A long flight to Fallston
November 16, 2022
It’s not every day that a former “lost boy” South Sudanese refugee comes to Fallston High School. But on Thursday, September 15, 2022, Salva Dut, the Founder and President of The Water for South Sudan nonprofit organization stopped by for a visit. The students of the class of 2027 raised a tremendous amount of funds for Dut’s organization during the fundraiser last school year. These students, as well as the current eighth graders of Fallston Middle School, were given the opportunity to meet Salva in an assembly.
Fallston Middle and High School students raised $40k to help bring fresh water wells to villages in South Sudan with over 1,000 South Sudanese villagers served by these wells. The service-learning project, spearheaded by teacher Ms. Jen Brown, includes reading “Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park, a reflection on the reading which prompts fundraising, and a “Walk-a-thon” to conclude the project. Though this initiative began with just one compassionate teacher, it has transformed into a life-changing student service project that has changed lives across the world and right here in Fallston.
As the coordinator of the project, Ms. Brown communicates with the nonprofit in Rochester, plans the walk-a-thon, as well as distributes, monitors, and advertises the website that the students use to donate. Her efforts are abundantly evident in the success and popularity of the service-learning project among current and previous eighth-grade students.
After the grade level assembly with Dut, he joined a hand-chosen panel of students in Fallston High School’s library for an intimate interview session. While the students came prepared with questions and statements for the guest speaker, Dut expressed sincere interest in each of the students, their passions, school involvement, and futures in leadership. Of Fallston’s senior class, students Jake Siemsen, Hannah Richard, Emily Atha, and Jack Price were present at the meeting. From a stance of gratitude, the students thanked Dut for the work he conducts in South Sudan and commended him for his courage amidst the difficulties he experienced when fleeing South Sudan, as depicted in “A Long Walk to Water.”
Dut responded to the question of an eighth-grade student posed at the assembly regarding the trials he has faced: “I just came with my ten fingers, and this country sheltered me. Helped me. Changed me.” For many of the Fallston students present at the assembly, it is hard to comprehend the true grit and leadership that Dut summoned as a young boy to fight for his own life. But despite the hardships Dut has endured, he conveyed to the students present at the closed meeting, “I love everyone no matter what because I find that we are all one people.”
With the eighth graders of this year beginning the project and now reading Salva Dut’s story for the first time, Fallston is excited to see continuous growth and success in the program. Beginning with Mrs. Brown and the supporting teachers at Fallston Middle School, reaching out into the homes of the Fallston community, and then extending as far as South Sudan villages, the service-learning project is surely making a difference. As Salva Dut said to the students present at the assembly, “It’s changing lives. It’s bringing peace. The wells are changing South Sudan.”
