FORT MILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) You’re never too young to make a difference in this world. That’s what a fifth grade students at Orchard Park Elementary in Fort Mill are learning.
An Orchard Park Elementary fifth grade class, reading “A Long Walk to Water” written by Linda Sue Park, is now changing lives.
The classes teacher, Reilly Burlingame, says, “I chose this book to read to them during our non-fiction unit, and just seeing how passionate and excited they were about making a difference in helping to aid the water crisis in the Sudan, I decided you know we have to channel does energy and make an impact with it. So, I reached out to the ‘Water for South Sudan Foundation’ and they got back to us.”
Kids in the Sudan have to walk as many as six miles, or more than 100 football fields, for freshwater. Kids here at Orchard Park Elementary school are working to change that by raising money for well.
Orchard Park Principal Matthew Johnson says, “The world around them is bigger than just their classroom, it’s bigger than just the neighborhood and which they live in that each of them has a power and an opportunity to really serve others.”
Students raised $1,500 in just one day to build a water well in the South Sudan. Now, they’re nearing a new goal of $15,000.
Jane Rohrmeier, a 5th grader at Orchard Park Elementary, says, “So if we give them like a well that we’re like raising money for, then they can have access to like clean drinking water and can live happier, healthier lives.”
Students got to speak with one of the books main characters, Salva Dut — one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, who gave them a new perspective. Now, they’ll be able to provide clean water to more than 500 people in the South Sudan, a luxury they say they don’t take for granted.
Elijah Seres, another 5th grader at Orchard Park Elementary, says, “We’ve got really good resources. But, to think about how we can just walk like five feet to the sink and we can get water but we don’t even drink water out of the sink because you use that to wash your hands. We go to water fountains to drink water, but they have to walk miles to get water to drink and to sanitize.”
As students reflect on what water means, they share their thoughts, saying it means, life, a good education, and even freedom.
“Their ability to go out and fundraise and to become more independent has been really inspiring as a teacher for me to see. And again, I’m just so proud of them and all the work that they’ve done,” says Burlingame.
In the video above, after reading a book about the struggles of getting clean water in South Sudan these students are stepping in and they are sharing their efforts with CN2’s Rachel Richardson.
