What's New
See excerpts from a program that will help raise funds to drill wells,
changing lives in Sudan.
There is no clean water in Abilnyang, Sudan. Dust hangs in the air. It is 120 degrees.
Today, as you did yesterday and the day before, for as many days as you can remember, you will balance a jerry can on your head...walk a dusty path through barren, predatory landscape...four miles out, four miles back...to get the water that your family needs to live one more day.
And while you probably never thought about it, parasites live in the water you carry home, making sickness as much a part of your village as the dust and the heat.
This is life in southern Sudan. A troubled country set in an almost unimaginably harsh environment.
One simple issue can be seen as the catalyst for all the others: people cannot get enough clean water. Poverty and disease are the result.
The sad irony is that all the water the people of the Sudan need is right there, beneath their feet. A modest investment in modern, mobile drilling equipment can tap into an underground source virtually anywhere. A simple hand-operated water pump can deliver clean water for an entire village. And a bit of training can keep it flowing.
The seed of water
Salva Dut founded Water for Sudan (WFS) to bring new life to his parched land. He fled his war-torn nation at age 11, wandered across Africa, lived in refugee camps for more than a decade, and eventually found his way to the U.S. in 1996.
Salva returned to Sudan in 2002 to reunite with his father who had become ill from waterborne parasites. That trip convinced Salva that he must use the education he received in the U.S. to help alleviate the suffering of the people of Sudan. “We are planting the seed of water,” he says. His vision is that WFS wells will make it possible for villages to build schools and marketplaces and make life a little better for all the people of Sudan.
“You never know who will be the next person to change the world, or where they will come from,” says Salva. “This is what keeps me going.”
Water for Sudan has already drilled over 25 wells, bringing clean drinking water to more than 80,000 people. The organization has recently added a second drilling team. Their goal is to continue drilling at least 50 wells a year.
Of course, it will take more than good intentions, a fierce commitment and a strong back to make WFS a continuing success. You have to get the word out and raise money.
“You can’t describe Africa.”
“Few people in the U.S. can imagine life in southern Sudan,” says Nancy Frank, who serves on the board of Water for Sudan. “You can’t describe Africa.”
That’s why WFS decided they needed a documentary that would transport the viewer to Africa, offer a sense of life in a Sudanese village, and show the work that WFS is doing.
WFS chose POV-Rose Films to produce the video because “we knew they would attack the project with the intensity and attention to detail that it demanded.” In addition, Nancy felt that the people at POV-Rose Films had tremendous respect for the project and its goals, as well as “a realistic vision of the difficulties.”
“It took four days, five flights, and I forget how many hours to get to Abilnyang,” says Jeff Mead of POV-Rose Films, who worked as director and director of photography on this project. “The travel seemed endless, the heat was punishing, dust was everywhere…let’s just say it was a tough shoot. But when you stack our experiences up against the conditions that the people of Sudan struggle with every day, our problems seem trivial.”
“So many of my hoped-for but seldom-seen scenes rolled out before us,” says Nancy, who traveled to 
Abilnyang with the crew. “Without prompting, Jeff realized the value of these moments and captured them masterfully. The interviews and footage will prove extremely valuable. It’s a remarkable and moving version of the Water for Sudan story.”
Make a note. Attend the public premiere of “Just Add Water” projected in High Definition at the Dryden Theater, September 22 at 7 PM. Meet Salva Dut and hear a special presentation by the director. Click here for directions
Take a look at Jeff’s Production Video Diary
Click here to learn more about Water for Sudan
Read Jeff’s Production Journal
Photos Copyright 2008 Angelique Stevens, Ben Dobbin, Jeffrey Mead