"A Long Walk to Water" is a work by Linda Sue Park that tells the story of one of the "Lost Boys" of the Sudan, Salva Dut. This book is part of the seventh-grade curriculum throughout most school districts in Western New York. For these last three years our children at Nativity of the Blessed Mary School have had it as part of their curriculum as well and each year they welcome guests from ROTA: Reaching Out 2 Africa to come and speak about its humanitarian ministries, meet and dialogue with at least one of the "Lost Boys" and learn how they can make an impact on children around the world.

As a founder of ROTA, I traveled to the Diocese of Masaka in Uganda in May 2018. While their I visited the St. Maria Goretti School. It's one of the poorest schools in the region with 466 students in grades one through seven. A new classroom addition was being dedicated that was funded by ROTA. I noticed that the school with such a large capacity of students didn't have adequate sanitary facilities for their needs nor did they have a reliable source of clean water available. St. Maria Goretti was added to the list of schools that ROTA would assist through funding that comes from young people dedicated to help other youngsters. Two fundraisers over a two-year period brought in enough funding for both a new water tank, plumbing and a new student latrine station.

This past June photos and video arrived showing the students excited and thankful. The students of Nativity School efforts changed the lives of this poor school half a world away.

For more information go to www.reachingout2africa.com.