A YORK student has collected more than 200 signatures in an appeal to end water poverty – on a toilet seat.
Elisabeth Martin’s plea will be featured on the Church of England’s online Advent Calendar, alongside Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Archbishop of York, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chief Rabbi. She recorded a videocast, which will be shown on a special webstie today, highlighting the lack of clean water in the Third World.
The Church of England is asking people to take five minutes to change the world this Advent by following the “tread gently” challenges and video stories behind each door on the online calendar launched with a special message from Archbishop Tutu at whywearewaiting.com
Elisabeth delivered her unique toilet petition to the seat of power at Downing Street. She was inspired to campaign when she worked in Uganda over the summer, leading a team who built a rainwater collection tank in a remote mountain village. Her petition highlights the lack of progress on the Millennium Development Goal, which promises to halve the number of people in the world who lack access to clean water and adequate sanitation by 2015. The calendar closes on Christmas Eve with a seasonal reflection from theologian Dr Paula Gooder.
Along with the daily videocasts, all placed on YouTube, the CofE will be using Twitter to promote the daily challenges.
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