Thanks to the efforts of faculty and seven students from The Charles Finney School, clean, safe drinking water is now available to families in a remote Ugandan village. The journey helped the students as much as it did their new friends in Africa.

This week, they spoke of their 16-day trip to their school community.

"I was 'Mzungu' or 'white person.' ” says Michael Carpenter, a sophomore at Charles Finney. “That was really something special to them. Every time we went to a church or a school, they immediately saw us and welcomed us with dancing and singing and excitement. That really surprised me, because I didn't think I was anything special."

Carpenter recalls the vast differences between their culture and his own. "The people there have almost nothing. I came home to a full wardrobe, closets full of food and great friends. Definitely, be grateful for everything you have."

Charles Finney School worked with the Ugandan Water Project and raised funds to purchase two rainwater collection tanks. Safe, clean water is now available for up to 150 families.

Some in this group, like junior Suzannah Lake, have never been outside the United States. All agree, this journey changed their world, and their expectations.

“Pictures can tell 1000 words, but they can’t tell you what it was like to be there and what it felt like to get off the plane and feel the heat hit you. It's indescribable. It changes everything. It changes how I look at my family and my school and my life. I value community more than I value material things now." Lake says.

Lake says she would like to become a nurse, travel to all corners of the globe, and help others. A decision helped along by one chance encounter in Uganda.

“I had a little girl who I met in this school who never said a word, never talked to me, wouldn't talk at all. I picked her up and for the rest of the day she would cling to me. When I was saying 'goodbye' she was behind the bus and she waved. She never said a word but I'm never going to forget her. If I could go back just to see her I would."

For more information on the Uganda Water project or to see more pictures from the students trip follow the links below.

Ugandan Water Project
The Charles Finney School