Citizen of the Week: Marta Djalleta

Marta Djalleta, 16, who is running a fundraiser
for charity: water, stands with two youngsters
during a visit to Ethiopia. 

Most of us give little thought to the convenience of running water, as it’s a certainty in our daily lives.

If you will, pause for a moment to visualize this scenario. You’re at home. You’re thirsty and you’d like to freshen up, but when you turn on the kitchen faucet or the bathroom shower, no water flows out. Not a drop.

Try to imagine that no water is piped into your house. Now, add to that no automobile or vehicle of any sort.

Where would you go to get clean water? How far would you walk to find water? How much would you need and how would you haul it home?

If these images were reality, you would be among the one in nine people on the planet without easy access to clean water.

Marta Djalleta no longer takes the luxury of running water for granted. Djalleta and her mother, father and sister traveled to Ethiopia last summer and much of what she saw was “eye-opening.”

“One thing I learned is how clean water can change everything,” Djalleta said.


Experiences from her trip were reasons why Djalleta, who turned 16 on Dec. 21, decided to give up the gifts and the glitz of a Sweet 16 party and instead request donations to charity: water, a nonprofit organization that brings safe drinking water to people in developing nations around the world.

She is hoping that 313 people will donate just $16 each. Her goal is to raise $5,000 to help build clean water wells in Ethiopian villages. To date, she is halfway there.

While in Ethiopia, the Wissahickon High School sophomore met young women her age who every day spend six to eight hours walking to a water supply to fetch water in a large container and once it’s filled (hopefully), carry the heavy load home.

She explained that it’s usually children, girls and women who are charged with this task, as boys and men work in the fields or at manual labor.

Djalleta sadly learned that this long daily trek can be dangerous, as the young women are subject to harassment and sexual assault, which is not uncommon.

“It could be me. It could be a girl like me,” Djalleta said.

“They spend the whole day getting a jug of water and because of that they don’t have time to go to school … to get an education.”

Speaking about school, during one stopover she was in close proximity to Shady Grove Ethiopia, which was built in part from donations from Shady Grove Elementary School’s annual Spring Zing. Funds from the 5K run and 1-mile walk continue to help the Ethiopian school.

According to charity: water’s website, diseases from unsafe water and the lack of basic sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

It states that “children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses.” About 90 percent of deaths from unsafe water are children younger than 5 years old.

Additionally, in Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking for water.

If wells of clean water were near villages, not only would illness and death rates be reduced, but women would have time and thus opportunities to improve their families’ lives. Time would be available for formal education and the freedom to explore incentives to change their communities.

Djaletta’s family took along clothing to share as gifts. They visited her Aunt Asnakech, a relative of her father. Working with the Fountain of Life, she has welcomed 20 orphaned children into her home to help match them up with family members or loved ones.

It struck Djalleta how joyous the young people were to receive what we would consider such a small gift.

“The gift of a T-shirt made them so happy,” she said.

Djalleta said she used to “love to go shopping” but now questions the true need and value of her purchases.

Charity: water recently held its seventh annual fundraising gala in New York City, with Seth Myers as the host to the 1,800 guests, including many celebrities. Last year’s event was hosted by actors Tyler Perry and Jessica Biel.

“You don’t have to be a celebrity to help in a big way,” Djalleta said. “You can always do something to give back.

“Doing just one thing is important. You know that you are doing something right.”

www.montgomerynews.com