The 2019-2020 Beta Club members (who are currently in 9th Grade) sold shaved ice during the 2019-2020 school year and donated $540 to Water for South Sudan, a non-profit that provides access to clean, safe water and improves hygiene and sanitation practices in South Sudan. The money was used to fund hygiene sessions that improve the villagers' health and expand on the impact of the water wells that Water for South Sudan drills in villages. The hygiene education program works with villagers to identify hygiene practices in need of improvement and focuses on:

• Personal hygiene (washing hands, brushing teeth, clipping nails)
• Safe water practices (cleaning of jerrycans, covering water containers)
• Food safety (maintaining utensils, storing food away from waste and dirty water)
• Safe disposal of waste
• Women’s hygiene

The students chose to raise money for Water for South Sudan after reading about Salva Dut, the founder of Water for South Sudan, in one of their summer reading novels as rising 7th Graders. A Long Walk to Water tells the story of Salva's journey to seek safety from the Sudanese Civil War in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, his eventual move to the United States, and his work to bring clean water to those in need.

Simone Ferdinand, MS Design Tech teacher and last year’s Jr. Beta Club Advisor, recently received this message from Cheri Crist, Donor Relations and Data Coordinator for Water for South Sudan:

It's my pleasure to inform you that your hygiene sponsorship in South Sudan has been completed! Many thanks to you and your students for making this important training possible. Because of your generosity, the villagers in the attached photos will be healthier, and their communities stronger.

Thank you for watering the seeds of change in South Sudan.

We add our thanks to both the Jr. Beta Club members who organized this fundraising project and everyone who supported their efforts. It is very gratifying for our students to see the impact they are having to improve the lives of others.

Thank you to Simone Ferdinand for sharing this story with us and reinforcing the ideals of service and leadership with our students. Jr. Beta Club is still active in the middle school under the supervision of Scott Sandoval, MS Language Arts teacher this year.