not just at the Pentagon, but in Pennsylvania and certainly and most obviously in New York," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Construction cranes work above the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center Tuesday in New York. Today marks the eighth anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
index
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Horoscopes...6A Sudoku...6A
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2009 The University Daily Kansan
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