A year ago, the students of Brooks Middle School started a group called Students Offering Strength. SOS was formed after the students heard the story of a village far less fortunate than most. The village, Ariang, located in southern Sudan, is the former home of Samuel Garang Mayuol.

What helped make this story touch the hearts of the young boys and girls of Brooks Middle School was that they heard the story from Samuel Garang Mayuol himself.

The students were shocked, surprised, and saddened by the words that they heard from Mayuol. After learning that the closest river to Ariang was a three-hour walk, Serena McDonald went on to say, “It’s sad that we take so many things for granted that many other people and countries take as luxury”. As a result from such a great distance to healthy water, hundreds of villagers were dying each year to a preventable disease known as cholera.

When asked how she would feel having to walk 3 hours to get access to healthy water, Brooks 8th grader, Bress Landau, responded, “I would not be happy.” She continued to say, “I’m use to having easy and quick access to water, wherever and whenever I want it.” Mayuol helped open the eyes of the students and introduced them to the unfortunate situation that takes place in other parts of the world. “Something that nobody should have to worry about” was the reaction of Adia Ivey, when discussing the long journey that these people take everyday to survive.

On a visit back to his homeland, Mayuol noticed people drinking dirty water from puddles on the ground. Right away, he knew what the people of Ariang needed and became determined to raise money to build a system of water pumps for his and neighboring villages. These wells would provide the people with a source of clean water.

The students of Brooks Middle School wanted to do their part in helping Mayuol raise money. They knew that by helping, they would be making a difference in lives of many people. Elisa Garcia went on to say, “I know I am helping people who really need it, but can’t do anything about it because they don’t have any money or the tools to be healthy.”

Last year the students raised $2,500 selling 100 custom SOS t-shirts. This year the students of Brooks Middle School were at it again! They reached out to Sharprint to screen print another batch of shirts and raised $650, selling 103 shirts, to go towards Mayuol and his quest of providing his former village with more and more wells.

Brooks Middle School teachers, Ms. Pat Gallo and Ms. Lisa Hendrix, lead SOS. Aside from raising money for such a great cause, they also incorporated Mayuol’s story in the classroom. The students were assigned to create a public service announcement to inform others of Mayuol’s mission to help Sudan. Ms. Gallo, a science teacher, was focused on educating the students on water as a basis of life. The student’s then revised and edited their work in Ms. Hendrix’s LA classroom.

The students didn’t take the project lightly and created some amazing works of art. Through poems, songs, and videos they expressed their emotions and feelings about what is happening in the village of Ariang.

Below are just two of the many great pieces of art that the students created:

Written by: Haleigh Callahan

The water you drink everyday
But what if it wasn’t that way?

You’d be mad
And sad
And thirsty for awhile,
Unless you walk for many miles.

Across the water we call the Atlantic,
For water,
Sudan is frantic.

If we all give
Better lives they can live.

Original music, lyrics, and video production produced by: Sam Chadri, Ben Scott, Sandile Mncwabe, and Derrick Griffin:

If you would like to contribute to Mayuol’s mission of helping the people of Sudan, visit the website Hope For Ariang. You can also get in touch with Lisa Hendrix ( lhendrix@op97.org) or Pat Gallo ( pgallo@op97.org) if you would like to help this great cause.