Folding origami is pretty impressive, but what these sisters are doing takes it to another level.
In 2011, Katherine Adams started folding origami with her father while her older sister when to school. Around the same time, the precocious 5 year old learned that people in other countries go thirsty every day and many girls can’t go to school because they’re hauling water all day.
She decided to do something about it.
Katherine enlisted the help of her 8-year-old sister Isabelle and her parents. The girls, and a few other volunteers, hosted an origami sale at a Starbucks in Dallas. All of the proceeds went toward building a fresh-water well in Ethiopia. Katherine and Isabelle hoped to make $500, but they made much more. The origami ornaments sold out the first day, and two months later they had raised more than $10,000.
It was more than enough to cover the cost of a new well that benefitted a whole village.
The venture was so successful that the sisters are now co-presidents of Paper For Water. The organization has hundreds of volunteers who fold and sell origami ornaments. With their help, Paper For Water has raised more than $650,000 during the last four years. The money has gone toward 70 new wells in various places in Africa, India, and even the United States.
The girls have made an amazing effort, but it’s a drop in the bucket considering what still needs to be done. Nearly 800 million people lack access to clean water and proper sanitation facilities could cost up to $20 billion, the girls’ father Dr. Ken Adams said. The girls are optimistic, though.
“If everyone in this world helps a little, it all adds up to a lot,” Isabelle told Good News Network. “Folding origami is an easy way for people of any age to help change the world.”
The family has visited two of the wells that have been built, one in India and the other on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. In 2017, the family plans to go on a “world tour” of the wells that have been built.
If you want to help, you can buy ornaments on their website.