Free A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park Page B

then three. Salva spoke to hundreds of people—in churches, at civic organizations, in schools. Would he ever be able to turn his idea into reality? Whenever he found himself losing hope, Salva would take a deep breath and think of his uncle's words.
    A
step at a time.
    O
ne problem at a time—just figure out this one problem.
    Day by day, solving one problem at a time, Salva moved toward his goal.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Southern Sudan, 2009

    Nya waited her turn in line. She was holding a plastic bottle.
    The well was finally finished. The gravel had been put down to make a foundation, the pump had been installed, and the cement had been poured and left to dry.
    Before the pump was used for the first time, the villagers all gathered around. The leader of the workers brought out a big sign made of blue canvas. The canvas had writing on it. The writing was in English, but the leader spoke to Nya's uncle, and Uncle told everyone what the sign said.
    "'In honor of Elm Street School,'" Uncle said. "This is the name of a school in America. The students at the school raised the money for this well to be dug."
    Uncle held up one end of the sign. The workers' leader held up the other end. Everyone else stood around it, and one of the workers took their picture. The picture would be sent to the American school so that the students there could see the well and the people who were now using it.
    Then the villagers all got in line to wait their turn for water from the new well.
    When Nya reached the head of the line, she smiled shyly at her uncle, who paused in his work for a moment to smile back at her. Then he began moving the pump handle. Up and down, up and down...
    A stream of water flowed from the mouth of the pump.
    Nya held her bottle underneath the pump mouth. The bottle filled up quickly.
    She stepped aside to let the next person fill a bottle. Then she drank.
    The water was delicious. It wasn't warm or muddy, like the water from the pond. It was cool and clear.
    Nya stopped drinking and held up the bottle so she could look at it. Funny that something without any color at all could look so nice.
    She drank a few more sips, then glanced around.
    Everyone had a bottle or a cup. They were drinking that lovely water, or waiting in line for more, or talking and laughing. It was a celebration.
    An old granddad standing not far from Nya shook his head. In a loud voice, he said, "This is where we used to gather for our bonfire celebrations. I have been sitting on this ground my whole life. And all those years I never knew that I was sitting on top of this good water!"
    Everyone around him laughed. Nya laughed, too.
    In a few more days, the school would be finished. Nya and Dep and Akeer would all go to school, along with the other children. Next year there would be a marketplace where the villagers could sell and buy vegetables and chickens and other goods. There was even talk of a clinic someday—a medical clinic, so they wouldn't have to walk so far to get help, as they had to when Akeer was ill.
    It was the well that was bringing the village all these good things.
    But the well was not for their use alone. People would come from miles around to fetch the good clean water. Nya knew from listening to the grownups that the crew leader had made many arrangements concerning the well. No one was ever to be refused water. Some of the villagers would be responsible for maintaining the well. They would be busy with this new work, so the entire village was to help them with their crops and cattle. Other villagers, including Nya's uncle, would resolve any disputes that arose.
    The well would change their lives in many ways.
    I will never again have to walk to the pond for water,
Nya thought.
    She wandered around a little, sipping at her cool, fresh drink. Then she caught sight of the crew leader. He was standing by himself, leaning against one of the trucks and watching her uncle work the pump.
    Dep saw her looking at the man.
    "That man, the