By Elissa A. Rowley | Director of Development and Communications
In South Sudan, a new season of water is about to begin. As our team gears up for the next operating season, we’re gathering the tools, parts, and supplies to construct sustainable clean water projects for communities in South Sudan. Your support powers the season ahead—because every clean water project begins with you.
And it's not just our team preparing to make an impact. Around the world, elementary, middle school, and high school students are organizing and getting ready for the 2026 Iron Giraffe Challenge, and last year’s Grand Prize winner just showed what student-powered impact looks like in action.
Here's how you're launching another season of change.
Power the Season
Our Impact So Far:
650+ wells drilled | 500,000+ people served
For too many years, families in the rural South Sudan community of Nyoric relied on shallow wells, ponds, rivers, and streams for drinking water, often tainted by windblown debris, animals, and a wide range of waterborne bacteria. Each sip carried the risk of illness.
“We knew the water was making us sick,” recalled one mother. “But the walk to a clean source took hours. We had no other choice.”
That changed when generous supporters like you made it possible for WFSS to drill a new well right in the heart of the community pictured above. Today, families have access to clean, safe water, and as a result, everyone is healthier. Women and girls—once burdened by the long, often dangerous journey to find and haul water day in and day out—are reclaiming time for school, income-producing work, cultivating kitchen gardens, and even moments of rest.
Yet even as this one community celebrates, countless families across South Sudan still face the same daily struggle to find clean water.
Your gift helps ensure our crews have the gear, training, and supplies they need to hit the ground running in December.
Together, we’ll launch another powerful season of drilling, maintenance, hygiene education, and transformation—bringing clean water, healthy hygiene habits, and dignity to more people in South Sudan.
Champions for Change:
Vieja Valley Students Welcome Salva Dut
Last year, the sixth graders of Vieja Valley Elementary in California raised nearly $5,000 for clean water—and won the Grand Prize drawing of a visit from Salva. This month, our team visited their school to celebrate their incredible achievement and honor teachers Amanda Olson and Alexa Mannion, who helped make it possible.
Their passion has sparked new connections. Because of Salva’s visit, students from Santa Barbara Middle School's Teen Press program interviewed Salva for their school newspaper.
See photos and full coverage of the visits on the WFSS blog.
Registration for the 2026 Iron Giraffe Challenge is now open! It’s your school’s turn to make an impact and help bring clean water to South Sudan.
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From students coming together to effect change in the world to supporters powering a new operating season, every action moves us closer to a future where clean water flows for all in South Sudan. Thank you for turning hope into lasting change—one well at a time.
The WFSS Team
By Elissa A. Rowley | Director of Development and Communications
By Elissa A. Rowley | Director of Development and Communications
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