A School's Deadly Water

CBN.com — Eight-year-old Shi Xong lives in a very poor region of China, where the water is polluted both at home and at school. So every morning, his grandmother would fetch and boil water for him to take to school. And one day after physical education class, he ran out.

“I was very thirsty, so I went to the water vat at school and I drank from it,” Shi Xong remembers. “I ended up getting a really bad stomach ache. My teacher sent me home.”

Shi Xong was in the hospital for several days.

Shi Xong could not even talk,” his grandmother says. “I was scared he would die.”

Several of Shi Xong’s classmates had already had close calls because of the bad water at school.

“I had been thinking about a solution for a while,” explains Shi Xong’s principal. “But I could not come up with one. I could not stand by and watch any more children get sick—but our school could not afford a well!”

Then CBN heard about the problem in Shi Xong’s region and we quickly dug a well on the school grounds. We also provided a new sink and several water faucets for the children.

“I remember the day I turned on the water tap and the clean water flowed out,” says Xi Xong’s principal excitedly. “The students jumped up and down and shouted for joy. Everyone was so happy to finally have fresh water.”

Now, Shi Xong can run and play as much as he’d like and he never has to worry about going thirsty or getting sick from bad water at school—or at home! This is because CBN dug wells for several villagers, too, including Shi Xong’s grandmother.

“It’s such a relief,” says Shi Xong’s grandmother. “I don’t have to wake up so early to fetch and boil water for Shi Xong anymore!”

Says Shi Xong, “I’m so happy to have clean water to drink. Thank you CBN!”

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