Sixth grade students at East Hall Middle School raised enough money in the fall of 2021 to fund the construction of a well in South Sudan. That well is now complete.
Lori Brown, a sixth grade science teacher at the school, said their students raised $5,000 to sponsor the well with the nonprofit Water for South Sudan. It was drilled in the Wunchum village in Warrap State, South Sudan. The exact location of the well can be viewed by clicking this link.
Brown and fellow East Hall Middle sixth grade science teacher Lona Hall said the idea to fund a well came about after reading the book "A Long Walk to Water," by Linda Sue Park. Sixth grade students read the book in the fall of 2021.
"Through this story, they learned about ... a young girl who did this [water] walk every single day, multiple times a day, and most of the girls out there do not get to go to school because they spend all of their days going to get water," Brown said. "And not only going to get water but getting water that isn't clean. Even though it might be freshwater, it is contaminated water."
The book is also based on the true story of Salva Dut, one of the lost boys of Sudan. Dut founded Water for Sudan. Hall said the students felt a real connection to the story through Salva Dut and their fundraising efforts.
"We contributed to his organization ... so the well was put in a community, not unlike the communities described in this book," Hall said. "The kids see it as real. It's not just another fundraiser benefitting something that they really can't connect to."
The students were asked to write letters to local business partners asking for donations and find their own sponsors, according to Hall.
Brown said the students picked up a lot of new social skills through the fundraising process.
"Our students made sponsorship cards, they did their original artwork, we practiced going and asking someone to be our sponsor," Brown said. "How do you ask for somebody to sponsor you? How do you request a donation and money? How do you do it respectfully? How do you do it politely? And then how do you deal with the fact that they might say no?"
Hall said they were hoping to disrupt negative stereotypes through the completion of the project. She said many families in the school are of a lower socioeconomic status.
"We've been frustrated with ... this idea that just because a student comes from a low-income family, that they have nothing to give. That's completely untrue," Hall said. "We know that very well from our students and our families, they do have something to give, and they want to give."
More about Water for South Sudan and a link to donate to the nonprofit can be found on their website. You can also click on the above photo gallery to view photographs the nonprofit took of the completed well.
