Thirty-plus students and a few adults took a “Walk for Water” on Saturday as part of a fundraiser to construct a well in Africa.
It was the seventh year for Sequim High’s Interact Club and Sequim Sunrise Rotary members to hike an approximate four-mile trek from the Sequim Middle School to the Dungeness River. On March 9, they filled buckets and recycled containers with water and brought them back to the school to symbolize the daily, hours-long journey people must make for clean water.
Interact Club president Krista Charters said part of their goal is to help remind the community of what goes on outside of Sequim.
“It means so much to give back,” she said. “I’m so lucky to be in our community. I’ve never had a need for something I don’t have.”
As a Sequim High senior, she said this year’s event meant a lot to her, saying it “changed my life.”
Chelsea Reichner, Interact Club advisor, said the event helps students better understand the daily reality for many women and children who haul 40-80 pounds of water home, sometimes repeating the journey many times in a day.
“(Students) begin to realize the value in the resource that is so abundant in our community that touts, “Where Water is Wealth” and come to appreciate the massive effort it takes to haul water for daily activities and basic needs,” she said.
Jay Diallo, a Rotarian representative for the well project, recently posted gratitude for the Interact Club along with a video of a student from a high school with a new well reciting a poem about water’s importance.
“The impact of their work has touched lives, fostering health, hope, and opportunity. But what’s truly heartwarming is the response from the community that has benefited from their kindness,” Diallo wrote. “This is a testament to what we can achieve when we come together to make a positive change in the world. Let’s celebrate the spirit of giving and the difference one group can make.”
Reichner said club members resonate with helping fellow students so they can focus more on their education.
Sequim junior Cooper Hiatt said the event feels meaningful because it’s “cool we get to help fundraise for kids like us. As someone interested in being in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), I believe everyone should have an education,” Hiatt said.
Rotary past president Ann Flack said the Sequim students’ efforts are inspiring.
“It’s good for the community and helps these kids understand ‘Service above Self’ while helping people that are less fortunate,” she said.
Students have raised about $3,000 so far and need $4,200 to construct a well for a school in the Republic of Ghana in Africa.
Charters said they sought support from 40-plus businesses and through their personal contacts.
Rotary International serves as the intermediary for the funds to help find communities with installation of a well/pump. Local Rotary leaders’ long-term goal, Reichner said, is to continue raising funds and send students to help with installation of wells. She traveled in 2016 through WE Charity and EF Tours to Ecuador to help build a school.
“It was inspiring to work alongside Ecuadorian teachers and students and see first-hand how similar and different we are despite cultural and geographic distance,” she said. “This type of hands-on learning really shows the power of living locally and thinking globally. Until then, we’ll keep leaning into social media to keep us connected.”
Those looking to help Interact Club’s efforts this year, can mail a check to: Sequim High School, 601 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim, WA, 98382; make checks out to “Sequim High School” with the memo line: “Walk for Water, Interact Club.”
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Before heading out with buckets and recycled containers filled with water at their annual “Walk For Water” event on March 9, Sequim High School’s Interact Club members do a motivating chant. Students carried water from the Dungeness River to Sequim Middle School as part of a fundraiser to help build a well for a school in Ghana. See story, A-5.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Krista Charters, Sequim Interact Club president, front left, carries a yoke alongside fellow club members as a “badge of honor,” according to club advisor Chelsea Reichner. It was made in 2017 by Calvin Hazard to carry two large buckets more easily during the annual Walk for Water. Charters led the walk from Sequim Middle School to the Dungeness River and back with full containers to symbolize the journey many women and children take daily for clean water. The club seeks funds to build a well for a school in Africa.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Sequim High School’s Interact Club members along with a few Sequim Sunrise Rotary members walk along the Olympic Discovery Trail on March 9 for their annual ‘Walk for Water’ event. They carry water from the Dungeness River to Sequim Middle School to symbolize the journey people take daily for clean water.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ As tradition at the end of the Walk for Water, Interact Club members douse the president — this year Krista Charters — in Sequim’s original irrigation ditch by Sequim Middle School. Charters said carrying two large buckets of water two miles was harder than she thought it’d be.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Interact Club members, from left, Zee French, London Forrest, and Kaitlyn Carpenter carry containers during the ‘Walk for Water’ event on March 9 from the Dungeness River to Sequim Middle School. Students carry water as part of a fundraiser to build a well for a school in Africa.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Students gather by the Dungeness River Railroad Bridge before walking two miles with containers filled with water on March 9 to symbolize the struggle people face everyday walking for clean water.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Sequim High students Isaac McKeen and Melia Nelson, along with Interact Club advisor Chelsea Reichner carry containers filled with river water during the ‘Walk for Water’ event on March 9. The trio and other students and adults walked from the Dungeness River to Sequim Middle School carrying water as part of a fundraiser to build a well for a school in Africa.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Sequim High School’s Interact Club members along with a few Sequim Sunrise Rotary members walk along the Olympic Discovery Trail on March 9 for their annual ‘Walk for Water’ event. They carry water from the Dungeness River to Sequim Middle School to symbolize the journey people take daily for clean water.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Sequim High School’s Interact Club members along with a few Sequim Sunrise Rotary members walk along the Olympic Discovery Trail on March 9 for their annual ‘Walk for Water’ event. They carry water from the Dungeness River to Sequim Middle School to symbolize the journey people take daily for clean water.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Sequim High School’s Interact Club members along with a few Sequim Sunrise Rotary members walk along the Olympic Discovery Trail on March 9 for their annual ‘Walk for Water’ event. They carry water from the Dungeness River to Sequim Middle School to symbolize the journey people take daily for clean water.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Sequim High School’s Interact Club members along with a few Sequim Sunrise Rotary members walk along the Olympic Discovery Trail on March 9 for their annual ‘Walk for Water’ event. They carry water from the Dungeness River to Sequim Middle School to symbolize the journey people take daily for clean water.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Krista Charters, Sequim Interact Club president, front left, carries a yoke alongside fellow club members as a “badge of honor,” according to club advisor Chelsea Reichner. It was made in 2017 by Calvin Hazard to carry two large buckets more easily during the annual Walk for Water. Charters led the walk from Sequim Middle School to the Dungeness River and back with full containers to symbolize the journey many women and children take daily for clean water. The club seeks funds to build a well for a school in Africa.
Photo courtesy Chelsea Reichner/ This year’s Interact Club officers include, from top left, Ashton Reichner, sophomore, public relations; Laila Sundin, soph., vice-president; Krista Charters, senior, president, and Emily Post, senior, secretary; front left, Tiffany Lam, soph., public relations; Georgia Bullard, senior, treasurer, and Becca van Dyken, senior, documentarian.
