A Long Walk to Water Webquest
1. History of South Sudan
Using the transcript below and the video we watched.
Answer questions on your Response Sheet.
From 1985 to 2005, Sudan was wracked by civil war. Millions died, millions more were displaced, fleeing for their lives to refugee camps in Ethiopia, Kenya, and other countries.
Among those who fled through barren, war torn southern desert were thousands of children, mostly boys, some as young as five. They became known as the “Lost Boys of Sudan.” Five thousand died. Slava Dut, the main character of A Long Walk to Water, was one of those boys. Relocated to the United States in 1996, he now leads Water for South Sudan, Inc., the non-profit organization he founded in 2003.
In 2005, after over two decades of war, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed. In peaceful areas of South Sudan, Water for South Sudan is achieving the vision of Salva Dut, drilling water wells in South Sudan. As of May, 2013 WFSS has drilled 177 wells in remote villages of South Sudan, bringing clean water to over 400,00 people.
Without safe water, millions of South Sudanese must trek miles, everyday to collect water from ponds, marshes, ditches, or hand-dug wells. This water is often contaminated with parasites and disease-bearing bacteria. The results are sickness, even death. Imagine if you are a woman who treks miles each day for often-contaminated water in desert heat often reaching upwards of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Returning home, you carry a 40 to 50 pound water container on your head. Your children may walk with you, or wait at home for a drink, a bath. They’re not in school because there is no school.
Then, a change happens. A borehole well is drilled nearby, sponsored by Water for South Sudan which was founded in 2003 by Salva Dut (the main character of A Long Walk to Water) Now, instead of hours of walking, or waiting for safe, drinkable water, there’s time for other things. Important things for your family, your village. Your village builds a school. A teacher arrives. Your children have new learning and new dreams for their lives.
Safe water can satisfy many thirsts.
2. Go to the website below and answer the questions on the Response Sheet.
http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water
3. Click on the file below that links to the song "Sudan" by the band State Radio. Read the lyrics below. Answer the questions on your Response Sheet.
Downwind there is a comin',
A rumble in the sand.
Sets our feet to running,
For the fear of the faceless man.
For the fear of the faceless man.
But if I had an arsenal and if it was ten feet tall,
Then I would put an end to it all.
And if I had wheat to burn,
And if I had a lot to learn,
Then it still would not matter what color you were.
And if I had but one wish on which to stand,
I'd wish the weapons all turn to sand.
I'd see the gunners watch their empty hands,
Fall down to their sides.
Downwind they come up lonely,
All hungry for the kill.
The horses do the pounding,
But it's a blood that's going to spill.
It's a dark blood that's going to spill.
But if I had an arsenal and if it was ten feet tall,
Then it wouldn't matter what color you were.
And if I had but one wish on which to stand,
I'd see the weapons all turn to sand.
I'd see the gunners watch their empty hands,
Fall down to their sides.
If I had but one wish on which to stand,
I'd have the weapons all leave Sudan.
I'd see the gunners wash their empty hands,
Down by the riverside.
Ghost town in my homeland,
I will come back again.
And if you make a ghost of me,
I will still be free.
Ghost town in my homeland,
I will come back again.
If you make a ghost out of me,
I will still be free.
If I had but one wish on which to stand,
I'd see the weapons all leave this land.
I'd see the gunners watch their empty hands,
Fall down to their sides.
If I had but one wish on which to stand,
I'd see the weapons all leave Sudan.
I'd see the gunners wash their empty hands,
Down by the riverside.
Down by the riverside.
Down by the riverside.
4. Go to the website below. Choose a painting from the gallery there. Answer the questions on your Response Sheet.
http://www.brandeis.edu/projects/sudan_center/kakuma_exhibit/paintings.html
5. Read about Salva Dut
http://giraffeheroes.org/storybank-of-real-heroes?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=0&sobi2Id=436
Search for your own hero using Giraffe Hero Search
http://www.giraffe.org/option,com_sobi2/Itemid,53/
Charity Watch has a list of many charities that help around the world.
https://www.charitywatch.org/top-rated-charities
Extra websites:
http://www.thegoodliemovie.com/ (Movie coming out in October about the Lost Boys)
http://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/ (Salva's charity, Water for South Sudan)
Sudan song by State Radio (M4A 5.65 MB)
1. History of South Sudan
Using the transcript below and the video we watched.
Answer questions on your Response Sheet.
From 1985 to 2005, Sudan was wracked by civil war. Millions died, millions more were displaced, fleeing for their lives to refugee camps in Ethiopia, Kenya, and other countries.
Among those who fled through barren, war torn southern desert were thousands of children, mostly boys, some as young as five. They became known as the “Lost Boys of Sudan.” Five thousand died. Slava Dut, the main character of A Long Walk to Water, was one of those boys. Relocated to the United States in 1996, he now leads Water for South Sudan, Inc., the non-profit organization he founded in 2003.
In 2005, after over two decades of war, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed. In peaceful areas of South Sudan, Water for South Sudan is achieving the vision of Salva Dut, drilling water wells in South Sudan. As of May, 2013 WFSS has drilled 177 wells in remote villages of South Sudan, bringing clean water to over 400,00 people.
Without safe water, millions of South Sudanese must trek miles, everyday to collect water from ponds, marshes, ditches, or hand-dug wells. This water is often contaminated with parasites and disease-bearing bacteria. The results are sickness, even death. Imagine if you are a woman who treks miles each day for often-contaminated water in desert heat often reaching upwards of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Returning home, you carry a 40 to 50 pound water container on your head. Your children may walk with you, or wait at home for a drink, a bath. They’re not in school because there is no school.
Then, a change happens. A borehole well is drilled nearby, sponsored by Water for South Sudan which was founded in 2003 by Salva Dut (the main character of A Long Walk to Water) Now, instead of hours of walking, or waiting for safe, drinkable water, there’s time for other things. Important things for your family, your village. Your village builds a school. A teacher arrives. Your children have new learning and new dreams for their lives.
Safe water can satisfy many thirsts.
2. Go to the website below and answer the questions on the Response Sheet.
http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water
3. Click on the file below that links to the song "Sudan" by the band State Radio. Read the lyrics below. Answer the questions on your Response Sheet.
Downwind there is a comin',
A rumble in the sand.
Sets our feet to running,
For the fear of the faceless man.
For the fear of the faceless man.
But if I had an arsenal and if it was ten feet tall,
Then I would put an end to it all.
And if I had wheat to burn,
And if I had a lot to learn,
Then it still would not matter what color you were.
And if I had but one wish on which to stand,
I'd wish the weapons all turn to sand.
I'd see the gunners watch their empty hands,
Fall down to their sides.
Downwind they come up lonely,
All hungry for the kill.
The horses do the pounding,
But it's a blood that's going to spill.
It's a dark blood that's going to spill.
But if I had an arsenal and if it was ten feet tall,
Then it wouldn't matter what color you were.
And if I had but one wish on which to stand,
I'd see the weapons all turn to sand.
I'd see the gunners watch their empty hands,
Fall down to their sides.
If I had but one wish on which to stand,
I'd have the weapons all leave Sudan.
I'd see the gunners wash their empty hands,
Down by the riverside.
Ghost town in my homeland,
I will come back again.
And if you make a ghost of me,
I will still be free.
Ghost town in my homeland,
I will come back again.
If you make a ghost out of me,
I will still be free.
If I had but one wish on which to stand,
I'd see the weapons all leave this land.
I'd see the gunners watch their empty hands,
Fall down to their sides.
If I had but one wish on which to stand,
I'd see the weapons all leave Sudan.
I'd see the gunners wash their empty hands,
Down by the riverside.
Down by the riverside.
Down by the riverside.
4. Go to the website below. Choose a painting from the gallery there. Answer the questions on your Response Sheet.
http://www.brandeis.edu/projects/sudan_center/kakuma_exhibit/paintings.html
5. Read about Salva Dut
http://giraffeheroes.org/storybank-of-real-heroes?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=0&sobi2Id=436
Search for your own hero using Giraffe Hero Search
http://www.giraffe.org/option,com_sobi2/Itemid,53/
Charity Watch has a list of many charities that help around the world.
https://www.charitywatch.org/top-rated-charities
Extra websites:
http://www.thegoodliemovie.com/ (Movie coming out in October about the Lost Boys)
http://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/ (Salva's charity, Water for South Sudan)
Sudan song by State Radio (M4A 5.65 MB)
- Student Response Sheet (DOC 15 KB)