Jan. 10, 2020 -- Sixth graders at Roxboro Middle School braved the cold on the day before Winter Vacation to walk outside on the track in honor of people halfway across the globe who walk in much harsher conditions. After reading the novel A Long Walk to Water, the students were inspired to raise money for the Water for South Sudan Project, a non-profit founded by a Sudanese Lost Boy.

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park is a fictionalized account of a true story and weaves together the lives of two eleven-year olds in Sudan, one a Lost Boy caught up in the civil war of the 1980s and the other a modern girl unable to attend school because she spends eight hours a day walking to and from the nearest pond to fetch water for her family. 

The story came to life for the 6th graders in Amanda Sell and Caitlin Gerber’s English Language Arts classes with the visit of Akol Madut, a Lost Boy who has lived in Cleveland for seventeen years. More on Madut’s remarkable story and how he connected with Roxboro can be found here.

The sixth graders raised over $2,000 to donate to the Water for South Sudan Project, which builds wells in rural villages, improving health and allowing girls to attend school. The organization was started in 2003 by Salva Dut, the Lost Boy who inspired A Long Walk to Water and who inspired our district’s young activists. Because the students raised so much money, they are being entered into a contest to speak live with Mr. Dut himself, thus bringing the project full circle.