Here is my essay for A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Parks was an excellent novel that made me think a lot differently about the way I live. I learned about daily hardships in Sudan, extreme heat, diseases caused by dirty water, and what our culture looks like to people who have never been to America. This true story showed me that I should be a better person. I also need to appreciate all of the little things I have because my life is very easy.
The people of Sudan have many daily hardships that they must go through. They have to work hard to get the little things that we get easily each day. One example of a hardship is getting water to your family. On page twenty, the author wrote about an eleven-year-old girl who had to walk to and from a pond twice daily. All of this walking took up the whole day. The author said on page 20, “This was Nya’s daily routine seven months of the year. Daily. Every single day.” She spent a lot of time getting water, and we have to spend a couple of minutes at the most. At the end of the book, a man named Salva started a program called Water for Sudan that brought water to villages like Nya’s. This novel made me appreciate the tap water I get every day a lot more.
I also learned about the extreme heat in Sudan and other parts of Africa. Salva had to walk in the heat every day for many years, and he was very surprised by the winter temperatures in New York. In that part of the book (page 95), the author wrote, “The frigid air hit Salva’s face like a slap. Never had he felt such cold before! In the part of Africa where he had lived all his life, the temperature rarely dropped below seventy degrees.” This section made me extremely grateful for air conditioning and for the cool weather that we get in the winter. I cannot imagine living in heat like that all year.
In the novel, Akeer, Nya’s sister, got a dangerous disease from the dirty water she had been drinking. She was better after a couple of doses of medicine, but Nya’s family knew it would be extremely difficult to boil the water in order to clean it every day. Nya also had another concern about her sister getting the disease again in the future. The author wrote on page 45, “And even at home, whenever Nya made the long, hot walk to the pond, she had to drink as soon as she got there. She would never be able to stop Akeer from doing the same.” Most people drank the dirty water, so the disease was common. Salva’s program brought clean water to Nya’s village, but there are still plenty of people in Sudan who have to drink the dirty water. I am glad that the water I drink daily is clean.
When Salva came to live in New York, I learned how strange our culture and weather must seem to people who were not born in America. We have paved roads, and the English language is very hard to learn. The author wrote on page 97, “All the buildings had electricity. There were white people everywhere. Snow fell from the sky for hours at a time and then stayed on the ground for days.” She also said on page 98, “Now that Salva was learning more than a few simple words, he found the English language quite confusing. Like the letters ‘o-u-g-h.’ Rough . . . though . . . fought . . . through . . . bough.” Salva was bewildered by the fact that the same letters could make so many different sounds. I am very grateful that I grew up here, and I didn’t have to come to America and learn all of this.
Daily hardships, extreme heat, diseases from dirty water, and America’s culture from a different perspective are just a few of the things I learned about from this novel. Now, whenever I think something is difficult, I think about life in Sudan. The fact that this is a true story meant a lot to me. I would strongly suggest it to anybody who wants to read it. I am a lot more thankful for my easy life, and I feel like that alone has made me a better person.
The people of Sudan have many daily hardships that they must go through. They have to work hard to get the little things that we get easily each day. One example of a hardship is getting water to your family. On page twenty, the author wrote about an eleven-year-old girl who had to walk to and from a pond twice daily. All of this walking took up the whole day. The author said on page 20, “This was Nya’s daily routine seven months of the year. Daily. Every single day.” She spent a lot of time getting water, and we have to spend a couple of minutes at the most. At the end of the book, a man named Salva started a program called Water for Sudan that brought water to villages like Nya’s. This novel made me appreciate the tap water I get every day a lot more.
I also learned about the extreme heat in Sudan and other parts of Africa. Salva had to walk in the heat every day for many years, and he was very surprised by the winter temperatures in New York. In that part of the book (page 95), the author wrote, “The frigid air hit Salva’s face like a slap. Never had he felt such cold before! In the part of Africa where he had lived all his life, the temperature rarely dropped below seventy degrees.” This section made me extremely grateful for air conditioning and for the cool weather that we get in the winter. I cannot imagine living in heat like that all year.
In the novel, Akeer, Nya’s sister, got a dangerous disease from the dirty water she had been drinking. She was better after a couple of doses of medicine, but Nya’s family knew it would be extremely difficult to boil the water in order to clean it every day. Nya also had another concern about her sister getting the disease again in the future. The author wrote on page 45, “And even at home, whenever Nya made the long, hot walk to the pond, she had to drink as soon as she got there. She would never be able to stop Akeer from doing the same.” Most people drank the dirty water, so the disease was common. Salva’s program brought clean water to Nya’s village, but there are still plenty of people in Sudan who have to drink the dirty water. I am glad that the water I drink daily is clean.
When Salva came to live in New York, I learned how strange our culture and weather must seem to people who were not born in America. We have paved roads, and the English language is very hard to learn. The author wrote on page 97, “All the buildings had electricity. There were white people everywhere. Snow fell from the sky for hours at a time and then stayed on the ground for days.” She also said on page 98, “Now that Salva was learning more than a few simple words, he found the English language quite confusing. Like the letters ‘o-u-g-h.’ Rough . . . though . . . fought . . . through . . . bough.” Salva was bewildered by the fact that the same letters could make so many different sounds. I am very grateful that I grew up here, and I didn’t have to come to America and learn all of this.
Daily hardships, extreme heat, diseases from dirty water, and America’s culture from a different perspective are just a few of the things I learned about from this novel. Now, whenever I think something is difficult, I think about life in Sudan. The fact that this is a true story meant a lot to me. I would strongly suggest it to anybody who wants to read it. I am a lot more thankful for my easy life, and I feel like that alone has made me a better person.