By Dennis Ojogho

Dennis Ojogho is a former student at Los Angeles Senior High School. He is headed to Harvard University in the fall.

Despite very limited time to plan, Los Angeles Senior High School managed to have 53 students participate in its water walk on April 12. In order to understand what women in Africa must endure on a daily basis—trekking long distances to gather clean water—I brought four 80-pound cans of water for the students to take turns carrying during their one mile walk around the campus track at lunchtime.

I founded a Wells Bring Hope Water Circle on campus to raise funds to drill a well in Niger. So far we’ve raised nearly $1,000. The water walk was a perfect opportunity to bring awareness to the dire need for water in many countries around the world.

As we walked, I spoke about the situation in Niger and explained what we could do to help the people there. Organizing this walk was the most fulfilling experience of my life. To see teenagers, who are stereotyped as apathetic and selfish, going out of their way to support such a cause was truly heartwarming.

There is no better feeling in the world than to know that you have used your voice to speak for those whose voices aren’t always heard.


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