Sajina sat nervously as her teacher walked around the classroom collecting homework. When it was her turn to pass in the assignment, she hung her head and admitted she didn’t have it . . . again.
For years, Sajina had missed assignments and been absent from school more times than she could count.
It wasn’t that she was a lazy or even that she struggled with the lessons. In fact, her teachers frequently praised her for being a bright and diligent student.
So what kept Sajina from succeeding in school? The surprising answer: Water.
You may be wondering, “What does water have to do with education?” For Sajina, and many other Nepali children, the answer is “everything.”
In rural villages of Nepal, the adults work long hours farming their fields, struggling to ensure their family’s needs are met each day. They cannot afford to spend time collecting water when they could be tending their crops . . . so this difficult chore falls to the children.
When children spend hours every day walking back and forth to the nearest river, little time is left for study or homework. Their mornings and afternoons are filled with carrying heavy jugs of water instead of going to school.
And because the water is often polluted, they frequently get sick and must miss school completely for several days or even weeks at a time.
When these children miss school, they are missing an opportunity to possibly improve their futures.
Education is one of the most valuable resources available to children in Nepal, and other developing countries, because it can enable them to break the cycle of poverty and pursue skilled, professional occupations.
For Sajina, education means the chance to become a nurse when she grows up. But each time she missed another assignment or day of school, she was forced to watch her grades slowly decrease . . . along with the chances of achieving her dream.
Today, Sajina’s hope for the future has been renewed.
Thanks to your generous support, her village now has a clean-water well so she can quickly collect water before and after school, allowing her the time to study and do homework, play with her friends, and simply enjoy being a kid.
In addition, the entire village is healthier because they now have access to unpolluted water.
Sajina’s life has been completely changed because of the gift of clean water. Unfortunately, many other children around the world continue to miss school or fall behind in their classes because they have not yet received this gift.
Very soon, summer will be coming to a close, and schools will reopen their doors. Will you remember thousands of children, just like Sajina, who will miss the opportunity for an education just because they lack access to something as simple as clean water?
When you invest in a clean-water well, you are investing in more than just easy access to clean drinking water. You are investing in the future of a child!
