Middle school students walk to support World Water Day

For each step of a half-mile journey, local middle school students walked in the shoes of Sudanese children.

Sixth-grade students from McDougle Middle School walked the distance from the school to Hank Anderson III Community Park in Carrboro to collect water in recognition of Tuesday’s World Water Day, a United Nations day dedicated to water issues.

The program’s goal was to teach through experience about access to clean water in the United States compared with Sudan.

“I didn’t know the water would be this dirty,” student Claire Howes said. “It smells really bad.”

The half-mile distance was trivial compared to the eight hours many Sudanese children spend walking to get water each day, sixth-grade social studies teacher Katie Gulledge said.

“It’s interesting that some of them wanted to sit down already (after a short walk),” she said.

Back in the classroom, students practiced filtration techniques and calculated how much water is used in basic household processes.

“I feel lucky that I have all this drinkable water,” student Bianca Silva said.

The students have spent the year exploring the plight of clean water access in Sudan and have dedicated the week of March 21 for a school-wide global education project called “Learning Without Borders.”

“Hopefully it will have taught them that not everything comes as easy as they have it,” parent Gretchen Heizer said.

The school is raising money for the nonprofit organization Water for Sudan to build a well in a Sudanese village.

“The Sudan has a fraction of the water we do,” student Jaron Rosenberg said. “It’s good to put a well in the village so they don’t have to walk so much.”

As part of the week, students read the book “A Long Walk to Water,” a fictionalized account of the life story of Sudanese civil war refugee Salva Dut.

“I liked tracking his journey through Sudan and how it impacted his life,” student Graham Jones said.

School project coordinator Jami Burns said the students were inspired by the life story of Dut, the founder and president of the water nonprofit.

“The story was really sad but really sort of amazing,” student Juliet Coen said. “It really sort of snapped reality into focus.”

Student Rachel Dean said female students especially related to the need for clean water because many Sudanese girls have to collect water instead of attending school.

The well the school aims to pay for would help to solve the problem for girls in at least one village.

“We take everything in America for granted,” Rachel said.

The school’s fundraising goal is $5,000. So far $1,000 has been raised.

Students will discuss reactions to the project in a school-wide seminar Thursday, Gulledge said.

“If you can focus on a real-world issue, it tends to make learning more meaningful and tends to get students more engaged effectively,” Burns said.

Others in the community, including UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, recognized World Water Day.

The school held a forum Monday about safe water supply issues that was associated with other events held in Washington, D.C.

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