Updates
Austin High School Academy of Global Studies students fund clean water for an entire grade-level of students in Burundi.
For the eighth year in a row AGS Students donated and fundraised, and participated in a walk simulation all of which support our work of providing people in need daily access to clean water.
Each spring, freshman students at Austin High School’s Academy of Global Studies participate in the Gazelle Foundation’s Walk For The Water program. These students learn about the global water crisis, water quality issues, and the Gazelle Foundation’s work to bring clean water to those who need it most. As part of the program’s fundraiser, they participate in a simulation to collect and carry water a distance comparable to someone who lives in rural Burundi.
In 2017, Daniel McCutcheon a student in the Academy of Global Studies (AGS) at Austin High School and Devon Steiner, biology teacher had an idea and a vision to help bring clean water to people in Burundi, Africa. Fast forward three years, Walk For The Water has achieved remarkable tangible results and continues to gain momentum. Around 600 freshmen have participated and raised a combined total of nearly $30,000 to help build clean water systems in Burundi, one of the world's poorest countries. In Burundi the number one cause of death is water-borne illnesses such as typhoid, hepatitis A, and schistosomiasis.
The funds raised by AGS students equate to about 980 people in Burundi getting daily access to as much clean water as they need. The program also allows AGS participants to gain a deeper understanding of water scarcity, consumption, and their role and ability to be engaged, global citizens.
We are so grateful to the Academy for Global Studies (AGS) students at Austin High School for supporting the Foundation through their 2nd annual Walk for the Water event. This year’s event took place on March 10th. AGS students fetched water from Ladybird Lake and then set off for a 3 mile walk on the trail carrying water jugs to represent the average distance that people in developing countries walk in order to get water (often this water is contaminated and barely drinkable).
