A Fun Charity Team Building Activity: The Water Filter Challenge

More than two years ago I was lucky enough to take part in an amazing team building activity serving a higher purpose: Assembling prosthetic hands for amputees in developing countries. Everyone involved was deeply touched and benefited in multiple ways from this charity event. You can read all about it in the article Why You Should Have a Team Building Activity Serving a Higher Purpose.

A couple of months ago another team building activity was due. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take part. I was even more disappointed when I realized that I missed out on yet another charity activity lead by the same inspiring and dedicated facilitator: Chris Gully. To my great joy, my colleague Clarissa took part in the event and was willing to share this experience with us.

By Clarissa G.

Do you remember Ramona’s article about building prosthetic hands as part of a team event?

Well, Chris Gully from Helping Hands (German) was back again this year to brighten up our annual team get-together. And, of course, he gave us another opportunity to create value for people in the process.

Since we met him for the first time in 2017 as an ambassador for Helping Hands, Chris has become involved in more projects. And luckily, he continues to share his knowledge and his commitment to these projects with others, and makes this both a fun and thought-provoking experience for everyone.

Ramona, this blog’s owner and the lovely colleague with whom I share an office and all the creature comforts of a modern workplace (such as electricity, heating and fresh water), was unable to participate in this year’s event. This is why I am reporting on Chris’ inspirational team activity this time round.

And this time round it was all about water. After providing a number of eye-opening facts about the availability, quality, and consumption of water across the globe and running a quiz to test our knowledge, Chris quickly got us active. In the “Water Filter Challenge”, our task was to build a water pipe across a 12m parkour or “village”. The building material consisted of a variety of sticks, different pieces of pipe, connectors, funnels, and tape. Every village was made up of three teams, each responsible for a defined part of the 12m stretch of pipe. The individual teams needed to build their part of the pipeline, join it with the other teams’ pipes and ensure that water is transported from the beginning to the end. Naturally, and in his own inimitable way, Chris imposed time limits, handicaps and special requirements to up the ante.

There were many winners after 2 ½ hours of excited building, rebuilding and mopping up water under leaky pipes: quiz winners, a winning team, a winning “village”. And also a real village in Uganda which, through our team event, is set to receive 10 water filter units that deliver enough fresh and filtered water for 600 people.

As is the case for the Helping Hands initiative, there is 100 % transparency to this process: Each participating team got to make a small drawing which will be marked up with a unique number. In a couple of months’ time, each team can use this number to identify who actually received “their” filter. No leakage in this charity pipeline!

I’m deeply grateful to Clarissa for letting us know about this unique charity event that has touched so many lives – not only those of our colleagues but also the ones of the people who received the water works filters. Chris informed us that they were installed at the Kyaka II Refugee Settlement Camp, Kyegegwa District on 18 February.

To sum it up: A charity team building activity is both fun and beneficial in so many ways. It will impact you, your team, and many other people greatly. Give it a go, you won’t be disappointed.

You can find out more at: https://www.facebook.com/waterworksprogram/