Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
“It’s really important to stay hydrated and the water helps you stay cool, so that’s what we’re hoping to provide,” said Lisa Gilmour, emergency management coordinator with the City of Winnipeg. The locations were selected based on need and past experiences. They’re connected to fire hydrants to provide a continuous supply of clean drinking water, similar to what Winnipeggers would get from their home taps.
Thanks to a donation from The Elon Musk Foundation, school students in Flint, Michigan have clean drinking water for the first time since 2016. A total of 136 hydrations were recently installed at 12 different Flint school buildings. One of the stations was unveiled at a special ceremony on Tuesday at the Flint Southwestern Academy. Fifteen of the 136 stations were installed at this school, which provides education to students in grades 8 through 12. The hydration stations were made possible through a $480,000 donation by The Elon Musk Foundation, which also provided $423,000 to buy laptops for middle school students.
