Year 6 students at St Mary’s Primary School, Young, have raised $2000 for the Water for South Sudan charity organisation by replicating the journey young girls in Sudan make every day to fetch water for their families. Students carried up to ten litres of water at a time as they completed laps of a 500 metre track set up around the school.

They were inspired to complete the challenge after reading the novel, ‘A Long Walk to Water’ by Linda Park Sue. The novel is based on the true story of Salva Dut, who fled his home during the civil war in Sudan. Salva now runs the Water for South Sudan charity, that helps to build and repair wells and educate Sudanese villagers on the importance of clean water.

“We’ve come to realise in Year 6, just how important something as simple as clean water can be to others not as fortunate as ourselves,” said Year 6 student, Marli Shipp.

Kym Connelly, Year 6 teacher at St Mary’s, said that the day was an opportunity to understand the difficulties faced by many in third world countries.

“We think that sometimes you really do have to walk in another's shoes to truly understand,” she said.

Principal, Andrew Casey, commended the students on their efforts.

“We are so proud that our students took on this initiative and want to be an example of service to others,” he said.