In a village in Bangladesh, hundreds of people face a daily struggle to access clean water, often walking miles under intense heat and humidity. Though these long treks are essential for survival, the water they find is not always clean or safe. This is a reality for countless communities worldwide, which the nonprofit Build a Water Project is committed to addressing.
“I created [Build a Water Project] when I was a freshman in high school after I learned about the water crisis,” said senior Leah Fontaine, CEO and co-founder of Build a Water Project. “It’s insane how we take so many things for granted here. We have access to clean water, but there are people all around the world who have to walk miles to access water and even then, it’s still contaminated. That sparked a desire to really change that [situation].”
As a freshman, Fontaine raised over $1,800 in funds for Build a Water Project to help people without access to clean water. In junior year, she began to directly collaborate with similar pre-existing organizations in Bangladesh.
“I reached out to partners and communities around the world, and we finally found our partners in Bangladesh,” Fontaine said. “From there, we started our project where we built and repaired 85 wells in rural communities.”
Although Build a Water Project’s mission has stayed consistent, they have experimented with different fundraising methods, including selling t-shirts and trinkets that raised over $5,000. They also provide internships to high school and middle school students, offering service hours, leadership opportunities and awards in exchange for organizing fundraisers.
“In November, we are hosting an internship [which] is completely remote and [students] can make [their] own campaign and fundraise for us,” said senior Rehna Saalinger, co-founder and social media Manager of Build a Water Project. “We’re also brainstorming more methods that we can fundraise [for].”
To build stronger ties within the local community and recruit more volunteers, the nonprofit plans to create a club at McLean High School. The next goal is further global expansion.
“In the future, we’re really looking forward to partnering with more organizations to make more change in communities,” Fontaine said. “We’re currently setting up our second major initiative because we just finished our [previous] project in Bangladesh. We’re [also] holding educational seminars in Bangladesh.”
As the organization grows, it remains dedicated to expanding its reach to more communities worldwide, helping people access clean water and making progress toward solving the water crisis.
“Build a Water Project has been an amazing opportunity. If anyone wants to get involved, they’re welcome to and they can go to our website [to volunteer]. There’s so many different ways to get involved or support our community,” Fontaine said. “It’s a great way to make a tangible impact in communities [worldwide].”