For months, Canyon High School students have worked on a campaign to support building a freshwater well in Africa.

The campaign is affiliated with the Thirst Project, a nonprofit organization that has raised more than $9.7 million for water projects all around the world, according to their website.

Since 2008, the Thirst Project has provided more than 367,323 people in 13 countries with clean water.

The Canyon High School campaign started after the DFYinSCV club leaders attended an annual leadership summit in October 2018.

“We were at our annual leadership summit and part of it was about doing a recycling drive to raise money for the Thirst Project,” said Marina White, a math teacher and DFY advisor. “Our students were so inspired, they wanted to raise enough money to fund an entire well.”

Once the leaders returned to school, they inspired the rest of the club, the Associated Student Body (ASB) and EcosChicos to join them in gathering funds to build a well for a village in Swaziland, Africa.

“Just the fact that they wanted to take the initiative was amazing,” said White.

More than 660 million people worldwide do not have access to safe and clean drinking water, and every 21 seconds a child dies of a water-related disease, according to White.

“People walk (around) four miles to go get dirty water,” added White. “The students have an opportunity to make a lasting impact for these people that don’t have access to water.”

The task of collecting water tends to fall on women and children between the ages of eight and 12. As a result, women are often unable to get jobs or contribute financially to their households.

Children are often unable to go to school or get an education due to the thousands of hours they have to spend annually just hauling water, according to White.

“The students tried to take a water jug and could only walk a few feet,” added White.

The Canyon High students have been fundraising since November, but as of Wednesday, they have raised $1,716 of their $12,000 goal.

The students have hosted events such as gift wrapping at a local bookstore, a holiday boutique and a rally, where they had the opportunity to see how much money could be raised in a minute.

“All it takes is $12,000 to bring clean water to an entire community,” said White. “We just want the community to support us and see how big of an impact a couple dollars can make.”

To donate to the Canyon High School campaign, visit the website here, where 100 percent of all donations will go directly towards the freshwater well project.

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