Schools

Lace Elementary Student Raising Money for Clean Water Project

Fifth-grade student Nandini Sadagopan launched a special project for her birthday: "Nandini's Well India Project."

When Nandini Sadagopan, 11, tries to imagine what it would be like to not have ready access to safe drinking water, she can’t.

And the fifth-grader wishes it didn’t have to be a reality for the nearly one billion people in countries like Kenya, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and India who don't have clean water nearby to drink.

“Some of them have to walk miles to get a supply of water that might not even be clean,” Nandini said.

For this reason, she launched "Nandini's Well India Project” through a partnership with the The Water Project Inc., a nonprofit working to bring relief to communities around the world that suffer needlessly from a lack of access to clean water.

This year, in lieu of presents, Nandini celebrated her April 29 birthday by having a party and inviting kids and their families to donate to her goal of raising $10,000 to build a well in India with The Water Project.

“I think that people that have access to safe, clean water every day can give back and help people who don’t have that access,” Nandini said.

To date, she has raised more than $1,450.

When Nandini first brought up the idea of helping to fund a well after reading about the initiative in a magazine, her parents wondered how long the notion would last.

“Initially we were sure this was a very short-lived idea, but she kept being very committed,” said her mother, Tanya Sadagopan. “She kept saying, ‘When are we going to do it?’”

So Tanya began to research different organizations and found The Water Project Inc. to be a good fit.

Nandini’s endeavor has brought awareness to the plight others face when it comes to a lack of water, her mother said.

“What was really moving to me was when the parents got Nandini’s birthday invitation they sat down with their kids at the website and learned about the importance of water in the world and how people don’t all have access to clean drinking water,” Tanya Sadagopan said.

Some of the kids were so inspired, they made their own personal donations.

“One girl broke open her own piggy bank and gave me all the money that was in it, which was $35,” Nandini said. “Then her mom gave $50.”

During Nandini’s birthday party, kids carried heavy buckets of water to learn how people in other countries lived, and planted flowers and painted pots.

“The party theme was all about nature and spring and water,” Tanya Sadagopan said.

This is the second time Nandini has hosted a “do something for others birthday party,” her mother said. A few years ago, Nandini asked friends to help her celebrate her birthday by bringing gently used toys which she then donated to a battered women’s shelter.

With the well project, Nandini is hoping once she reaches her fundraising goal she might be able to see the project’s completion.

She and her family are tentatively planning to travel to India, where her father is from, next summer.

“I might be able to take a road trip to see it,” Nandini said. “But it’s a lot of money (to raise). I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it.”

Nandini’s parents laud their daughter for taking on the project.

“We’re very proud of her for trying to keep getting the resources she needs so she can reach her goal,” Tanya Sadagopan said.

To track Nandini’s fundraising or make a donation, visit The Water Project website.


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