A babbling brook, a flowing stream, crisp clean water — all things we take for granted here in the U.S.
But in other countries, it's a luxury, and Hiram College is taking steps to change that.
And what better way to learn about what good healthy water looks, feels and eventually tastes like than to get out there and test it yourself?
That's what college student Christopher Esquea from the Dominican Republic is learning to do to make a big change back at home.
“Trying to figure out other ways to be eco-friendly with the environment, but instead of dealing directly with the government we're starting with the younger generation,” he said.
That’s what brought the 20-year-old, along with college and high school students from Pakistan and the U.S., here to Northeast Ohio studying water quality at Hiram College.
The students are hiking in the nearby streams, on one mission — to test the water quality.
The young adults have to work together to analyze and run tests on each stream they roam, seeing just how clean or unclean it is.
The goal is to return home and use the techniques to teach high school students there what to look for and to find ways to clean up the water.
But 18-year-old Ume Hebibe from Pakistan says it's not just about that.
“For me this program is more about cultural exchange, grooming my own self and realizing what it's meant to be in a community and doing teamwork,” she said.
That's the whole idea leaders say behind the program "Streams of Change."
This is the fourth year for the program.
