<P> Salva is a young 11 - year - old boy separated from his family during a war in what is now South Sudan because of the Second Sudanese Civil War . He has to walk for days with only the hope that one day he will find his family again . Salva also struggles to find food and water to survive along with avoiding gunmen and other threats . Salva leads 1500 lost boys of Sudan to a refugee camp near the Gilo River . 7 years later, he arrives in America . He lives with a family in Rochester, New York . Many years later he finds his father and starts a volunteer group to build wells in South Sudan called Water for South Sudan . </P> <P> Nya is an 11 - year - old girl who walks 8 hours to fetch water twice every single day . She and her family live in South Sudan in 2008 . Her family home is far from the nearest pond, where she walks twice a day to support her parents and younger sister, Akeer . Throughout the story, a well is built in her village so she will not have to walk so far and drink unsafe water . A school and a hospital is built in her village, and she goes to school . Soon after, a market is built as well . She then introduces herself to Salva at the end . </P> <P> Water for South Sudan is a program created by Salva Dut which drills wells for villages in South Sudan . Previously, families had to trek for hours just to get contaminated water, leaving no time for children to go to school and often infecting villagers with diseases . Creating wells not only gives villagers access to clean, safe drinking water, it also helps with education and economic development . </P>

Summary of the book a long walk to water