Salmonberry School students celebrated World Water Day with a “walk for water” through Eastsound on March 23. Preceding this walk-a-thon event, students secured pledges from friends and family and then set out to walk to raise awareness of water resource issues around the world and to raise funds to drill wells in a draught-stricken region of Niger, called The Azawak. In this poorest region of the poorest country on Earth, in some seasons children have to walk up to 35 miles to get access to fresh drinking water.

Salmonberry’s first and second graders had been studying many aspects of water this year.  This study ranged from literature to biology, chemistry and ecology.

The teachers set World Water Day as the particular date for this event and 25 walkers, age 6-11 set out that afternoon with the goal of walking a cumulative 50 miles. When the day was over, however, these kids more than doubled this goal and exceeded 125 miles in all.

“I could have kept going,” said Ethan White, age 11.