As 6th Graders at Friends Seminary we have read The Long Walk to Water and are inspired by Salva Dut's story. After participating in a water simulation this fall, we researched the struggles around the world to access clean, safe water. We are eager to raise funds to help with a WASH (water, sanitation, and health) installation to benefit the Chilamate Kum school in Nicaragua. Currently, the school needs a well, new latrines and handwashing stations. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere. In a country where 37% of rural people have no safe drinking water (UNICEF) and 47% of the forest cover has disappeared over the last 50 years (UN Food and Agriculture Organization), these water, sanitation, and reforestation programs are a critical way to improve the living standards of the rural poor while conserving environmental resources.
We believe in the power of youth to make a difference in this world. We carefully selected our nonprofit partner, H2O for Life, because they work hard to impact the access to clean, safe water around the world. We also want to help the issues of those seeking asylum at our southern borders by helping build infrastructures in Nicaragua—one of the countries from which many are fleeing.
