Thirsty To Change The World
By VICTORIA ALVAREZ
On Friday, Oct. 10, Lynn welcomed student leaders from all over the world for the Millennium Campus Conference.
After the opening ceremonies finished, the Millennium Pool Party began at Lynn’s very own pool. Hosted by the Thirst Project, an organization that seeks to bring clean water to struggling countries, the pool party was a great way to kickoff the rest of the conference.
With white and blue decorations covering the area, lights in the pool and water guns available to play with, the pool party was inviting and fun for all of the delegates and students alike.
The event, planned and co-hosted by the Student Activities Board (SAB), brought all of the delegates together with good music, tasty food and a fun atmosphere.
“I had a great time at the Millennium Pool Party. The music was great and the food trucks offered the best food,” said Colleen O’Connell, freshman. “It was nice to meet new people and hang out with friends while learning about so many different projects that the MCC delegates were a part of. It was definitely an awesome event.”
Although the pool party served as a great social event, there was more to it than just great food and music. An hour into the party, Evan Wesley Education Coordinator of the Thirst Project and speaker, took the microphone and was able to grab everyone’s attention through a rap he wrote. After the clapping died down, he took things to a serious level and gave the hard facts to the crowd.
“We live in a world where one billion people don’t have access to safe drinking water,” said Wesley. “Every 21 seconds, a child dies of water related diseases.”
Wesley went on to show pictures in a slideshow that showed the crowd the bad conditions and contaminated water that people in countries like Uganda live in and consume.
The Thirst Project, originally started by seven college students, aims to change communities globally by bringing clean water to people that do not have access to it.
Today, the organization has spread to various middle schools, high schools and universities and has raised over $8 million in five years and provided over 300,000 people with safe, clean water.
As Wesley finished up his speech, he zeroed in on the fact that all of the delegates were there because they were leaders ready to make a change to global communities and the people living in them.
Before he let the crowd get back to their music, food, water gun fights and good conversation, he left them with this thought, “This weekend, in this celebration, let’s go change nations.”
