“It requires vision, to be visionary”: UNBC professor encourages social responsibility in students
By Kate Partridge, CFUR/Local Journalism Initiative
Students in Prince George and Northern Uganda continue to benefit from the experience, knowledge, and positive example set by UNBC professor Dr. Christopher Opio. Having presented to many students over the years, Opio says that in his experience, young people are motivated changemakers. “Young people have a lot of ideas. They want to contribute to society in any way that they can.” Topics that top the list for students, according to Opio, are environmental issues like climate change, air pollution, and species extinction as well as homelessness in Prince George.
Students also express concerns over access to clean drinking water, an issue that remains at the centre of Opio’s work. His current research focuses on the effects of Moringa root and stem powder on E-coli contaminated drinking water. Faced with the issue of water contamination, Opio says he is looking for “a solution which I hope would be sustainable and biological.” His research ties in to the work of the Northern Uganda Development Foundation (NUDF), founded by Opio in 2007 with the primary mission of “providing clean and safe drinking water and empowering rural people, especially women.” The NGO has since built 105 water wells and serves 120,000 people in the region.
Access to clean and safe drinking water continues to be an issue for many Indigenous communities in British Columbia and Canada more broadly. “If you go to our backyard, here in the First Nation communities, there's still a lot of work to be done to provide clean and safe drinking water,” says Opio. As of February 2021, there were 17 drinking water advisories across 15 First Nations communities in British Columbia alone. Opio has personal experience with the impacts of unsafe drinking water. He got sick as a child living in poverty in Northern Uganda but was able to access treatment. The impacts of unsafe drinking water can be life altering.
In addition to the hands-on work, Opio has been able to make an impact through the young people he encounters, many of whom reflect his commitment to education, scientific excellence, social responsibility and global activism. Some students have won regional and national awards for their science projects, some have taken on leadership roles, while others are dedicating time to volunteering with local NGO’s and charitable organizations. “They seem to be motivated and doing all these wonderful things,” says Opio. In the Northern Ugandan communities he is active in, “some parents are naming their kids [Christopher Opio].. So over the years, there will be a lot of Christopher Opio’s there,” he laughs.
In addition to getting sick as a child, Opio tells the story of being forced out of the college he was teaching at in Uganda as a moment that led him to this work. Under the regime of Idi Amin, the Ugandan military terrorized the college resulting in Opio and his students having to flee on foot. “We walked 100km, for three days, day and night, drinking dirty water, sharing dirty water with wild animals.. I kept asking myself, ‘what can I do for humanity?’”
Opio has received accolades for his work, but he warns that it is not always easy. “Social responsibility, global activism, community development, and volunteerism is not for everyone… It requires vision, to be visionary. You have to have a mission statement of what you plan to do. It requires courage. It requires time commitment, and dedication. It requires love for humanity and community development. And finally, it requires support from stakeholders.” To Opio, transparency, accountability, ethical behaviour, desire and commitment are “the ingredients, the underpinnings for sustainable community change. I think that's what everybody should remember.”
Listen to the interview on CFUR-FM:
CFUR gratefully acknowledges the support of the Local Journalism Initiative and the Community Radio Fund of Canada / Fonds canadien de la radio communautaire
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