Thirst Project

As students of Westwood High School, we are fortunate enough to live in a community where access to water is often overlooked. However, we at Westwood’s National Honor Society encourage our students to engage with the world around them. The sinks, water fountains, and even restrooms that we use every day are not always commonplace.

Currently, around 785 million people on our planet struggle due to a lack of access to clean water. And every 21 seconds someone dies because they don’t have access to clean water. The act of obtaining clean water is an affair usually cast on women and young children. These children, most of them younger than ourselves, walk, on average, four miles just to get a drink of water. 

In order to combat this crisis, the Thirst Project, a non-profit organization, has taken a stand to provide wells to impoverished communities. The Thirst Project’s impact goes way beyond the scope of simply providing water and teaching sustainable sanitation practices. The constant source of water allows for agricultural and farm industries to spring up while the time many children had previously spent walking to retrieve water, has now been converted into time learning at school. Both of these effects, combined with many others, have a tremendous positive impact on individuals, families, towns, and even entire economies.

We, at Westwood’s National Honor Society, believe in the Thirst Project’s simple yet effective message. We believe in the opportunity for basic rights such as food, water, and the ability to learn. As a result, we have made the decision to use our position as a school full of bright and spirited students to help foster a greater change beyond the walls of Westwood High School. All our proceeds from NHS-run events such as Powder Puff and the Carnival go directly to the Thirst Project. We want to reinforce the importance of values such as being caring, having integrity, and helping the community, within our student body. Thus, the Thirst Project sits at the core of our NHS branch’s identity.

If you have any additional questions or concerns feel free to contact us or the WWHS Thirst Project Director, Maya Granoff!