<P> A Long Walk to Water is a short novel written by Linda Sue Park and published in 2010 . It includes the true story of Salva Dut, a part of the Dinka tribe and a Sudanese Lost Boy, and the fictional story of Nya, a young village girl that was a part of the Nuer tribe . Park used this book as a platform to support Dut's program, Water for South Sudan . </P> <P> Salva is a young 11 - years - 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 weeks 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, lions and other threats . Salva leads 1500 fellow lost boys to a refugee camp near the Gilo River . On his way many people die including his uncle and some of his friends Seven 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 eight hours to fetch water from the pond . She and her family live in South Sudan in 2008 - 2009 . 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, her sister gets sick, a well is built in her village so she will not have to walk so far and drink unsafe water . A school is built along with the well, and Nya is overjoyed by this . She then introduces herself to Salva Dut . </P>

A long walk to water nya's family