Thank you so much for visiting this page! We are a group of 8-14 year olds in Boone, NC who believe that clean drinking water should be accessible and available to everyone. Did you know that in developing countries, women and children walk an average of 3.7 miles for drinking water (and often times, the water is in polluted rivers and ponds)? 

Swimming for South Sudan is a collaboration that started when students from different places in Watauga county read "A Long Walk to Water", a book that parallels two different stories: that of an 11 year old girl who walks 16 miles a day just so that her family has enough water to survive and the true story of Salva Dut. At age 11, Salva was separated from his family due to the Sudanese Civil War. His heartbreaking and inspiring story spanned years before he was finally able to connect to his father again, who was suffering immensely from a disease caused by waterborne parasites. Salva subsequently started the Water for South Sudan project in order to help bring clean and safe drinking water to South Sudan. 

Swimming for South Sudan was born when, through a very serendipitous event, the students of Imagine Bilingual were connected with Ayla Crawley (10), of the Givers of Hope Foundation. Both Imagine Bilingual and the Givers of Hope had read Salva's story and were significantly impacted. They began to collaborate together with the hope of not only spreading community awareness about what our international friends are struggling with, but also to ACT. 

As a result, Swimming for South Sudan was born.

On May 22nd, 2021, Swimming for South Sudan hosted a swimathon at the Watauga County Rec Center. Our goal is to gather enough swimmers and sponsors to collectively swim 1,350 laps (one lap for each mile that a woman or girl walks in a year). 

The swimathon was a HUGE success.... 55 swimmers participated to swim a total of 3,375 laps and raise over $9,000!

Our ultimate goal is to raise $15,000 and we are still collecting donations while we think of our next step. 

Once we reach $15,000, we will be able to FULLY sponsor a new well being built in South Sudan. The access to clean water is going to save lives. Please be a part of our team and overall mission as we work to ensure that everyone has access to healthy water. 

Thank you so much!

For more information on the struggle of women and children regarding their walk to water, please visit: https://www.worldvision.org/clean-water-news-stories/walk-water-6k. 

For more information about Water for South Sudan, please visit: https://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/