Tentative Date: 26th April 2025
Introduction:
Water Education: Preparing Young Minds for a Sustainable Future will be organized by the American Chemical Society Universiti Sains Malaysia International Student Chapter (ACS USM) and is set to take place on 26th April 2025. With that, we look forward to collaborating with Water Watch Penang (WWP) to broaden the knowledge and create health awareness about safe and hygienic water among individuals and the community, particularly those who are underprivileged. This event will occur at Penang Botanical Gardens, at Jalan Air Terjun.
Water education programs are essential to the community as they are capable of creating awareness of Penang Botanic Garden’s water resources. Their impact is that the local communities will be educated about safe water usage throughout the whole program. These initiatives promote health, hygiene, ecological awareness, and sustainable practices. By providing targeted education and resources, these programs support equal education, sustainable development, and community empowerment. In order to promote a sense of responsibility and a commitment to proper water management, the primary goal is to enable locals to acquire the knowledge they need in order to make rational choices about water usage and environmental preservation. In the long term, this initiative supports the current community’s well-being, thus ensuring Penang Botanical Garden’s water resources are used sustainably and appropriately for upcoming generations.
Water Watch Penang is a non-governmental organization in Malaysia that focuses on raising awareness of water among the public. ACS USM hopes to collaborate with WWP to organize this event in order to utilize an excellent opportunity provided to accurately address the specific needs of the underprivileged. With this, we are also able to spread valuable knowledge and skills that are required for sustainable living and responsible usage of water.
Objective and Aim
Water Education: Preparing Young Minds for a Sustainable Future aims to provide education to the community about good sanitation and water hygiene practices in order to enhance their overall development and well-being. This initiative is beneficial in promoting healthy practices, thus reducing the risk of being sick due to the usage of unhygienic water. In addition, this program aims to enlighten crucial life skills related to water conservation, purification techniques, and appropriate usage of water, providing orphaned children with useful information in their daily lives. The orphanage for planning and carrying out the water education program. This will ensure that activities are smoothly planned.
An important organization in the community, which is an orphanage that will be finalized soon, is set to be involved as a part of our event, where underprivileged children and orphans will be given the opportunity to conduct water education activities. We hope to directly address the needs of those people by focusing on this orphanage. At the same time, the objective is to ensure that education equality is addressed by this program where orphaned children should have equal access to water education opportunities. By doing so, a safe learning environment that supports their personal growth will be created where the orphaned children will not only be aware of their environment and have basic life skills but will also be prepared to make meaningful contributions to the community.
Moreover, this program is also designed not only to give knowledge to orphaned children but also to empower USM students to become facilitators while guiding the orphan through the learning process. This will ensure that the individuals receive a more applicable education while also giving the students opportunities to improve their leadership skills. Thus, students will be equipped with the necessary skills to assist people during water education activities. With the same vision as WWP, our student chapter is committed to community and environmental sustainability. The program is designed primarily based on two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The first is SDG 4, which is quality education that focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Another goal involved here is SDG 6, which is clean water and sanitation, which relates to the sustainable management of water resources. Below is a detailed description of the program’s SDGs.
Contents/Activities:
This event is scheduled from morning at 8.30 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. Our targeted participants are approximately 30 students from USM and 20 orphaned children. Simultaneously, a public outreach booth will be set up to attract the public and educate them on the importance of safe and clean water practices.
On the event day, all participants will depart from both USM and the orphanage at 8.30 a.m. and are estimated to arrive at Penang Botanical Gardens at 8.45 a.m. A welcoming session will be held to introduce Water Watch Penang to every participant.
Then, the public outreach booth will be showcased to every participant and also the public. After that, hands-on river water analysis will be conducted where physical monitoring of water will be done first. This session includes the determination of odour, colour, turbidity, temperature, and velocity of the river water. Next, the session will continue with chemical monitoring of river water. This session includes the determination of dissolved oxygen, ammoniacal nitrogen, phosphate, nitrite, nitrate, and pH of the river water.
Then, starting from 10.20 a.m., there will be a short break for about 20 minutes. After the short break, a biological monitoring session will take place. The participants will have the opportunity to catch, identify, and release the macroinvertebrates that are present within the river.
Questions-and-answers (Q&A) sessions will also be held to give the participants the opportunity to clear any of their doubts throughout the program. To wrap everything up, a photography session will be held to appreciate every participant. Participants are estimated to arrive back at USM and orphanage respectively around 12.30 p.m.
Tentative Programme:
26TH APRIL 2025 (SATURDAY )
8.30 a.m. : Departure from USM and orphanage
8.45 a.m. : Arrival of Participants
9.00 a.m. : Welcoming session / Introduction about Water Watch Penang
9.20 a.m. : Public Outreach Booth Showcase
9.40 a.m. : Physical Monitoring Session
10.00 a.m. : Chemical Monitoring Session
10.20 a.m. : Rest/Toilet Break
10.40 a.m. : Biological Monitoring and Identification of Macroinvertebrates
11.55 a.m. : Q&A
12.10 p.m. : Photography Session
12.15 p.m. : Adjourned
12.30 p.m. : Arrived at USM and orphanage respectively
Expected Output/Outcome:
One of the program’s outputs is the exposure of interactive water education sessions that illustrate the involvement of sciences being applied in water testing for orphaned children and USM students. This output directly contributes to SDG 6 by promoting access to hygienic water and sanitation facilities through interactive sessions, therefore encouraging a culture of responsible water usage.
The program’s primary outcome is to provide orphaned children and USM students with knowledge and skills in water hygiene, conservation, and the preservation of the environment. Through engaging activities and interactive sessions conducted on-site, this program aims to instill a deep understanding of the significance of water resources and their sanitary measures. This outcome directly supports SDG 4 by providing quality education that is not only academically enriching but also enables the participants to build up practical life skills that are essential for their overall development.
In conclusion, this program offers output that highlights water education awareness with its main aim of enabling participants to acquire life skills and knowledge related to water usage. In addition to addressing SDGs 4 and 6, this program also promotes a broad vision of a world where everyone has access to clean water, sanitation, and quality education, thus creating a community who are conscious about the environment and surroundings.
Expected Partnerships:
- PBAPP
- American Chemical Society, Universiti Sains Malaysia International Student Chapter (ACS USM)