A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story

by Linda Sue Park

Now that Salva was learning more than a few simple words, he found the English language quite confusing. Like the letters “o-u-g-h.” Rough . . . though . . . fought . . . through . . . bough—the same letters were pronounced so many different ways! Or how a word had to be changed depending on the sentence. You said “chickens” when you meant the living birds that walked and squawked and laid eggs, but it was “chicken”—with no “s”—when it was on your plate ready to be eaten: “We’re having chicken for dinner.” That was correct, even if you had cooked a hundred chickens.

I overcame all the difficult situations of my past because of the hope and perseverance that I had. I would have not made it without these two things.

Water for South Sudan has drilled more than 250 wells in southern Sudan for Dinka and Nuer communities, supplying fresh water for hundreds of thousands of people. The very first well was drilled in Salva’s home village of Loun-Ariik. Salva moved to South Sudan in 2011 and now lives there. You can learn more about the organization’s work at www.waterforsouthsudan.org.

Addendum, 2015 A Long Walk to Water was first published in 2010. Since then, to my surprise and joy, many readers who have learned about Salva Dut’s amazing story have been inspired to action. Teachers, librarians, school administrators, parents, and most especially students have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Salva’s nonprofit organization, Water for South Sudan.