Norah Aligoyi is 18 years and is in Grade Seven at Aakum Primary School in Katakwi district of Eastern Uganda. She has one brother and one sister. They all walk about one mile each day to get to their school. At school, they had to walk another
mile to get to the nearest water source. Norah told us “I’m happy that Drop in the Bucket decided to dig a borehole (well) at our school because it has relieved us from the burden of having to walk so far to fetch water. We shall save so much time
that we were wasting walking for water. I think this will help us concentrate on our studies and perform better. I’m also happy that I will get the opportunity to wash and bathe at school. We are so happy that we now have clean drinking water at our school.”

Sarah Awelping is currently a 19-year-old sixth grader at the Salam Girls’ School in Aweil, South Sudan. When she was 15 years old, she became close with a boy, Garang, from her neighboring village and over time, the two fell in love. They hoped to one day marry, but first, they wanted to focus on school since the war put them so behind in their studies.
Around the same time Sarah and Garang started their relationship, a 60-year-old man, who was already living with four wives, offered Sarah’s parents a large dowry of 100 cows for the girl. Sarah was only 15 years old at the time. She knew that if she was forced to marry the old man her life would consist of a loveless marriage in which her main job would be to provide the man with children until he grew tired of her and took yet another wife. Sarah became so terrified that she ran away with Garang.
In South Sudan, a dowry is one of the few times people can receive a large sum of money, so for the Awelping family, Sarah’s potential dowry was a huge deal. In rural South Sudan, 100 cows signify a great deal of money and for a family living below the poverty line, like the Awelpings, this size of dowry was life changing despite the impact it would have on their daughter’s future. Sarah knew it was her duty, but she also knew she did not love the man. Sarah was aware with how much girls suffer, as they are rendered powerless once they are sold as property to the highest bidder. Unlike marriages of love and trust, these arranged marriages leave wives in unfair, emotionless, and abusive relationships. Sarah says she couldn’t even imagine having to get permission from her husband every time she wanted to leave the house to run errands, since her husband would fear that she’d run away from the unhappy marriage.
Sarah felt so helpless and devastated with the arrangement her parents were making and even though the idea of running away was daunting, she knew it was her only option if she ever wanted to be happy. She understood that her parents could choose to never accept her back into the family, but she just wasn’t able to bear the thought of spending the rest of her life married to a man 45 years older than her who she did not even know, let alone love.
Sarah’s aunt strongly supported her decision and once other community members learned of the situation, they also defended her right to stay with Garang. While Sarah’s parents were initially upset that they lost the dowry, they eventually grew to accept and support her relationship with Garang.
Now, four years later, Sarah is happily married to Garang. She is still in school and dreams of one day becoming a doctor so that she can spend her time helping others. Looking back, Sarah is so thankful she made the decision to run away, because now she is able to choose how she’d like to live her life.

Jimmy Apunyu is a 15-year-old boy in seventh grade at Ating Tuo Primary School in Alebtong, Uganda. He and his older siblings are responsible for collecting the water his family drinks, and that his sisters and mother use for making dinner and washing clothes.
Jimmy’s family live in a village called Oyon Alwevi. It is less than one mile away from their school. But, because of the powerful intense and unsteady dirt roads, the walk to and from school can seem like it takes several hours. One day Jimmy and his sister stopped at a hand-dug well that they passed on their way home from school. It was very hot that day, so, they decided to take a rest. They drank the well water, poured some on their heads to cool off and played around in it. When they were ready to leave they filled up jerry cans with the water so they could bring some home with them.
An hour later, just after they returned home, both Jimmy and his sister started to feel sick. They had strong stomach pains that Jimmy described by saying “It was like my intestines wanted to climb out of my body”. Jimmy knew it was because of the water since it came so soon after they drank it. His sister said that she had been nervous about drinking the water at the time, but she was just too thirsty on the walk home to not stop for water. After a few weeks of feeling ill, Jimmy told the head teacher at his school, “I am sick with stomach worms and need help. Can we get someone to come to our school and help us.” One of the village elders knew the Uganda Program Manager for Drop in the Bucket who arranged for Jimmy and his sister to get medical attention. Two weeks, Drop in the Bucket built a well the Ating Tuo Primary School so that the school could have their own source of clean water well on the premises.
The medicine Jimmy and his sister were given quickly had them feeling better, and now that their school has a well, they won’t ever have to worry about getting sick from unsafe water again. Jimmy hopes to one day become a teacher so he can help other children to improve their lives.

Akok Aschai Deng was forced to move to Khartoum during the war a few years ago. She moved into a new home, started at a different school, had to make new friends and be taught in Arabic, the national language of Sudan, when she was used to school taught in English in South Sudan. It was a challenge to start her education all over again, but Akok was up for it because she loved school so much. Akok learned the new educational system and got really good grades while living in Khartoum. She even made it all the way to secondary school in just a few years. When the war subsided and she was able to return home to Aweil in South Sudan, Akok was welcomed with having to start school all over again, again! Akok was bummed that all her progress would be thrown away, but she held her head high and decided she was ready to start over from fourth grade, which is the grade she currently is in today.
When Akok finishes primary and secondary school, she wants to leave Aweil and go to the best college to study “Development.” She thinks that South Sudan desperately needs to advance and reform its policies so that people can benefit and live better lives. Right now, too many people don’t have clean water, electricity, enough food, and so much more. Akok insists that the most important way South Sudan will develop is through educating the people. According to Akok, South Sudan must start by educating girls “so that girls can feel in control of their lives just like boys already do.” Akok considers education to be the key to opening girls’ minds to new methods of living and feeling. That way, girls get to decide for themselves what makes them happy. These feelings of empowerment will then lead to a more equal society in South Sudan.