Two AU students founded an on-campus chapter of The Thirst Project, an organization that aims to help provide clean drinking water to unsanitary areas of the world, in September.
The club has a two-part goal: to raise awareness about the world’s water problem and to raise money to address this issue, according to the president of AU’s branch, Conner Moore.
“Most people don’t know that one billion people don’t have access to clean water and that 4,400 children die every day from preventable diseases caused by contaminated water,” said Moore, a junior in the School of International Service.
The Thirst Project tries to make clean drinking water accessible to contaminated areas by raising money to build wells in Africa and Latin America. It costs $5,000 on average to build a well, according to the organization’s website.
Moore was first introduced to The Thirst Project as a high school senior when the founder of the organization, Seth Maxwell, visited his church. Maxwell also visited AU in March to promote The Thirst Project, which prompted Moore to found the organization with School of Public Affairs junior Brad Ackerlund.
“I developed a big passion for Africa my sophomore year in high school … this was a way to become involved and take action,” Moore said.
The Thirst Project’s major goal on a national level is to bring clean water to all of Swaziland by 2020, according to The Thirst Project website.
The Thirst Project also plans to build wells in other African and South American countries depending on the effectiveness of the Swaziland initiative, according to Moore.
The chapter’s first goal is to attract new members, since the group currently consists of eight members, Moore said.
The organization would be able to brainstorm and implement creative ways to fundraise building a well with more members.
“In a way, it is kind of exciting,” Moore said. “With new members, we can sit down and decide what we want the organization at AU to look like and where we want to go.”
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