Stevens Point resident brings water to Cameroon …

Now, this University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point graduate student is raising money to build 40 wells in rural areas of Cameroon through his project, Ma-Kah Water For All. In November and December 2009, with help from recent Charles F. Fernandez Center for Alternative Learning graduate Max Okray, 17, and many village members, he built his first well with about $5,000 that he raised in Stevens Point. "One down, 39 to go," he said. Dinga, who works at the Noel Compass Foundation in university and diversity relations, established a fund through the Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin to raise money. Each time he raises $5,000, he will build another well. He also is interested in taking more community members with him to build. When his sister, Ma Kah Rosemary Dinga, who worked as a nurse and volunteered in Cameroon, died last year at age 40 because of stomach complications, he said rather than dwell on the sadness, he wanted to honor her with a service project. "Giving clean drinking water to people stood out to me," he said. "I decided I'll build 40 wells in honor of her. I think she'd be very proud. In 2002, when I was leaving (for Stevens Point), she yelled at me, 'Hey, Sam, remember to keep volunteering!'" He said it's easy for people to say "1.8 billion people go without water," but it's difficult to look past the statistic. "When you see one person go without water, it hits home," he said. Dinga said the people walk about a mile just to find muddy drinking water. Several times a day, they fill 10-gallon jugs of water and carry them one mile on their heads up a hill in the heat. While building the well, Dinga said he met many children who couldn't go to school because they had to fetch water for their families. "I'm like, 'This has to stop.' One time, I sent (a boy) to school and I gave him my drinking water," he said. The well he built is chemical-free, uses a filtration system of different size grains, such as pebbles and sand, and is close to their homes. When the well was finished, the entire village, dressed in their Sunday best, gathered for a celebration. Many people in the village had never seen clean water, so they collected drops from the well to save. Okray said after the trip, he realized he took a lot of things for granted. "We leave the faucet running here and don't think anything of it. I don't leave the faucet running all the time (anymore)," he said. Dinga said he can't wait to go back to Cameroon. "That trip, it's one thing that I wouldn't trade for anything."