Local group travelling to Tanzania to work on water projects

A group of five youth will be travelling to Tanzania, Africa in July to help local villages get a clean, safe source of water.

The group will be travelling with C.PP.S Mission Projects, a registered charitable organization in Canada, dedicated to helping people in Tanzania help themselves by providing education and water.

“It is so cool that a lot of Airdrie youth are so actively involved in the organization,” said Lori LaFace, a chaperone for the group. LaFace’s 18-year-old daughter Kirsten Emmott will also be making the trip.

Emmott is currently taking international development studies at Okanagan College in Kamloops, B.C.

“I think this will help her and the other youth to realize how fortunate we are to live here,” said LaFace.

“This will give them a broader perspective because these people don’t even have the basic needs and sometimes it is a choice between one basic need and another.”

Mandy Chambers has been involved with C.PP.S Mission Projects for seven years and she will be one of the youth travelling to Tanzania this summer.

“I’m most looking forward to seeing all of our hard work and effort and seeing that it has actually paid off,” she said.

Chambers, 24, is a graduate of St. Martin de Porres High School and SAIT and is now a legal assistant in Calgary.

“I was supposed to go on the trip a couple years ago but didn’t because of the recession,” she said.

“Now, it seems like a great opportunity to do something more. I want to see what a difference we can make.”

Carissa Crockett went to Tanzania in 2007 with C.PP.S Mission Projects and she said the best part of the trip was seeing the work ethic of the Africans.

“They are very determined,” she said.

“They really have the mentality that you can do anything you put your mind to.”

The group will be raising money for the trip at a gala at the Town and Country Centre on March 3.

“We encourage everyone to come out because it is nice to help others and think more globally,” said LaFace.

“We are very fortunate here and we should try to help people who can’t help themselves.”

The gala will include a dinner, dancing, a live band, and silent and live auctions.

“Last year, we had about 200 people and it was great,” said Chambers.

“It is a good cause, great to support. We have the means and the money to help those who have nothing.”

Tickets to the gala are $75, with a $45 tax receipt.

The event starts at 6 p.m. and tickets can be purchased by calling Crockett at 403-510-2747.