Fair Water? School Day

The Fair Water? Exhibition at the University of Oxford's Museum of Natural History was able to invite some schools of the Pedagogic In-Service Training Programme (ISTP) Cameroon to join online for a School Day in February 2024. The schools were given a video tour of the Fair Water? Exhibition at the museum and joined schools from the UK to watch live presentations from researchers involved in the exhibition's development. 

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This is a report from two schools in Buea who joined the event - the Baptist Comprehensive High School (BCHS) and the Presbyterian *-Comprehensive Secondary School (PCSS). Twenty students offering geography at Advanced Level were selected from each school giving a total of forty (40) students.

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On the day of the event, students and two teachers from BCHS left early and joined their peers from PCSS at 10 am. This was an hour before the event began giving them time to bond and talk about the upcoming event. This made it easier for them to work in groups during the 15 minutes break after each presentation to formulate questions. The students were all very attentive, taking down notes as each presenter gave details of the different aspects. At the end, the students and teachers alike were very satisfied for having taken part in such a huge event.

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This program has boosted our understanding more on water security and quality individually which helps us in our day-to-day activities.

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Also, this program has added to our knowledge about the hydrological cycle and how it works; that is the circulation of water from the earth surface to the atmosphere and back to the earth surface and the processes involve in it. We really loved the water cycle animation. This has been imprinted in our minds and it will help us when writing our projects in geography.

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It has also enlightened us on how other areas of the world are suffering from water shortage and the various measures been taken to eradicate this issue

Again, this program has brought to us the causes of scarcity of portable water, thus the need to preserve our portable water for good health.

 

In summary, this program was very important to the entire population in the world, this is because water is a necessity to man. In addition, it will help students to further do research on water and its related issues.

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Basically, Nancy, Saskia and Sonia with all others greatly assisted in this program. We really appreciate their efforts for enlightening us on the importance of water security, the measures which can be put in place to solve or preserve water. This is to ensure good health.

 

We are as well grateful for this educational program which was aimed at assisting us in our daily life activities

 

In addition, we learned how waste can be managed both in the UK and how it can be applicable in Bangladesh and in other parts of the world which is greatly affected. I also learned how industrial waste can be disposed instead of disposing them in rivers to cause water pollution.

 

The presenters did so well especially with the use of digital slides with animations. For example, the animations on the slide on the water cycle made it quite interesting and easy to understand.

 

The presenters created a good link between sanitation practices and water quality. They showed clearly human activities that have direct impact on the water cycle and thus the water quality.

 

The presenters addressed some important and relevant concepts in water quality such as, water as a universal solvent, building blocks of rocks and air.

 

Also, organic matter, organic water quality, waste water, ecosystem health etc were discussed.

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Student feedback from BCHS Buea

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"I have been impacted with knowledge on water security which is directed to my field of study in geography under the branch Hydrology. I now understand the fact that in order to secure my water I must maintain the quality ( tasteless, odourless , and colourless), and also maintain the quality by avoiding the pollution of water bodies through waste disposal and this will guarantee good health."

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"This conference was of great impact as it increased my knowledge and understanding about water security and insecurity, the climatic conditions in my region and how they impacted our water security. From this conference, I have acquired knowledge that will enable me teach my friends and family proper waste management.

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We the BCHS community are grateful for the opportunity given to us to take part in this conference.

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Finally, this knowledge can go a long way to help our communities solve some of their water problems which have most of the time affected their health. Every year we have outbreaks of water related diseases, especially cholera, in towns and villages of our communities. Presently, there is a great shortage of portable water in Buea as a result of exponential increase in population due to migration into Buea from unsafe villages and towns of the crises hit regions of Cameroon. As an attempt to solve the water shortage problem many homes have dug boreholes, which have not solved the water problem because at this level it is not good enough to be used as drinking water. The people do not even know how bad or how good the water from their individual boreholes is. The students now have this knowledge, I wish the people in the community who already have boreholes can be taught how to make the water better and preserve it with good sanitary conditions."

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Student feedback from PCSS Buea

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"What I actually learned from this conference is that since most of the host of the conference spoke about the sustainability of water and sustainable development, I now understand what sustainable management of water means.

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I learned how we from our local community can preserve our water for the future generation."

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"Firstly, we were able to understand the ways in which our water can be secured which includes cleansing and treating the water by carrying out sewage programs. This can equally help to reduce water pollution, like properly disposing of our waste. We were also explained the quality of water, components of water and ways in which viruses and bacteria can be removed from water to improve on its quality."

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Picture below from the lecture theatre at the museum during the event.