STUTTGART — Mother Teresa once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
It’s a lesson that the students of Holy Rosary School in Stuttgart recently learned with the help of the state’s Catholic community.
The students had one simple goal — to raise $500 to help their fellow Catholic students at Kalangaalo Catholic Primary School in Uganda buy a new water well.
They surpassed their goal, raising $935 instead. Principal Kathy Lorince said the majority of the funds were donated from residents across the state following a story published in the June 8 issue of Arkansas Catholic.
It’s support that Lorince said surprised, but excited her students. “They couldn’t believe it when I said we had raised that much money,” she said.
“People are good,” Lorince said. “If they believe in the cause, they’ll support it.”
The schools partnered through H2O for Life, a non-profit organization that helps youth take action in the global water crisis through service-learning opportunities.
“Every day, almost a billion people make a three-hour journey to gather water,”
Teacher Sarah Richards said they decided to help Kalangaalo raise $6,050 for a new well. Layne Arkansas in Stuttgart donated $200 while the students raised $160 during a Walk for Water event in May.
The collected $935 will now be credited toward installing a new water well for Kalangaalo, although the school still needs $5,115 to complete the project.
An H2O for Life official said when the organization adds a project, it works to fund it that fiscal year through partners as well as general donations to the organization.
“So even if it’s not completely matched, we hope to have enough money through general donations to complete it and have it paid for before the new school year,” the official said.
To learn more, visit here.
