Water Education
We started by writing a poem about the origins of the water in a river, were visit by different experts in their field to teach us about water, and meditated/practiced yoga for the rest of the day.
The poem was inspired by the path that water takes to reach a river, each person in our group created one or two lines of the poem and then we put them in the order that we thought would make the most sense.
This is the River...
"This is the river, long and flowing.
These are the fish, colorful and scaly,
that fill the river, long and flowing.
These are the rocks, hard and rough,
that hide the fish, colorful and scaly,
that fill the river, long and flowing.
This is the sand, wet and grainy,
that started as rocks, hard and rough,
that hide the fish, colorful and scaly,
that fill the river, long and flowing.
This is the creek, tumbling and babbling,
that is restrained by the sand, wet and grainy,
that started as rocks, hard and rough,
that hide the fish, colorful and scaly, that fill the river, long and flowing.
These are the hills, green and rolling,
that border the creek, tumbling and babbling,
that is restrained by the sand, wet and grainy,
that started as rocks, hard and rough,
that hide the fish, colorful and scaly, that fill the river, long and flowing.
These are the roads, guiding and long,
that line the hills, green and rolling,
that border the creek, tumbling and babbling,
that is restrained by the sand, wet and grainy,
that started as rocks, hard and rough,
that hide the fish, colorful and scaly, that fill the river, long and flowing.
This is the mountain, bold and unmoving,
that block the roads, guiding and long,
that line the hills, green and rolling,
that border the creek, tumbling and babbling,
that is restrained by the sand, wet and grainy,
that started as rocks, hard and rough,
that hide the fish, colorful and scaly, that fill the river, long and flowing.
This is the rain, refreshing and tranquil,
that pelts the mountain, bold and unmoving,
that block the roads, guiding and long,
that line the hills, green and rolling,
that border the creek, tumbling and babbling,
that is restrained by the sand, wet and grainy,
that started as rocks, hard and rough,
that hide the fish, colorful and scaly, that fill the river, long and flowing."
For me, the poem inspires a sense of peace in me and feels overall playful. I think that having different people describe their interpretation of each element made the poem unique and not one-note.
What We Learned
Volunteers from City of Dayton Water, Water Sampling, Water Career Speakers, CCTV Crew, and the River Mobile all came to speak on where Dayton gets it's water, how the water is processed, and how the water reaches our homes.
City of Dayton Water presented a Power that gave us background information and summarized everything that would be broken down for us later. The Water Sampling volunteers showed us the supplies in their van that they drive around Dayton to test the water and if contaminated trace it back to it's source. They have equipment that tests the pH and level of chlorine in the water. They can determine if the water is unhealthy based on the vegetation that is or is not there. The Water Career Speakers told us about the education and salary for a variety of jobs in City of Dayton Water and why they enjoy working there. CCTV Crew brought their van and six cameras, they use the cameras to check for problems in both the sewage lines and the drainage lines. They described how this technology has changed how problems are handled.
The River Mobile taught us the history of water in Dayton, how we came to live in a valley, and where we get our water from. We get our water from an extremely large aquifer under the Greater Dayton are. The water that comes out of the aquifer is mostly clean because of the filter the sand, silt, and gravel provide.
From this I have learned how to protect the water in our area and why it is so important to keep it safe. Also, how lucky Dayton is to have water sitting right beneath them.
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