By Hong Kong News Group (Originally in English)

“If you had the attention of the world for 5 minutes, what would you do?” My Hero.com youth reporter Slater asked her Hero Ryan Hreljac, who had the vision to provide clean water for all of Africa. 

“If I had the attention of the world for 5 minutes, I would ask everyone to think about how much they have. In Canada we have so much stuff. I’d ask people to think about what they want and what they really need. I’d ask them to share just a little bit no matter where they lived,” he said. 

When Ryan Hreljac was six years old his grade one teacher, Mrs. Prest, told the class about the life of African people, thus completely changing his life. She told them that people in Africa had a very hard time getting clean water and access to wells. Without this basic human necessity, people, especially children, can get sick and sometimes die. Ryan was deeply touched by the true story, and became determined to raise $70 Canadian dollars to build a well for a village in Africa. 

He went home and asked his parents for $70, the amount he thought was needed to build a well in Africa. They encouraged him to earn the money by doing extra chores. For months, Ryan vacuumed, washed windows, and cleaned the garden. He diligently put all he earned into a cookie jar until he had saved $70. When he was told that it would actually cost $2,000 to drill a well on another continent, Ryan didn’t give up. He got very busy doing more chores and fundraising. 

Several months later he had collected the $2,000. “I would tell everyone to believe in their dreams. If you do, you can accomplish anything.” Ryan said. “The world is like a great big puzzle and we all have to figure out where our puzzle piece fits. I figure my piece fits with clean water. I just hope everyone else finds out where their puzzle piece fits too.” 

Since he began his mission, Ryan’s touching story has inspired many people to take responsibility for the world. Until now, he has helped raise over $1 million and supported more than 120 water and sanitation projects in eight developing countries, seven of which are in Africa. Ryan has become a compelling voice for water-poor people in the developing world. 

“Sometimes people think they don’t have a lot extra to share but they are wrong. I will tell you why. The kids at Angolo Primary School in Uganda (that’s where my first well is) decided after I visited there that they could share too. They told me that they were going to do like me and make a difference. These kids didn’t have anything. But they decided that they were going to spend five days out of every school year volunteering, helping older people or people who had HIV/AIDS and other stuff. In Uganda, they learned that you can help others no matter who you are. If everyone thought that way and did something nice every day for someone else, the world would be a much better place. The world would be more equal too,” he said. 

“I would call all the world leaders and I would ask them to think about EVERYONE in this world and not just the people in their countries with the boundaries. I would ask them to do what I learned when I was in kindergarten - and share. I would ask them to spend more time listening to kids too,” Ryan said.

Reference: http://www.ryanswell.ca/

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