West Fargo author reads to middle school students to inspire them to give back

Sawyer Anderson wrote Water Works in response to learning about the water crisis in Africa

FARGO, N.D. — After Sawyer Anderson’s father took a trip to Africa, he informed his daughter of some unfortunate circumstances children in that country go through.

“There are kids my age carrying buckets of water on their heads, walking three miles to get water and the water isn’t clean,” Anderson said. “I just wanted to imagine me – I wouldn’t want that to happen.”

That thought made the West Fargo girl want to give back.

What started as an idea to raise $50 by selling cookies at her grandma’s garage sale turned into something much bigger when Anderson wrote “Water Works,” a book that illustrates the water crisis in Africa.

To raise awareness for this issue and to inspire others to want to give back as well, Anderson visited students at Discovery Middle School in Fargo to read her book.

“You had the opportunity to look around the room, she had everyone’s full attention. They were hanging on every word, and she was just awesome,” Discovery Middle School Principal Vincent Williams said.

At the end of the reading, Anderson gave a copy of of her book to each of the students, and in return, they presented her with something special; $505 dollars to go towards her efforts to raise money for water wells in Africa.

“It was awesome that they were so passionate to help. That donation was awesome that they did that for me,” says Anderson.

Anderson partnered with Giving Hearts Day for the event and both the author and students exemplified what the day was all about.

“I just want to inspire them and I want them to know that there are people out there who don’t have the basic needs that we do,” explained Anderson.

“It’s powerful and I think the kids walked away trying to understand how they can better impact the world for good,” says Williams.