663 million people on our planet lack access to safe, clean drinking water. Every 21 seconds a child dies of water-related disease. The task of collecting water tends to fall on women and children between the ages of eight and 13. 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 hauling water. However, the solution to these problems is to provide safe accessible water for theses nations, to improve health, sanitation, and water quality.

The Thirst Project is a non-profit organization whose aim is to bring safe drinking water to communities around the world where it is not accessible. The Thirst Project collects money and builds wells all across the continent of Africa where villages do not have immediate access to drinking water. One of their main initiatives is to provide access to the entire country of Swaziland. Actors Drake Bell, Cameron Boyce, Connor Franta, Debby Ryan, Dylan O’Brien, Jennifer Lawrence and Chyler Leigh all support this non-profit organization.

Swaziland is a small country in southern Africa that has the single highest–density HIV/AIDS population in the world. Water plays an incredibly critical role in effectively treating and managing AIDS. The Thirst Project has made a bold commitment to provide access to safe, clean drinking water to all people in the country by 2022. They are working closely with the Government of Swaziland to reach 100% coverage.

This year the Fight For Green Club will be creating the first West Orange High School Thirst Project. The aim is to contribute to the project by founding an entire well in West Oranges’ name. The cost of a well is 12,000 and a well can serve a village of about 500 people. The club is asking people to make donations in the form of sponsors. They need 500 sponsors of 25 dollars, in order to have enough money to build the well.

This campaign is driven by student actions and through your action, West Orange can play an important role in ending this crisis.

For more information reach out to the Fight For Green Club lead by Mr. Ficuciello. Or go to https://www.thirstproject.org/ for more information on the Project.