Local fifth-grader’s compassion transforms lives half a world away

GREEN BAY – Addie Beauchamp, a student at Notre Dame of De Pere, recently completed an inspiring project that brought hope across the world: creating a borehole in Chikanza — a rural community in Zambia — providing clean water to those who didn’t have it before.

It all started when Beauchamp was assigned the book A Long Walk to Water by her fifth-grade teacher Cindy Kabat.

Inspired by the book and her grandparents’ experience volunteering at a school in Chikanza, where students had no access to clean water, Beauchamp wondered how she could help that community halfway across the world.

“I love [Addie’s] compassionate heart,” said her grandmother, Judy Turba. “I think the fact that she connected the book—and again, I credit the teacher for assigning it — with what we had just told her about this rural school we visited, with no roads and no clean water, was so heartwarming. You know, this little fifth grader who wasn’t quite sure how, but just knew she had to do something.”

With encouragement from Kabat, Beauchamp developed a presentation for the school principal and student council. The council voted to raise $3,000 to fund a borehole, and Beauchamp set out to make it happen.

“We did a freezie sale, where everyone bought freezies. It was during the spring, so it was really hot out,” said Beauchamp. “I also made labels for water that me and my friend sold during the school concert. And we did a penny war, which is where each class tries to collect the most pennies.”

Beauchamp’s efforts ended up not only meeting the fundraising goal, but exceeding it, allowing the borehole to be solar powered.

“I wasn’t expecting it. I was really happy,” she said. “I’m just really glad they actually got water.”

With Beauchamp’s effort bringing clean water to Chikanza, St. Norbert College parish established a feeding program there, part of their program in Zambia that supports four schools and feeds over 1,500 students every day.

Turba and her husband, Jerry, have taken four trips to Zambia, inspired by Judy’s mother and her friend Linda.

“It all started with water. A good friend of mine, Linda Clay, took college students to Zambia. My mother was a kindergarten teacher, and she was always drawn to the underprivileged children in her class. After she passed away, I asked Linda if there was something we could do in Zambia for those children who face food scarcity and other challenges. She told me about a school that was about to close unless they had access to clean water. So with my mom’s memorial money, we built a well in her honor,” said Turba.

Continuing this legacy, Beauchamp, her grandparents and another family will travel to Zambia this month, where Beauchamp will work directly with local schools to assist with gardening, cooking and serving food, while also seeing the impact of the borehole project and meeting the students whose lives she helped transform.

Beauchamp’s message to other kids hoping to make a difference?
“You can never do big things alone; you should share it with other people,” she said. “It all started when I was in my book group with six people, then it went to my grade, then the school, and then it came this far. I couldn’t have done it by myself.”