Day 341: Ryan Hreljac
“I just love hearing more examples of people who … just do what they want to do and don’t care if it’s not going to fix the entire problem or not going to make the biggest impact on the world, but are naïve enough to do what I did when I was six. And it’s amazing what can happen over time.”
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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Ryan, for agreeing to be part of the Project, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Ryan Hreljac: Hello. My name is Ryan Hreljac. I’m 19 years old, from Kempville, Ontario, and when I was six, I started a project to build clean water wells in developing countries.
Toni: When you were six.
Ryan: When I was six. It was a grade one school project, and I remember my teacher brought in this list of things we could say for our charity project that we were doing that year, and it was like one cent was for a pencil, two dollars was for a blanket, and it went on and on until she said 70 bucks was for a well.
And then she explained to us, you know, people were dying in the world because they don’t have clean water. To a whole bunch of grade ones, we were kind of like, “What do you mean? Why don’t they just go to the water fountain?” So my teacher had to explain to us, they don’t have water fountains in a lot of other parts of this big world that we live in. Some places they have to walk as far as five kilometers to get clean water.
So, if you’re in grade one, it’s sort of like, “How far is five kilometers?” My teacher said, 5,000 steps. And I remember counting the steps it took me to get from my classroom to the water fountain, and I counted ten.
I had just come out of kindergarten, so one thing that was really stressed on us was sharing. I had two brothers at the time, and you had to share this, share that, so I just took it as the nature, I guess, to be something that I felt I had to share, so I figured I had the solution. One well would fix the entire problem, and that would cost $70. So I went home to my mom and dad and said, “Mom and dad, can I have 70 bucks for the well?” They were like, “Oh, that’s nice” and went along doing household things.
Then a few days after, I kind of didn’t let it go at all and I made them feel guilty about not helping me. So they finally sat me down and said, “If you’re serious about this, that’s fine, but we’re not just going to give you the money, like here’s $70, off you go. If you want to, you can do extra chores, and then we’ll give you something called an allowance and then you can raise the money that way.”
So then after about four months of vacuuming, washing windows, and all that fun, fun stuff, I finally raised about $75, and then I figured out it was going to cost $2,000. And my first instinct was I just need more chores, but that didn’t really work out. So when I was seven I did my first public speech at the Kempville Rotary Club. When I was a kid, I went to speech therapy, and I was probably one of the worst kids you could choose for public speaking, so a lot of the words didn’t actually get across, but the message did. Here’s this kid, not anything too special about him, who just wanted to make a difference.
So that kind of went on and on and on and, you know, I met a whole bunch of kids, a whole bunch of people, and it became less and less of my project and more of everyone’s from the community to the country and now the world where we’ve got this foundation that’s approaching its 10th anniversary, and we’ve done work to supply almost 700,000 people with clean water. We’ve done about 600 water sanitation projects, and yeah, we’re doing great works still.
Toni: Well, congratulations, Ryan. My goodness, to begin that type of work at six years of age is pretty impressive. Let me ask you then, Ryan, who do you think you inspire, and how does it happen?
Ryan: Well, I think it’s a mutual thing. I kind of help to inspire just other kids who not necessarily would be activists before or consider themselves in that way, because the average person can make a global impact by doing simple involvement in things. I like to think that I’m that person and that person who gets involved who doesn’t have to or doesn’t … who feels that they can live a life of moderation and also contribute to the world as a global citizen. I just see more and more examples of people who are doing little things and little projects, and there’s no shortage of those, and those people inspire me. And I think, yeah, it’s a mutual community.
Toni: How do you help other people to explore their potential?
Ryan: Well, it’s just a matter of giving people the options, because not everyone is, like I said, passionate, let’s say, about the world’s water crisis. It’s a huge problem. Six thousand kids die every day because of it, so it’s like 20 full jumbo jets, and that’s preventable water illnesses. So it’s a pretty bleak situation, but it’s also a simple solution on a lot of fronts, but that many people might not feel this compelled to do that. Maybe it’s something in their own communities or something about literature or the environment or something like that.
Something small that they feel is not how it’s supposed to be, and rather than looking at it and saying, “Oh, it’s a big problem” being naïve enough to go out and find the solution, even if you think $70 is going to fix the world’s water crisis, because it’s usually not even idealistic. It’s amazing what can happen, and it’s easy to do that when you’re young.
Toni: I would imagine as well that not only are you helping other young adults and kids to become … to volunteer and to take care of these situations or help to make a difference as you say, however, there’s also a potential I would imagine that’s being explored when people are given water to drink.
Ryan: It’s just one of those fundamental building blocks that helps people build their own lives around them, so kids don’t have to spend eight hours a day trucking water back and forth, they can go to school. Health, agriculture … and just gives people the … if in certain situations where that’s … it’s just helping people build their own lives, and it’s very important.
Toni: What inspires you, Ryan?
Ryan: What inspires me? Just … I think I kind of mentioned it before about the people I inspire or whatever that question was, it was just when I see other not necessarily kids but people who forget the fact of who they are in a sense is “I’m just a student,” “I’m just a teacher,” “I’m just nobody,” and you try to be somebody in your own particular way to make a difference.
It’s … yeah, it’s probably the most cheesy thing ever, but I just love hearing more examples of people who forget about that and they just do what they want to do and don’t care if it’s not going to fix the entire problem or not going to make the biggest impact on the world, but are naïve enough to do what I did when I was six. And it’s amazing what can happen over time.
Toni: Do you find yourself having to convince people that you were actually able to make that sort of a difference at six years old? Do people stand in front of you going, “Oh yeah, come on …”
Ryan: Well, I guess one of the things about it is that I just refused to listen to the fact that there was a huge problem in the world. I thought up until the day I raised $2,000 that one well was going to bring clean water to the entire world because I was six. I thought the world was a village, almost. It’s interesting to hear when you grow up that it’s a lot bleaker than that, but the future is a lot shinier, too, if you look at it through the bright shiny glasses, and yeah, if you’re naïve enough, you can be part of that solution.
Toni: Ryan, have you been able to visit any of the places you’ve helped to create the clean water?
Ryan: Well, when I was nine, I actually got to go to Uganda to see my very first well that was drilled. Our neighbors gave us air mile points so we were able to go. Yeah, just see … and I’ve been back a couple times since then, but just to see people’s faces just light up because they have clean water.
When I went to the school, there was a huge celebration. There was like 5,000 people there from all around the district, and they were just so happy because they had clean water. I don’t have a smile that lights up on my face because I could have a shower in the morning or … it just put things into perspective of what I needed to be happy, and yeah …
Toni: What else inspires you, Ryan? Are there tools or resources that you tend to reach for when you’re looking for inspiration?
Ryan: Inspiration … well, it’s just … it can go pretty far. I met a whole bunch of inspiring people along the way who have made an impact on me, but whenever I’m looking for inspiration I guess I just think about those ten steps that I took when I was in grade one. You know, you have to dumb it down to be simple sometimes to just keep on going, because that’s what it is all about in the end.
Toni: So how are you exploring your own potential now?
Ryan: Well, I’m going to my second year of University in Halifax, and who knows? We’ll see.
Toni: And what are you going for?
Ryan: Undeclared, but I’m thinking about a double major in political science and international development.
Toni: International what?
Ryan: Development.
Toni: Development. Can’t understand why! Well that is fantastic. I really … it’s interesting, you are … it sounds so nonchalant, actually, from you as far as the difference that you’re making. You’re not …
Ryan: Well, it’s … I guess one of the things that kind of gets lost in there is some people, they look at the Foundation – it’s called the Ryan’s Well Foundation – and it’s based on what I started when I was six, and I’ve been involved in it ever since. But it’s a lot more than just me.
I think I said as much as it’s my project, it’s everyone’s project, because it grew into my community. My friends were helping. The school was helping. And now we have an awesome team of volunteers, we have staff, we have a great board, and we’re all contributing in our own way, and I’m just one of those people.
Toni: Right. The point that I wanted to make there is that you don’t sound nonchalant as far as not caring; it’s just such an unassuming presence that you have in this interview about yourself and the work that you’ve done over a lifetime – and you’re only 19 – and that you are providing clean water in areas that do not have that. That is significant. So to hear a 19-year-old express it the way you are as just what you do, you know, it’s just what you’re doing – that I’m finding very, very interesting.
Ryan: Cool. I never really looked at it that way, but yeah …
Toni: Yeah, it’s just amazing. Well, you’ve been a breath of fresh air, quite frankly. And Ryan, I wish you the best of luck, and I hope that you continue to do the great work that you’re doing. We will position the website so people can see and take a look at your foundation for more information, and if you’re doing this at 19, I can’t imagine what you’ll be doing at 30. We look forward to seeing you in the future, and thank you.
Ryan: Thanks so much, Toni.
Toni: Take care.
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For more information about Ryan Hreljac: www.ryanswell.ca
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