Middle school students look to fund well in Sudan

Students at Thermopolis Middle School are working to help the people of Sudan by providing funding for a well there. The inspiration for the project came after they read “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park.

The novel tells two stories. One is the fictional account of Nya, a girl in Sudan who is fetching water from a pond for her family, travelling over miles of rough terrain in searing heat to do so. The other story is non-fiction, the story of Salva Dut, who became one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, those who were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War lasting from 1983-2005.

Middle school teacher Jacob Strenger further explained Salva is selected to go to America, and comes up with an idea to give back to Sudan, creating the Water for South Sudan organization he now runs.

Strenger said any organization in the world can get involved with Water for South Sudan and raise money to sponsor a well, which costs $15,000. After the money is raised, the well is dug during the next drilling season. The well will have the school’s name on it, and the school will receive a banner with a picture of the well and information on the village where it is dug.

“We imagine it will take us a few years,” Strenger said, “to raise that kind of money, but we’re in it for the long haul.”

The project has been opened up to all students, but began in Strenger and teacher Eric Kay’s family groups of students. The teachers explained each adult in the middle school has a group of students made up of fifth through eighth graders that make up their “family,” the idea being they get to know more students than just the usual ones they have in class.

Kay noted Strenger’s family read the book last year, and some of his students are also in Kay’s family. Once they finished it, the idea of helping Sudan came into play.

Kay said after a recent presentation on the project, which their groups spent several weeks preparing, other students became interested in donating directly or selling items with proceeds going to the well project. Strenger added many of them picked up a copy of the book and read it.

As for fundraising, Kay and Strenger said they are working on some ideas for presentations in the community and with various organizations.

Students Cadence Steadman, Landon Sosa and Garrett Titmus worked to create the presentation, and noted it contained information about diseases people contract and die from in Sudan as the result of drinking stagnant water, as well as the positive impact a well has on a community in terms of bringing medical tents, markets and school to villages.