On Saturday morning, participants of the fun-run carried jerry cans, weighing up to 42 pounds., to signify the struggles the persons of Sudan many times have to endure to have clean drinking water. Breakfast tacos and joyful African music complemented the event.

The Sustainability Club at Coppell Middle School East decided to take action with the help of Water is Basic, a charity which aims to make clean water accessible to every person in South Sudan, under the common of reducing thirst in the African country.

The CMSE Sustainability Club is an extracurricular charity group of students and faculty who are passionate about raising money and awareness for clean water. The club reached out to Water is Basic to host an innovative fun-run to build and maintain wells in Sudan. The young members of the club are fully self-motivated in meeting their $10,000 goal.

“We looked at the biggest global problems and we focused on the biggest issue which was water shortage,” Sustainability Club member Andrew Chang said. “South Sudan was one of the countries that suffered most from this so we decided to take action.”

South Sudan presents some of the most extreme situations where access to water is as limited as the quality available. People in Sudan are forced to traverse miles of dry landscape in order to reach a source of water to fill their jerry jugs with water. It is so contaminated that once their chapped lips taste it, they trade thirst for disease ensued by death.

The company’s name – Water is Basic – was the motto of the event. Without the most basic natural resource, all other problems are unsolvable.

“It’s a waste of time to build schools and clinics, what we need first is clean water,” Water is Basic President Stephen Roese said. “We knew then that we needed to help build wells.”

The event emphasised the gravity of water of shortage but also provided an inspirational call to action by emphasizing teamwork.

“‘Ubuntu’ is a Swahili word that means ‘I am because we are’,” event director Doug Fair said. “It means I am able to accomplish feats because we are a group.”

CMSE Sustainability Club and Water is Basic will continue to bring change by raising awareness to a cause that is easy to ignore in a privileged life.