Here's how a UNC student organization helped improve water accessibility abroad

One UNC student organization funded the building of 23 new wells in Pakistan this past spring — and they did it through a weekend of amateur sports. 

The UNC Muslim Students Association was able to fund the creation of the wells through their annual SportsFest fundraiser, which was held in January this past year. 

SportsFest is an annual sports tournament that brings in amateur basketball and flag football teams to compete at the University. Each year, the registration fees for each team are donated to a specific cause — with this year’s being the Paani Project, a national nonprofit organization centered around water accessibility in Pakistan. 

Anum Imran, a senior majoring in statistics and analytics and political science, is the president of MSA. 

She said that because of the group's partnership with the Paani Project, MSA was able to have a well donated in the name of each team that participated in the SportsFest tournament.

“It’s a really hectic and busy weekend with so much going on, but it was so worth it getting to see and hear about the wells that were built,” Imran said. “Paani Project sent us pictures of every stage of the process and the communities that are now benefiting from those wells and we were able to share those with each of our teams, and they were so excited about it.”

The Paani Project was founded as a student organization and now operates as a nonprofit organization at the national level. 

Hamza Baloch, a UNC graduate and Paani Project national coordinator for student affairs, reached out to the UNC MSA to suggest the idea of partnering for SportsFest. 

“A lot of people were surprised at their impact,” Baloch said. “It also gained recognition for the water issues that are happening in Pakistan.” 

Baloch said he also hopes to establish a Paani Project chapter at UNC. 

“It would be a separate organization that basically works with UNC MSA, as well as other organizations, to try to raise money for this cause,” Baloch said. 

UNC graduate and former MSA President Amira Mustafa said that doing charity work is a core part of the group's values. 

“In order to embody what being Muslim means, service is a priority to us,” Mustafa said. “We want to create a home for the members and Muslim students on campus, and service is a great way to bring it together.”

@k8carroll

university@dailytarheel.com