Over the past seven years, the members of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School (POBMS) community have teamed up to provide the gift of clean drinking water to thousands of people in South Sudan. POBMS ELA teacher Misha Khan, in partnership with the nonprofit Water for South Sudan, has been spearheading this effort, which so far has raised more than $10,000 to drill wells in the African country. As of this August, the school has helped drill two wells, drastically shortening the distance village community members need to walk to obtain drinking water.
Ms. Khan said her seventh and eighth grade ELA classes were inspired by the book The Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. The book chronicles the real-life struggle of a refugee in Sudan to find a reliable source of clean drinking water. In South Sudan, millions of women and children walk up to eight hours a day to collect water from hand-dug wells, which are often contaminated with sickness-causing parasites and bacteria.
The schoolwide effort initially set out to raise $5,000 to drill one well, which was completed in June, 2020. Thanks to the tenacity and heart of the POBMS community, however, Ms. Khan has more than doubled the initial goal, allowing for the completion of a second well in the village of Wunchum in the Warrap State region of South Sudan.
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The wells were made possible through various fundraisers at POBMS, including a t-shirt design contest and, in particular, an annual walkathon at the school. During the walkathon, teachers, staff and students walked around the school track carrying a gallon of water to honor the women and children who walk miles every day to obtain clean drinking water in South Sudan. Students asked their loved ones to sponsor their walk to help raise funds for the wells.
For more information about the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District, please visit the District’s website at www.pobschools.org. Exciting activities happening throughout the District and programs celebrating student achievement can also be found on the District’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pobschools/.
