BY AARON FLORES 

What do you do when you're thirsty? You probably grab a glass and fill it with your favorite refreshing liquid? Do you ever wonder if what you are about to drink will kill you? In many parts of the world, when people seek a simple drink of water, this question is asked on a daily basis.

It was this sober reality that inspired the students of X-Force Ministries, located in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose, to organize the African Water Project. Over the past two years, students have raised more than $12,000, to be used for bringing safe drinking water to various communities throughout Kenya and Zambia. So far, the African Water Project, or AWP, has raised funds to support the drilling of three new wells and repaired 12.

Students said they were excited about the chance to impact the world.

"I used to think that in order to make a big difference, I would need lots of money or have to talk in front of thousands of people," said Erin McKinley, a member of the organization and senior at Valley Christian High School in San Jose. "Now I know that's not the case."

Roughly 1.1 billion people - one-sixth of planet Earth's population - do not have access to clean, safe drinking water and more than 80 million people have died in the last eight years due to water-born and water-related illnesses, according to Living Water International, a non-profit organization that also raises money for wells all around the world. The shockingly high number of water-related illnesses and deaths led the World Health Organization to declare an international water crisis.

The water crisis is especially dire in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than half the population lacks access to safe drinking water and usually the only available water supply is a filthy stream polluted with animal or human waste. Every day, women and children walk nearly ten miles to draw water from nearby streams - water that may threaten the lives of those who drink it.

The high school and middle school students at X-Force Student Ministries heard about the water crisis and felt the need to do something about it. That need to do something turned into the African Water Project, a student-led campaign dedicated to ending the African water crisis.

Money is raised through seasonal events. Some students staff booths at schools, malls, amusement parks, or other high-traffic areas where they ask for donations or sell baked goods. A few go door to door. The youth group also hosts fundraising luncheons at the church where they meet on Minnesota Avenue.

When late spring rolls around, the youth group prepares for its annual summer adventure camp. Students go about collecting pledges for what April Hunt, leader of the youth group and AWP's media contact, calls "an extreme event to highlight an extreme cause."

Last summer, X-Force held a 15-mile hike in Badwater, Death Valley, the hottest place in North America. Called the "Badwater for Good Water Walk," it was intended to simulate the 10 miles that women and children walk every day in order to fetch water.

In June of this year, X-Force members participated in the 25-mile "Give-Well Triathlon" in Monterey, which was intended to raise awareness and support for the African Water Project.

The events were challenging, testing the limits of the students' endurance. Some said they were eager to get involved.

"When you're doing the events, you don't necessarily enjoy them, but you look back and realize that you saved a life," said Jamie Orozco, a Valley Christian sophomore who participated in the walk and the triathlon. "The hardest part of the Death Valley walk was just getting through it."

During the hike, the air temperature rose to as much as 121 degrees. But that doesn't stop these determined students from doing anything they can to raise awareness about the international water crisis, and the difference that a single person can make.

"When lots of people hear about the water crisis, they think the problem is too big for them to solve," Hunt said. The students quickly learned otherwise. "The students have the opportunity to make a huge difference," said Hunt.

The organization's website carries well reports from every repair and new well completed. Each well serves from 200 to 1,600 people. Every community expresses thanks to the engineers for the repaired wells, and one, the Musosa community in the Western Province of Kenya, even calls their new well a "miracle" according to the well report from Living Water available online.

Musosa Towne, in the Western Province of Kenya, never had a well until the African Water Project singled it out as a priority location for one of their first wells. When Living Water International arrived with the equipment to drill the community's first well, the residents were touched and excited, the well report said. They knew their lives were about to change.

When the time came for excavation to begin at the Kaputiki Secondary School, however, the crew's drill broke down and work was halted while new equipment was ordered. Work was scheduled to resume, but then election violence broke out late last winter and it was deemed unsafe for the crews to leave the capitol city.

When the crews finally arrived on site in March, the community's enthusiasm had not diminished and Kaputiki Secondary School had its ‘miracle well.'

"Kaputiki Secondary School is a school that has suffered greatly when it comes to clean water," the report read. Lack of water meant lack of sanitation, and the young women who attended the school would suffer in their studies since they were the ones who fetched the water everyday, and time spent fetching water is time that is not spent getting an education. Sickness due to lack of water was once common among students and staff.

Not anymore.

In addition to drilling the well, Living Water International, also teaches hygiene principles to community members. Lessons included washing one's hands before he eats and after one uses the lavatory.

The organizations the African Water Project works with ensure that 100 percent of the funds the students raise go directly to fund the well projects.

"The kids are excited to be a part of something big," said Hunt. "It's easy to get involved, but it's still a challenging cause."