Swaziland water project among WCTA student’s commitments

Kristen de Guzman wants to help ensure those who live a world away have water to drink.

The senior at West Career and Technical Academy, 11945 W. Charleston Blvd., has long been involved in community projects. Her volunteerism has benefited Three Square Food Bank, various projects through St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Roman Catholic Church and Las Vegas-based Clean the World, and she has participated in fundraiser walks.

But helping the Thirst Project takes things to a new level. She intends to raise $12,000 by April for the nonprofit, which will use the money to build water wells in Swaziland, where HIV/AIDS affects more than 20 percent of the nation’s 1.25 million residents.

“My passion for service to others has always been inside the realm of my school or my community,” de Guzman said. “I wanted to take it beyond that and go global. As a little kid, we say, ‘I want to change the world.’ Well, this is a way to make a difference and touch hundreds of lives.”

She heard of the Thirst Project while attending a student council conference at Canyon Springs High School during her sophomore year. There, she learned of Harrison Kelly, a senior at Arbor View, who had raised $24,000 for the global water project. In her junior year, she formed a school club, the WCTA Thirst Project, with the goal of raising half what Kelly had raised. Smaller school, smaller goal.

It began with a handful of classmates. From there, the WCTA club grew to about 30 students, and it relies on social media to get the word out. WCTA’s student council and Key Club are helping.

“We meet on Thursdays, so I call them Thirst Thursdays,” de Guzman said.

Within a couple of months, they’d raised more than $2,000. The tally stands at almost $10,000, so the push is on to reach the $12,000 goal before the April deadline.

To donate, visit tinyurl.com/wctatp.

Since it began seven years ago, the Thirst Project has raised more than $8 million, all of which has been used for wells, according to the group. The money has funded 920 water projects for Swaziland, which borders South Africa. Evan Wesley, a spokesman for Thirst Project, estimated there are 7,000 students across Nevada raising money for the effort. Students raise an average of about $1,200 each, he said.

“We need students to start thinking about global issues at a young age, so that they can gain perspective on the world they live in and start building solutions for a better future,” Wesley said.

As for de Guzman, she is speaking at elementary and middle schools in Summerlin but is open to making presentations before Lions clubs, garden clubs and other organizations.

“When you’re not affected by an issue, you almost don’t know anything about it,” de Guzman said. “I looked around at my life and I did not have to worry about where my next glass of water would come from. Not being affected personally poised me even better to be part of the solution.”

Yamilza Rivera, social studies teacher and student council adviser at WCTA, said that when she heard of de Guzman’s goal, “I thought it was a huge undertaking, as she was already student body president and she had a senior project (required of her). So, I thought, ‘Wow, this is another thing added to your plate.’ But of all the students I have, I knew she was the one who could pull it off.”

The project offers opportunities for students to travel and see their effect firsthand, and de Guzman said she would love to visit Swaziland.

“It would be a very humbling experience,” she said.

The 22nd Prudential Spirit of Community Awards honored de Guzman as a finalist for her involvement with Thirst Project. The award did not contribute money to her effort.

De Guzman has another goal: making WCTA a legacy school for the Thirst Project, so the effort continues after she graduates.

“It’s changed my life and how I see the world, and there are a lot of passionate leaders here on campus,” she said. “This is a way of taking that leadership that we have already established and take on the world.”

To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.