Students carry jugs to raise clean water funds, awareness

After learning about the 5-gallon water jug that children and women carry to their homes in Africa, it was enough to make Arbor View High School student body president Harrison Kelly engage his school in the Thirst Project.

The Thirst Project is a nonprofit organization that aims to bring safe drinking water to communities around the world.

“I know that people often say that we should focus on our country’s problems first, but our problems are not even possible in Africa,” Kelly said. “They have dirty water, which means that they will continue a cycle of poverty. Clean water will give them a chance to get an education and a job.”

Kelly became aware of the situation when a spokesperson from the Thirst Project came to Las Vegas to speak to student body presidents around the valley.

The goal is to raise $24,000, double the amount that any high school or college has raised for the cause, according to Kelly.

Kelly even put himself to the test and walked up the street to his house carrying a heavy water jug.

He said he learned that the average distance a woman walks to collect water is 3.75 miles. The task of water-collecting falls on young girls, leaving them no time or energy for school, according to the website, thirstproject.org.

“I’m a 17-year-old healthy guy, and I was having a hard time with it,” Kelly said. “My arms were killing me. I was so tired. As an 8-year-old boy, I could never do that.”

But in a school full of teenagers, Kelly found his biggest challenge was to get students excited about the cause.

“I needed to pull at their heart strings and make it personal for students,” Kelly said.

So with the help of a friend, he created a video showing the situation in Africa.

In order to make the experience more real to students, Kelly also brought two water jugs to the school for students to carry.

Those who sign up must carry the jugs all day until they raise $50 for the project. If they don’t raise enough money, they must repeat the act the next day.

If the school raises $20,000 by the end of the school year, Kelly said he will shave his head, and the principal of the school, Kevin McPartlin, promised to shave his head if the school meets its goal by the first week of May.

“Yes, not that I’m looking forward to it, because I’m fairly certain I have a lumpy, odd-shaped head, but if he and our students hit this goal, I’ll do it,” McPartlin said.

In addition, assistant principal Denise Tomchek promised to get corn rows if $12,000 is raised, and another teacher promised to dye her hair a “crazy” color if $14,000 is raised.

“The Thirst Project has become a common phrase around the school,” Tomchek said. “It has created a feeling of empathy among students. They realize that there are people that don’t have access to faucet water. Instead, they have to walk miles with a 44-pound water jug.”

Since starting the project, teachers have auctioned off an opportunity to throw pies in their faces and have found creative ways to raise money by giving students the option to donate a couple of bucks if they want to use their cellphone in class.

As of March 27, the school has raised $8,926.

The nonprofit, founded by a group of college students, travels to middle schools, high schools and college campuses to present on clean water-related issues and also raises money for projects aimed at providing people with clean, safe water.

Almost 1 billion people in the world don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water and proper sanitation, according to thirstproject.org.

“Our student body president is one of the most impressive student leaders I have ever worked with in almost 20 years of education,” McPartlin said. “To see how passionate and motivated he is to ensure this project is successful is truly moving. He has engaged our entire school campus for this project.”

The nonprofit’s website also states that roughly 4,100 children die each day from diseases caused by contaminated water.

The cost to build a freshwater well in the developing nations … ranges from between $7,800 in Uganda to $20,000 in Kenya, according to the website.

These wells are meant to last for 30 to 40 years until they dry out, Kelly said.

The Thirst Project’s goal is to provide safe, clean water and sanitation to the entire nation of Swaziland by 2022.

Though Kelly hopes to accomplish his goal by April 17, his actual deadline is the end of the school year.

“The fact that most of us can turn on a faucet and receive water is something that is so foreign to people in Africa,” Kelly said. “As students, we are always trying to leave our footprint on the ground and make a difference. This is the mark we hope to leave.”

For more information or to donate, visit bit.ly/1Hso5mT.

For information on the Thirst Project, visit thirstproject.org.

To reach North View reporter Sandy Lopez, email slopez@viewnews.com or call 702-383-4686. Find her on Twitter: @JournalismSandy.